Mixed Afro-Latine with roots in the southwest ‘US.’
I have moved around constantly and have built my life around the “just in case I have to leave” mindset of living with come-and-go roommates, in crumbling houses, with toxic family, and under greedy landlords. It is extremely exhausting to always be on my guard and I have often found myself wishing I could just have a home-base, something I can make my own and know it will be there if I take chances to leave and then want to come back.
When the opportunity came to fulfill my childhood dream and adulthood need, I said “Fuck it. Let’s do it.” Because when else can we start but now?
Going from a childhood where my interests were sparked by colonist-centered media about how life ‘used to be’ and growing into an de-colonial, anti-imperial, pro-liberation mindset and knowledge base has shifted my reality and needs so much. I don’t desire to time-travel to a time where life was supposedly simple, or to live an isolated life in a cabin in the woods, or to find ‘uninhabited’ lands I can call my own. I desire a realist approach to living in this world that is not being shaped with us in mind, but that can be changed by me and the people around me.
I am proud to continue learning how to survive through the nightmare of the ‘American Empire’ and I hope that MUCK will be a testament to survival through adversity.