Main fundraiser photo

Queer Resilience in the era of Climate Change

Donation protected

NEW FUNDRAISING PAGE !

The Fire & Flood film is now officially fiscally sponsored by Out 4 Sustainability!

You can now make a tax deductible donation  to the film project, or sign-up to be a monthly sustainer of queer resilience here: www.opencollective.com/firefloodfilmfund

Thank you to Lindi von Mutius and everyone else on the Out4S board for making this collaboration possible. As always, 50% goes to film production, and 50% goes to the collaborators in the film and their projects.

FALL 2020 SCREENINGS:
The Fall 2020 sneak-peek of the film will be released on October 1st. Expanding on the stories in last year's release, the Fall 2020 draft weaves in new content from this tumultuous year as these two regions and communities share their experiences through earthquakes, pandemic, abolitionist uprisings, and expanded networks of mutual aid.

The 2-hour film will also be available to watch as 5 episodes of 20-30 minutes that can be screened independently to better integrate into online classes. The film provides a powerful narrative and analysis that you can use to gather your community and launch some impactful conversations about disaster preparedness and climate justice in LGBTQ+ communities.

You can sign up for a screening of the Fall 2020 sneak peek on the website: https://www.queerecoproject.org/firefloodscreenings


EDUCATORS:
The Fall 2020 release of Fire & Flood will come with an updated curriculum guide that you can use to design a 3-12+ hour unit for your classroom. Content is geared towards undergraduate classes, and would be an ideal complement to online instruction in gender studies or environmental studies. Includes suggested readings, discussion questions, activities, and complementary films - adaptable to your course theme.

DONATION REWARDS:
Only online donations rewards will be sent at this time (no mail)

- $5 for the PDF of the Queer Ancestral Futures Zine
- $10 for a link to view the Fall 2019 Sneak-Peek of the Fire & Flood Film
- Sliding scale from Pass the hat - $500 for a screening code for the Fall 2020 commemorative draft

See the website for more information and to book a screening: www.queerecoproject.org/firefloodfilm


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SUCCESS!!! Support Cuir Resilience! #EarthDay50 to #Pride51

From the 50th anniversary of Earth Day til the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, please join me in supporting Cuir Resilience in Puerto Rico in the era of COVID-19.

100% of donations between 4/22 and 6/28 will go to La Sombrilla Cuir, Espicy Nipples, Vaiventura, and Finca Huerto Vida (see below for descriptions).

The Funding Transparency sheet can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oBUuaCBoALdgGHVcN78XY8o9VgdQ_DtQ0M-D6EwhfGA/edit#gid=0 



Right now, as the coronavirus pandemic urgently threatens communities around the world, a similar pattern from my climate change research is emerging: LGBTQ communities are exceedingly vulnerable and this vulnerability is invisible. LGBTQ people today are more likely to be living in poverty, insecure in food, housing and employment, homeless, and incarcerated. We are more likely to be living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, including asthma, diabetes, cancer, HIV+ and mental illness. From hurricanes to the coronavirus, religious leaders blame LGBTQ+ people for disasters as God’s retribution against sin. 

Cuir folks in Puerto Rico are in particular need of our help. Due to centuries of Spanish and US colonization, and illegal debt from neoliberal governors, Puerto Rico is in a dire situation. Hospitals are few, underfunded, understaffed, and there are not enough resources to protect public health. Cuir people who were economically vulnerable before, are now in far greater precarity and without as many safety nets. Politically, the government corruption that contributed to the extreme devastation after Hurricane Maria is again threatening lives: The associated press reports that PR government signed a $38 million dollar contract urgently-needed test kits with a fraudulent company that has no connections to mask manufacturing, but does have economic connections to the ruling party. https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/04/15/world/americas/ap-cb-virus-outbreak-puerto-rico.html

On top of everything, because of the earthquakes this year, many folks on the south west side of the island are still homeless and in tents. Many queer and trans organizers have been leading and actively engaged in the community response work, and they continue to support these 

Altogether, what is important to remember this Earth Day is that: this current crisis is another manifestation of the political, economic, and social problems at the root of climate change. 

The emergence and spread of novel infectious diseases is one long-predicted aspect of our new reality. And like coronavirus, the changing of our climate is an exponential phenomenon. Things are not just changing- the rate at which they are changing is about to rapidly accelerate. 

And so I ask again: Will you help me support Cuir Resilience in the era of COVID-19?


Funding will be distributed to these three organizations:

(You can read more about most of these programs here: https://www.metro.pr/pr/estilo-vida/2020/04/04/iniciativas-apoyo-personas-lgbt-puerto-rico-medio-del-covid-19.html)


La Sombrilla Cuir & Espicy Nipples

La Sombrilla Cuir and Espicy Nipple are transfeminist media collectives that use art and social media to visibilize stories of LGBTQI + people, women, immigrants, Black, indigenous and other people of color communities. During this crisis, the two groups are collaborating to raise funds and collect supplies for LGBTQI + people in the southern area affected by the January 2020 tremors and who still need support through food, supplies, and financial aid during this public health emergency.

Vaiventura 

Vaiventura is a community initiative that promotes the mental health of LGBTQI + populations and their allies. Vaiventura’s work is concentrated in the southern and western areas of Puerto Rico. During the COVID-19 emergency, Vaiventura is holding online mental health workshops and a Podcast. On Sundays they are offering a meditation and relaxation session called “Vamo’a Respirar.” Using these funds, Vaiventura will also be able to distribute resources to economically precarious queer folks on the west side of the island.

Finca Huerto Vida

Finca Huerto Vida is an ecological, transfeminist and anti-racist project that uses art, planting and traditional medicines as tools for healing and social justice, especially in conomically impoverished communities. We use these tools through direct service, workshops, event creation and brigades. We believe that healing is a priority part of social change, ecological restoration, reparation to our indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, and should be accessible to everyone, not only to people who can pay for services. Right now in COVID-19, Huerto Vida has been holding weekly online listening circles among healers on the island. They will be holding online workshops for self care, collective care, gardening, cooking, and other tools to take care of each other during these times. Using these funds, they will also be able to distribute funds to help healers on the island, and distributing boxes of masks, supplies, and healing herbs to the earthquake-impacted communities they have been helping.


DONATION REWARDS:
Only online donations rewards will be sent at this time (no mail)

- $5 for the PDF of the Queer Ancestral Futures Zine
- $10 for a link to view the Fall 2019 Sneak-Peek of the Fire & Flood Film

You can also donate to book a Fire & Flood screening for Fall 2020! 
Please recommend this to the teachers in your life who have had to move classrooms online. The film will come with an accompanying curriculum that can be used alongside the film to create a 3-9 hour unit:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbRwNAMnjciXujBO06JjGSt-A5gCZSrYLAwPPv8hUn98xGOg/viewform






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SUCCESS: Commemorate LGBTQ History. Screen the Sneak-Peek of the Film and help us reach $9000.

This fall 2019, we will be releasing the next round of sneak-peek screenings to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the two climate disasters shared in this film and celebrate our LGBTQ history of resilience. From September 20th, when Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, until October 8th, when the Tubbs fire burned through sections of Santa Rosa in Northern California- we welcome you to gather community together to watch this sneak-peek and hold conversations. We also welcome screenings celebrating LGBTQ History Month in October.

Sneak-peek screenings are offered on a sliding-scale donation basis (including a NOTAFLOF "Pass the Hat" option). Donations for screenings of this film support the filmmaker and production team (50%), and support LGBTQ organizations in Puerto Rico and two-spirit organizers in CA (50%). More below.

Find a public screening event near you: www.queerecoproject.org/firefloodscreenings

Organize a screening: bit.ly/FireFloodScreenings

After donating, claim your rewards here: bit.ly/FireFloodRewards 






SUCCESS!
PRIDE MONTH GOAL! Help us reach $5500 in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion.

In our new video, Vanessa Raditz & Zephyr Elise talk about the Fire & Flood Film and why representation of Two-Spirit, Queer, and Trans communities is critical in stories about the climate crisis.


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SUCCESS!
COUNTDOWN TO EARTH DAY:
Please help me reach $4500 by April 22nd, 2019!

"People don’t see the connection between climate change and the treatment of queer and trans people… We need to start having conversations about how to address the powerful changes that need to happen for us to survive and to thrive as a community, as a people, as a species."

                - Javier Armando Rivera-Rosales, Former director of Positive Images LGBTQ Youth Center during the 2017 fires in Santa Rosa, CA



"Fire and Flood: Queer Resilience in the era of Climate Change"

The Fire & Flood Film tells the story of two near-simultaneous, climate disasters in Puerto Rico and Northern California the fall of 2017, through the voices of LGBTQ people. The film explores the vulnerability of LGBTQ communities to climate disasters and lifts up queer and trans strategies for resilience, transition, and survival. "Fire and Flood" was piloted at the National LGBTQ Task Force's Creating Change Conference in January, 2018, mere months after hurricane Maria and the Tubbs fire, with positive feedback on the need for these stories in the LGBTQ movement and the capacity of this film to spark these critical conversations on disaster preparedness, just recovery, and the Green New Deal.

New Filming & Production

Featuring interviews from:

Brooke Anderson, Layel Camargo, and Mateo Nube, Movement Generation
Eliseo Rivas, Former Program Coordinator at LGBTQ Connection Sonoma & Napa
Elokin Orton-Cheung, Shooting Star Botanicals
Fe Fugá, Resident in Isabela, PR
Javier Armando Rivera-Rosales, Former Director of Positive Images LGBTQ Youth Center
Kanyon Sayers-Rood, Kanyon Konsulting & Two-Spirit Society of Indian Canyon
L Frank Manriquez, Tongva/Ajachmem artist, writer and tribal activist
Lucecita Cruz and Ollie Montes de Oca, Cuir Kitchen Brigade
Marcelo Felipe Garzo Montalvo, Graduate Student in Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Marielle De Leon, Transfeminist Activist from La Sombrilla Cuir
Nelson Pagán Butler, Camila Padín, Bianca P. Ortiz Núñez, Valeria Fernández, Graduate Students at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Patty Berne, Co-Founder and Director of Sins Invalid
Sally Ortiz Castro, Healer, artist, gardener, and teacher with Huerto Vida
Tara Rodríguez Besosa and Verónica Quiles Maldonado, El Departamento de la Comida
Tre Vasquez, Lead Organizer of North Bay Organizing Project

Thank you to all those who have contributed to this project. 

 
About the Filmmaker:

Vanessa Raditz, MPH is an environmental health researcher, youth educator, and culture-shifter dedicated to community healing, opening access to land and resources, and fostering a thriving local economy based on human and ecological resilience. Vanessa holds a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences from UC Berkeley, and is part of the founding collective of the Queer Ecojustice Project, educating and organizing at the intersection of ecological justice and queer liberation. Vanessa co-organized the Queers4ClimateJustice contingent to the RISE March for Climate, Jobs, and Justice in fall of 2018 and continues to manage the #Queers4ClimateJustice instagram. The "Fire and Flood" film project is rooted in Vanessa's lived experience of the 2017 fires in Northern California.


FUNDRAISING GOAL: $4500 BY EARTH DAY - April 22nd, 2019

HALF - 50% - of all donations* will go directly to the people interviewed in Puerto Rico and Two-Spirit organizers in California (or projects they select) to support their ongoing community work. 


HALF – 50% - of all donations* goes into film production:

-       Transcription of over 30 hours of interviews
-       Spanish Translation and Bi-Lingual Captioning
-       Music Production from Shea Freedom
-       Production Travel from Georgia -> San Juan -> San Francisco
-       Post-production support
-       Website hosting

*After GoFundMe's processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per donation), expenses for printing and sending art rewards, and after director's estimated tax burden from this fundraiser




DONATION REWARDS

After donating, claim your rewards here: bit.ly/FireFloodRewards 


$5 - Thank you!
Your name in the film credits & a downloadable PDF of "Imagine Queer Futures" coloring page

$15 - Queer Ancestral Futures
QEP's First Zine "Queer Ancestral Futures" + Coloring page + Thank you in the film credits

$25 - Queers4ClimateJustice Art
Your choice of artwork from the Q4CJ contingent to the 2018 RISE March! + Coloring page + Thank you in the film credits

$50 - Two choices of Q4CJ Art + Zine
Mix and match any two of the Q4CJ art options + Queer Ancestral Futures Zine + Coloring page + Thank you in the film credit

Choose from any of the following:

·       Queer Ancestors 11x17 Color Poster
(Gloria, Audre, Rachel, Harry, or WeWha)

·       Forces of Nature 8x11 Screen Print Patch 
(Corn, Butterfly, Dolphin, or Mushroom)

·       Honor Two-Spirit Land 11x17 Color Poster
(50% of donations for this item go to the artist)

·       Queers4ClimateJustice Postcards 
(Set of 10 cards: 5 Queer Ancestors, 4 Forces of Nature, and Honor Two-Spirit Land)

·       Two copies of QEP's "Queer Ancestral Futures Zine"




SNEAK-PEAK FILM SCREENING EVENTS

To celebrate Earth Day, the film will had two sneak-peak film screenings where I will show the first 2 chapters of this still-in-production film:

-       April 22nd: Central Connecticut State University, LGBT Center
-       April 23rd: Duke University, Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies

More screening opportunities will be announced in the coming months. 

Find a public screening event near you: www.queerecoproject.org/firefloodscreenings

Organize a screening: bit.ly/FireFloodScreenings


THANK YOU!

Thank you for donating, sharing the video, and passing along word about this project! The Fire & Flood Film is entirely funded by community: your donations are what make this project possible.

I am excited for this journey, grateful for everyone in my community holding me through this, and humbled by the scale of the solutions available to us in this precious moment.

Thank you for all that you are doing in your communities to build a living future for all beings.

Donate

Donations 

  • Gopal Dayaneni
    • $50 
    • 4 yrs
  • Honor Stonewall
    • $99 (Offline)
    • 4 yrs
Donate

Organizer

Vanessa Raditz
Organizer
Athens, GA

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