How capitalism stole Christmas

by Tavae Samuelu, Grassroots Fundraising Coordinator

Despite the many emails reminding me ‘tis the giving season, I find myself struggling to conjure up the warm and fuzzies that the last two weeks of the year demand. At the risk of sounding like the Grinch, I don’t like “the giving season.” There are few seasons that do stay on my radar: football season, basketball season, and winter (solely because it determines my outerwear). Perhaps it’s because I’ve never known Christmas as a holiday doused in presents and candy cane thoughts.
As the daughter of a Pentecostal Christian pastor, Christmas means additional days in church instead of just the usual marathon services on Sunday. Each year while other children enjoyed tales of Santa Clause and reindeer, I learned about the three wise men and what a manger is. I have heard the story of Jesus’s birth at least 22 times in multiple languages. Correction: 23 times because I’m sure I attended one of JC’s birthday parties in utero. My family got our first Christmas tree when I was about eight or nine years old. It wasn’t some large gesture to embrace pagan symbols. The tree was symbolic of assimilation. My parents were learning how to be American. 

Home for the holidays: reconciling family and queerness

by mai doan, SAFIRE youth organizer

What does family look like? What does it feel like in your body? What are its colors, textures, smells?

These were the questions I asked during a guided meditation for an art workshop I led this past week for LYRIC youth. The theme was family acceptance/holiday blues and I had come in to teach altar-making as a tool for manifesting our visions for home and family.

Following the guided meditation, I had each person pick an object that most accurately resonated with what came up for them when asked about their given family: Family is a porous black vase, something that drains whatever is put in it and never really hold us in our entirety. Family is a large rock, something heavy, grey, difficult to carry but with many different sides to it. Family is a braid of sweet grass, something we are so deeply interwoven with that is difficult to know how or when to break away. Family is a mirror, when we look at it, we see ourselves reflected back at us and vice versa.

What SAFIRE means to me

By Susan Cuong

My name is Susan Cuong and I am an alumni of ACRJ's youth organizing program, SAFIRE.  I was born and raised in Oakland and graduated from Oakland High School in 2009. I will be turning 20 years old in November and I am currently a third-year Psychology major and a Korean minor at UC Berkeley (GO BEARS!). I can't believe that I'm already half-way through with my college years...

I've come a long way since high school and I definitely would not be the person I am now without having been part of the SAFIRE youth program in high school. I first joined SAFIRE during the summer of my Sophomore year which was summer of... 2010? I think that I first heard about the program from Catherine when she was passing out flyers in the school commons, trying to get girls to join the summer program. At first I didn't know what to expect but after an amazing summer filled with great company, volleyball, and a new insight on reproductive justice and gender empowerment, I was sold. From then on, I loved the program so much that I just kept coming back.

New support group for LGBT caregivers

November was National Caregiver month celebrating the more than 50 million Americans caring for family members, friends, neighbors and loved ones. Families care for a greater number of chronically ill or disabled loved ones than institutions do, shouldering the enormous responsibility of balancing self-care and the needs of another person. While many communities on the culture spectrum are caregivers, the LGBT community faces a unique set of circumstances and despite some progress in LGBT civil rights, the needs of LGBT caregivers are often not met.

SAGE, the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT adults, says that LGBT older adults often avoid seeking needed services out of fear of discrimination. The tendency for LGBT older adults to go "back in the closet" is particularly distinct in situations where they are most vulnerable - such as when accessing home health care or residing in assisted living or residential care facilities.

Culturally sensitive policies and services are not in place to meet the growing needs of LGBT elders and their caregivers. Many LGBT elders are being cared for by spouses, friends and neighbors. Here at Strong Families we believe that all families matter, no matter how your family was formed or who’s in it, which is why we are excited to support SAGE’s newest program: a national telephonic support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) caregivers.

The caregiver support group will provide a safe space for caregivers to get emotional support discuss their needs, the needs of their loved ones, and share information and resources. SAGE recognizes that the well-being of everyone involved in care.

For more information about the support group or to learn more about SAGE please click here.