help a mixed Black trans couple afford bills and essentials!

remaking our post since we have a few updates, but are still generally in need of support!

rent for march has been paid which is great, but we still have to pay rent for april (due april 1, but our last day to pay before we start getting late fees is april 8th). my wife is doing everything she can to find work, but even if she got hired and started working like. tomorrow she likely wouldnt be paid in time for us to pay our rent for next month. so, we are once again encouraging to folks to subscribe to our Patreon , as its a great way to help us ensure that we have guaranteed monthly income to cover our bills. our rent is $508 (plus $45 for our payment plan), and we are likely going to have to begin paying for our own internet and electricity (no current estimate for what those will be, but i will try to update this post once i know!)

ways to contribute: 1 | 2 | 3 (we also have a shared Ko-fi)

(we also have a registry of items we need/want, anything Most Wanted off the list would help a ton!)

will try to keep this post updated with whatever i raise, please send a bee emoji in the payment note so that i can keep track of how much ive raised towards my rent!

REMINDER: PLEASE DO NOT TAG UNLESS FOR ACCESSIBILITY PURPOSES, YOU WILL BE BLOCKED.

3/10

sorry for such a late update:

nothing has really come in outside of like. $15? sent from mutuals (thank u all so much btw 🩷💜🩵), but we have been mostly able to coast by because my tax return hit, but after paying for most of our monthly expenses and replacing a few very expensive items we lost in the move, that money is completely gone, and i still have to come up with $554 (give or take a few cents) for my rent for april. i also am going to need funds in the next few weeks to get to and from the dmv to get my state id (and pay for said id), and (though this is less urgent) miss b's 17th birthday is this Thursday, 3/14 (aka pi day), and i would love to have a bit of extra cash to buy miss b a few things shes sorely been lacking (a scratching board so we dont have to clip her nails as often, a better deshedding brush+comb so brushing her wont be as uncomfortable, and some silvervine for her as a treat since she doesnt like catnip). my main priority is making progress towards our rent and coming up with approx. $50 for all the fees associated w travel and getting my id(since celebrating miss b's birthday and shit wont matter if im homeless in a new state with no valid form of id) but anything folks can spare helps!!!

i love graffiti. "comics and jazz are the only american art forms" you forgot graffiti. did you remember graffiti? That art form birthed in Philly and NYC in the early 70s by poor Black kids. that art form that spread all over the world and influenced so many. that's used without irony in commercials when they're trying to appeal to a "young urban" customer.

did you forget graffiti? that racism broken windows theory victim? that reach the establishment takes claiming that it's exclusively violent gang members throwing up those full-color pieces and wildstyle tags in the middle of the night outsmarting fifty security cameras because the billboard was ugly anyway. as if, even if it was, it wouldn't be impressive as all hell. risking brutality and fall damage so your art can occupy the space a gentrified condo named something like "Coluumna" took away from you. proving that despite only assholes affording to live here anymore there's still a soul beneath it. an animal with dripping stripes and teeth that go clack-clack tsssss

Hey all, you know how internet searches suck now? When the results are awful, full-of-AI, death-of-the-internet levels of bad?

Start appending date constraints to your searches - "before:2023".

My results have gone from 90% AI bullshit to ~60% usable - which frankly at this point is a huge improvement.

oh? oh you need my email to use this virtual instrument in fl studio? you need me to make an account? fuck you. have a fake ass name with a pirated copy of shit you will get NOTHING out of my broke ass not even my data you electronic GHOUL let me play MUSIC

Holding the link up like this for u

Also! For services that need a long term email but you don't want them to have your email:

5 masks for free and unlimited for $1 a month!

YEAHHHHH firefox relay is exactly what i used. i also recommend facebook tracker cuz they'll totally tell you if facebook can track you through something even when the website itself you're using won't.

goodnight everyone (:

donate to:

Today 40 Palestinians died in an Israeli shelling of homes in central Gaza, while more than 100 were severely injured (majority women and children). Yesterday Israel bombed Syria, killing two. Israel also bombed Lebanon, killing a woman and a girl.

Just to be crystal clear—Israel is now simultaneously bombing Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.

As all of this is transpiring, US asks the ICJ not to call for an immediate end of the occupation. Reasoning? Israel’s “security concerns” need to be taken into consideration, due to the Hamas attack on October 7. As a reminder, the Hamas attack killed 1,139 Israelis—while Israel’s ongoing genocide has killed an estimated 29,000 Palestinians. And the reason it’s “estimated” is because a lot of bodies are still buried under rubble and unaccounted for.

A John Hopkins report estimates that the number of Palestinians dead could surpass 74,000 in the next 6 months.

it’s worth reiterating that Israel is intensifying its attacks in conjunction with an all-time low of aid trucks allowed to enter Gaza. It was reported the other day that this number fell from an average of 133 to an average of 47 throughout February. Only 4 trucks have entered Gaza this Wednesday. If they’re not massacring Palestinians, they’re starving them half to death.

If this isn’t pure evil, I actually don’t know what is.

Please donate to Palestinian families trying to evacuate this bloodbath. And if you can’t, spread this as far as you can. Hundreds of Palestinians are dying every day. At this point it has come to funding them or watching them die.

🍉🇵🇸 eSims for Gaza masterpost 🇵🇸🍉

Which eSims are currently being called for?

As of January 29:

Be sure you're looking at the original post, as this will be continually updated. Any new instructions about replying to emails for specific types of unactivated plans will also appear here.

Check the notes of blackpearlblasts's eSim post, as well as fairuzfan's 'esim' tag, for referral and discount codes.

How do I purchase an eSim?

If you cannot download an app or manage an eSim yourself, send funds to Crips for eSims for Gaza (Visa; Mastercard; Paypal; AmEx; Canadian e-transfer; or to me (venmo @gothhabiba; paypal.me/Najia; cash app $NajiaK, with note “esims” or similar; check the notes of this post for updates on what I've purchased.)

You can purchase an eSim yourself in an app, or on desktop (with the exception of Simly, which does not have a desktop site). See this screenreader-accessible guide to purchasing an eSim through each of the five services that the Connecting Humanity team is calling for (Simly, Nomad, Mogo, Holafly, and Airalo).

Send a screenshot of the plan's QR code to gazaesims@gmail.com. Be sure to include the app used, the word "esim," the type of plan (when an app has more than one, aka "regional Middle East" versus "Palestine"), and the amount of data or time on the plan, in the subject line or body of your email.

Message me if you have any questions or if you need help purchasing an eSim through one of these apps.

Which app should I use?

Try to buy an eSim from one of the apps that the team is currently calling for (see above).

If the team is calling for multiple apps: Nomad is best in terms of data price, app navigability, and ability to top up. Mogo has the worst user interface in my opinion. Holafly has the most expensive data, but plans can be topped up. Simly Middle East plans cannot be topped up; Simly Palestine ones can.

How much data should I purchase?

Mirna el-Helbawi has been told that large families may all rely on the same plan for data (by setting up a hotspot). Some recipients of eSim plans may also be using them to upload video.

For those reasons I would recommend getting the largest plan you can afford for plans which cannot be topped up: namely, Simly "Middle East" plans. Note that Holafly plans can only be topped up on desktop, not through the app.

For all other plans, get a relatively small amount of data (1-3 GB, a 3-day plan, etc.), and top up the plan with more data once it is activated.

Is there anything else I need to do?

Check back regularly to see if the plan has been activated. Once it's been activated, check once a day to see if data is still being used, and how close the eSim is to running out of data or to expiring.

If the eSim hasn't been activated after three weeks or so, reply to the original email that you sent to Gaza eSims containing the QR code for that plan.

If you purchased the eSim through an app which has a policy of starting the countdown to auto-expiry a certain amount of time after the purchase of the eSim, rather than only upon activation (Nomad does this), then also reply to your original e-mail once you're within a few days of this date. If you're within 12 hours of that date, contact customer service and ask for a credit (not a refund) and use it to purchase and send another eSim.

How do I top up a plan?

See this guide on how to tell if your plan has been activated, how to top up plans, and (for Nomad) how to tell when the auto-expiry will start. Keep topping up the eSim for as long as the data usage keeps ticking up. This keeps a person or family connected for longer, without the Connecting Humanity team having to go through another process of installing a new eSim.

If the data usage hasn't changed in a week or so, allow the plan to expire and purchase another one.

What if I can't afford a larger plan, or don't have time or money to keep topping up an eSim?

I have set up a pool of funds out of which to buy and top up eSims, which you can contribute to by sending funds to my venmo (@gothhabiba), PayPal (paypal.me/Najia), or cash app ($NajiaK) (with note “esims” or similar). Check the notes of this post for updates on what I've purchased, which plans are active, and how much data they've used.

Crips for eSims for Gaza also has a donation pool to purchase esims, but I don't know about their practices regarding topping them up.

What if my eSim has not been activated, even after I replied to my email?

Make sure that the QR code you sent was a clear screenshots, and not a photo of a screen; and that you didn’t install the eSim on your own phone by scanning the QR code or clicking “install automatically."

Possible reasons for an eSim not having been activated include: it was given to a journalist as a back-up in case the plan they had activated expired or ran out of data; there was an error during installation or activation and the eSim could no longer be used; the eSim was installed, but not activated, and then Israeli bombings destroyed the phone, or forced someone to leave it behind.

An eSim that was sent but couldn’t be used is still part of an important effort and learning curve. Errors in installation, for example, are happening less often than they were in the beginning of the project.

Why should I purchase an eSim? Is there any proof that they work?

Israel is imposing near-constant communications blackouts on Gaza. The majority of the news that you are seeing come from Gaza is coming from people who are connected via eSim.

eSims also connect people to news. People are able to videochat with their family for the first time in months, to learn that their family members are still alive, to see their newborn children for the first time, and more, thanks to eSims.

Some of this sharing of news saves lives, as people have been able to flee or avoid areas under bombardment, or learn that they are on evacuation lists.

Why are different plans called for at different times?

Different eSims work in different areas of the Gaza Strip (and Egypt, where many refugees currently are). The team tries to keep a stockpile of each type of sim on hand.

remaking this post because previous one wasn't getting assistance anymore

help a black/otherwise indigenous & disabled trans person stay away from his abuser's house another few weeks 🙏🏽 i need help securing housing until my medical needs are addressed and i can go to a shelter

long story short, im houseless. have been since the end of november. i have been fighting tooth and nail to avoid having to move back in with my abusive mother. i have nearly given up a few times but its become more and more apparent to me that i simply can not go there. i am hoping to go forward with my plan to stay at a dv shelter for a few months so i can hopefully get government housing assistance, but i need a few more weeks to a month at least at this airbnb to get my medical needs addressed before i do

please help me. i need another $1210 for another month here, not including food. staying with my abuser comes with definitive risk of me being sexually assaulted, among other dangers.

ppal

vmo

cshapp

ko-f1 (not an ideal place to send $ since ppal marks it as a business transaction but that is where the crowdfnding goal is)

please dont tag this with any tws for visibility's sake!

hi. ok. so this room wont be available anymore til after the 5th but the room next door is. i need $304 to secure this room til the 5th. after that i guess ill have to try and pay for the other room or something.

most important is the $304 and then i also need to pay my past due storage ($262) so that i can put what i have with me in there if i end up not being able to secure the airbnb longer and have to go stay with my mom (she wont let me bring anything with me bc i have bedbugs)

...... just found out my phone has been shut off 😭

$59/$626 (cost of airbnb and storage and phone bill. not including food.)

Please help this Sudanese family get to safety!! Reblogs are much appreciated!!

ID: a tweet by @/LZReads that says "a SUNY student was suspended yesterday after taking down a zionist banner on campus. he said he would appreciate if people could sign and share his petition as widely as possible: (the above change.ORG petition)"

attached is a photo of the student, a young black man with dark mid length hair, wearing a grey and white keffiyeh and a coat with a furred hood.

end ID

From the text of the petition, it seems this student was physically assaulted by a Zionist administration member too. Quoted:

"The student did not approach Nicholson or threaten him in any way. As the student pulled the banner off, Nicholson stood and approached the student, grabbing them and pushing them to the ground. At this point, the student attempted to leave the office, but once again, Nicholson grabbed and restrained them, growing increasingly aggressive while the student remained nonviolent and called for help. Eventually, a third party stepped in, and the two were separated. The student recorded the entire incident, and the video clearly shows that Nicholson was the ONLY aggressor in this physical confrontation.

The Purchase College administration responded by suspending the student and opening a disciplinary proceeding against them. However, staff member Paul Nicholson has EXPERIENCED NO CONSEQUENCES FOR HIS UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR."

i am quite honestly very exhausted with this starbucks feminism that preoccupies itself with the centering of rich white feminine women in the neoliberal capitalist lens and typically no one else.

criticizing buying 100 stanley cups is misogynistic. criticizing taylor swift is misogynistic. margot robbie not getting nominated for an oscar is misogynistic. saying you dont like pink is misogynistic. not wanting to wear makeup is internalized misogyny. not liking romcoms or romance novels is internalized misogyny. thinking self-infantilization on the basis of it being an inherent trait of your gender is bad is internalized misogyny. these are the most pressing manifestations of misogyny. can we spare a thought for any woman not waiting in line at starbucks.

auto suggest bewilders me

No worries! I'm out walking

THE corpse

13 January 2024

Journalist Ahmed Hamdan documents the return of civilians to what remains of their homes in Beit Hanoun, north Gaza. IOF’s scorched earth policy is clear to see here. People trudge through mud where there were once paved streets, only to return to their homes to find them heavily damaged or destroyed. Yet they remain and persist, a testimony to the remarkable resilience of the people of Gaza.

Source: Ahmed Hamdan on Stories by Instagram

Don't even have sex

Unless you and your partner(s) want to, in which case: do have sex!

Absolutely fucking not

Oh I didn't realize you were a designated pro-sex star trek blog that's my bad. Sorry.

Donna Summer (1980)

First video is up. This was posted to my other socials besides being posted here, so give those a follow if you want to know when content like this is posted in the future.

Instagram: instagram.com/jaleesaspooky

TikTok: tiktok.com/@jaleesaspooky

Twitter: twitter.com/jaleesaspooky

Linktree: linktr.ee/jaleesaspooky