Abiding as Activism in the #ParallelState
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Desiree Reynolds [Sheffield]
Désirée Reynolds is a writer, editor, activist and creative writing workshop facilitator. She writes film scripts, short stories, poetry and flash fiction and her stories are in online and print anthologies. “Seduce”, her first novel, was published by Peepal Tree Press to much acclaim. Her fiction is concerned with Black women, internal landscapes, and a continuous struggle against the white, male gaze, notions of self, beauty, race and being. Désirée has been on numerous panels about literature and film, her two greatest loves, and she continues to work as a writer, journalist, teacher and broadcaster.
Chardine Taylor-Stone [she/her] - London
Chardine Taylor-Stone is an award-winning feminist activist. She is vice chair of the Musician's Union Equalities committee, co-founder of Socialists of Colour and drummer in Black femnist punk band Big Joanie. Chardine was also the founder of Black Girl’s Picnic, a movement in collective self care for Black women and girls, and Stop Rainbow Racism which worked to stop racist performances in LGBTQI venues. In 2017 she facilitated and guided the writing of the Women’s March London principles alongside other Black feminist women.
Chardine is currently working on her first book Sold Out: How Black Feminism Lost its Soul, a critical analysis of neoliberal influence on Black Feminist practice, to be published by Cassava Republic press in 2021. She is also studying a Qualifying Law Masters degree at Birkbeck, University of London, a natural career move which will allow her to continue her work in standing up for the rights and liberation of those who are oppressed under the current system.
Tiffany Diane Tso (she/her) from Asian American Feminist Collective [New York]
Tiffany Diane Tso is a freelance journalist and producer. Her writing focuses on topics surrounding culture, identity, art and advocacy. She has been published in Slate, Refinery29, Feministing and more. Twitter: @tiffanydian
Asian American Feminist Collective
Asian/American feminism is an ever-evolving practice that seeks to address the multi-dimensional ways Asian/American people confront systems of power at the intersections of race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, disability, migration history, citizenship and immigration status.
We engage in intersectional feminist politics grounded within our communities, including those whose backgrounds encompass East, Southeast, and South Asian, Pacific Islander, multi-ethnic and diasporic Asian identities. Through public events and resources, we seek to provide spaces for identity exploration, political education, community building, and advocacy.
Asian American feminism is a world-building project. The beauty of the Asian American feminist movement is that we can continue to shape and evolve it. We must constantly reflect upon and refine a political agenda that works for all of us. Our goal is to continue interrogating and defining this movement as well as producing different spaces and resources to build stronger coalitions, connect people in the Asian American community, and produce new ideas.
Jade Montserrat [Scarborough]
Jade Montserrat is an artist working through performance, drawing, painting, film, installation, sculpture, print and text. She is a recent recipient of the Stuart Hall Foundation Scholarship which supports her PhD (via MPhil) at IBAR, UCLan, and the development of her work from her black diasporic perspective in the North of England. Jade is part of a collective of UK arts workers who recently released a statement, 'We Need Collectivity against Structural and Institutional Racism in the Cultural Sector'.