4 things to wind you up or wind down with this week

What to watch:

Unique Woman’s Coalition CommuniTy Celebration

A Black trans-led organization from Los Angeles is holding a virtual fundraising event to elevate and empower the voices and narratives of trans people of colour. The Unique Woman’s Coalition CommuniTy Celebration will be hosted by Drag Race alum Gia Gunn as well as Chela Demuir, founder of the Unique Woman’s Coalition. The event will feature musical performances from notable Black trans artists including: Big Freedia, Shea Diamond, Jaila Simms, Calypso Jete Balmain, Royce Hall and more. Amid the multiple murders of Black trans people this year, this fundraiser shines a light on the Unique Woman’s Coalition, which has worked to serve the community for over 20 years. Proceeds will help the organization continue to provide assistance to those in need—like legal services, food and clothing pantries and access to mental health groups. Viewers can RSVP for free or donate to the Unique Woman’s Coalition GoFundMe campaign. The event will stream on Youtube at 6 p.m. EST on July 11, with all proceeds going to the Unique Woman’s Coalition.

What to read:

A History of My Brief Body, Billy-Ray Belcourt

In a novelistic series of queer essays and texts, Billy-Ray Belcourt reflects on the complexities of gender, sexuality and colonialism as someone who identifies as an NDN queer person. The memoir A History of My Brief Body begins with an endearing letter to his kokum, or grandmother. Belcourt, a member of the Driftpile Cree Nation, reflects on his early life in the hamlet of Joussard, Alberta, through first loves, sexual exploration and the act of writing as survival. The novel then expands, exploring the broken world around him as an adult and the joys that seem to flourish in spite of it. Coming to understand his body, queerness and Indigenous heritage, the 24-year-old award-winning poet examines past anger, shame and ecstasy, while outlining a way forward. The American edition is available for pre-order and will be released on Amazon July 14; the Canadian edition comes out August 25.

What to listen to:

“For No One” by STORRY

JUNO-nominated singer STORRY shared the song “For No One” last month in honour of Pride month, and now the music video is set to be released on YouTube. The Toronto artist unveiled the single on June 25 as part of her forthcoming EP, Interlude-19—a conceptual piece coming out later this year. The song is the artist’s ode to love, sex and a sexuality that has “no limits.” STORRY collaborated with Toronto-based photographer and director Karimah Issa to shoot the music video, and recorded the upcoming EP during quarantine. The “For No One” music video is set to be released on STORRY’s YouTube channel July 14.

What to look at:

Win Mixter’s Market Street of queer history

A queer illustrator based in San Francisco turned a main thoroughfare, Market Street, into a physically-distanced art show as the city celebrates 50 years of Pride. Win Mixter’s “Pride is a Protest” project is a collection of 36 black-and-white posters featuring people, places and protests that are significant to queer history. The black-and-white graphics are a protest against rainbow capitalism and harken back to the roots of Pride as a form of resistance, rebellion and radical self-expression. His collection includes images of deaf and trans Chicano activist Dragonsani “Drago” Renteria and Adrienne Fuzee, one of the two Black lesbian curators working in the U.S. in the 1990s. Viewers can scan the QR code in the lower left-hand corner of each poster to learn more about the subject and view a map of where they are located. Those outside of San Francisco can view the full list of graphics and stories on the “Pride is a Protest” website.