February 2024 Update
ID: "February Monthly Update. www.freedomoklahoma.org/news" on a background image of a work station with a quilt project
As we kick off February, think about the pieces of this patchwork of advocacy you’re willing to take on.
Last year, when I went to my first sewing session of the Oklahoma Quilt Memorial, I was nervous. Not only had I never quilted, I had never sewn anything before. Further, like a lot of autistic folks, I sometimes struggle with tasks that require refined fine motor skills. But, the project needed folks willing to sew, willing to try. And, with a supportive teacher, and an accessible starting point (improv quilting), I started my first quilt. And finished it, in collaboration with the project’s organizer, Katrina Ward. And then I helped finish a few more, with blocks contributed by folks from all over the country. I made mistakes. I can see the imperfections in my hand-sewn bindings, and even the progress made in each edge of a quilt. And while I have big plans for refining my sewing skills, they’ve served me well as a creative outlet in building patchwork improv quilts.
Quilt Description: As part of their Community Remembrance Project, the Equal Justice Initiative the Community Soil Collection Project gathers soil at lynching sites for display at the Legacy Museum in exhibits bearing victims’ names. Because the soil remembers. Even when people would prefer to bury the truth. We wanted to evoke that sense of the stories rooted in the Tulsa soil, with Red Dirt, an improvisational quilt recognizing the death, destruction, and resilience the land that makes up Greenwood, past and present, has witnessed. This quilt was a project of both skill sharing and collaboration between Katrina Ward (she/they) who taught and guided novice quilter Nicole McAfee (they/she) through the construction of their first quilt. The quilt in and of itself displays a commitment to learning and growing together through each of its imperfections. Photo by Nate and Katrina Ward for Oklahoma Quilt Memorial. ID: photo of a red and brown quilt with purple ties.
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My journey through quilting has led to lots of other pursuits, including revisiting the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial quilt, in both its original and ongoing iterations, and the critiques (it was too palatable for something causing so much death and despair) and celebrations (it’s a living memorial that allows tangible interactions and memorializes those we lost and continue to lose to HIV/AIDS) of the project along the way. It has made me think more expansively about the critical role of art and artists in movement spaces, about the power of skill sharing and engaging more people through mediums they might not think of as traditionally 2SLGBTQ+, about what we have been given from queer ancestors and elders before us, and what we leave to the future relatives and elders, generations from now.
Quilt description: The Greenwood block (spelled out in letters GREEN in green and WOOD in brown) at the center of the quilt is assembled with strips from a memorial panel for Clinton Wilding Smith as part of the Names Project. Clinton Wilding Smith was a dancer and choreographer. He died of AIDS in 1994 at the age of 40. If you look closely, you can see occasional pieces of red thread, which quilter Kathleen Doherty chose purposefully for good luck. The block is quilted onto black fabric with red binding. Red, a color central to advocacy, awareness, and memorialization of those impacted by HIV AIDS, sized as a wall hanging, serving as a reminder of the ways our liberation is bound together. Photo by Nate and Katrina Ward for Oklahoma Quilt Memorial. ID: photo of a quilt square with letters that spell out GREENWOOD in green fabric for GREEN and brown fabric for WOOD. The square is set in the center of black fabric with a red border.
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I’m not just telling you about quilting because you might on occasion see me with a needle and thread at the Capitol, hand-sewing binding on my latest project. But, because I love an extended metaphor, AND it has been helpful for me to think about the patchwork of our movement work, and how we each may take up the effort to add to or restart or mend or map out the next piece of our quilt. Because in the end, the goal is the same: a finished quilt. A blanket. A comforter. A movement pieced together that provides us all a sense of safety, a sense of collective effort to create some comfort, something beautiful and priceless, and imperfect, that we hope will last and shift and be repurposed as needed, for generations yet to come. Quilting gives me a sense of tangible intersectionality of our work through a medium and a project that is intergenerational, and brought people together from across and beyond Oklahoma. And as I look at the challenges and obstacles that lay in front of us in 2024, in and beyond the legislative session, I think about it like my next quilt project. What materials do I need? What pieces might fit together? Are there skills I don’t have that I need? This project is looking pretty big, who can I call in for support? What do I want this to look like, to feel like when I am done? How will I know if I need to rip a seam and start over, or pick up a needle I’ve set down?
ID: photo of Nicole McAfee in a green top, wearing a black mask with a white piece of masking tape on it, sewing a red and brown quilt in their lap, binding clips visible, on the front steps of the Oklahoma Capitol during a 2023 protest
So, I’m asking you as we kick off February, to think about the pieces of this patchwork of advocacy you’re willing to take on. Ahead of HIV is Not a Crime Day on February 28 and National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on February 7, can you plug into our HIV decriminalization work, can you reach out to committees about hearing proposals that advance that work legislatures (HB 4139 and SB 1418), can you share resources to make sure you and the folks in your life know their HIV status? Or, maybe you’re into the patchwork of a tracking spreadsheet we’ve built to amplify what we’re keeping an eye on this session, and you want to reach out about how you can amplify that advocacy or plug in on a particular bill effort? Or, as we celebrate our third annual Youth Action Month (YAM), maybe you can make sure youth are aware of all of the opportunities to plug into creative advocacy outlets with our Freedom Oklahoma team. Maybe your piece of the work is letting folks know that they might have a local school board election on the ballot February 13, or helping folks plug into local school board advocacy as more and more attacks target students across the state. Or maybe your quilt square is mutual aid work, or community joy building, or something you’re still dreaming up. Maybe it starts with giving to support our work year-round. Whatever it is, we need you. Because each of our threads together is what ensures we’re creating something that can stand the pressures of the political moments we’re facing. And the only way it’s going to be big enough to support us all, is if we craft it together.
In this season, may we all resist the temptation of despair.
In Solidarity,
Nicole McAfee (they/she)
Executive Director
Important Links and updates:
February Community Groups
Legislative Session is in full swing- now is the time to join us to mobilize our efforts for the betterment of ALL Oklahomans! Join us Tuesday, February 20th, 4-530pm to discuss updates, events, and ways to plug into community efforts. As always, we will have space to discuss participants' joys and struggles. If you have updates or skill shares, bring those too!
Full Schedule:
Teachers, Educators, & School Staff: Tuesday, Feb 20th, 4-530pm
Parents, Guardians, & Caregivers: Wednesday, Feb 21st, 430-6pm
Students & Youth: Thursday, Feb 22nd, 430-530pm
Youth Action Month (YAM) 2024
It's that time of year again: Youth Action Month (YAM) starts NOW! This year we have expanded events throughout the month, and we look forward to seeing what social justice issues matter to you through your art.
“What is YAM?”
We’ve cataloged resources, videos, and tips to assist 2SLGBTQ+ young people in finding and using their voice and their power. These modules and activities will provide you with the tools you need to enact change in YOUR community. YAM is all about celebrating the work young Oklahomans have done and will do in the future. With so much legislation that seeks to harm and erase 2SLGBTQ+ students, YAM is your reminder that you belong in Oklahoma. Find out more on the Youth Action Month webpage!
We have several events throughout the month, as well as an opportunity in the coming months to showcase the art you make for YAM 2024! YAM Resources are open to all ages, but events are open to youth and young adults up to age 24.
Coming Up: HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day - Feb 28th
February 28th is HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day, which was first observed in 2022 by the Sero Project in collaboration with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. This awareness day is an opportunity to amplify the voices of those who have been criminalized based on their HIV status and bring awareness to the harms and violence of HIV criminalization laws established in various states–including Oklahoma. Need some ideas on how to participate? Check out the Sero Project’s HINAC Day Toolkit here.
Want to get plugged into the work being done in Oklahoma to end HIV criminalization? Sign up for more info!