Tasha Fierce

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TASHA FIERCE

purchase HOW TO BREATHE FIRE

 

TASHA FIERCE is a writer, artist, and mystic residing in the occupied Tongva territory known as Los Angeles.

A light brown skinned mixed Black femme smiles mischievously at the camera. They have mauve hair and are wearing sparkly turquoise eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and a rose gold and turquoise septum ring.

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The series is over for now, but the conversation i The series is over for now, but the conversation is ongoing ❤️🖤💚
#BlackSexWorkersMatter

Posted @withregram • @teasebyladawn Some of your favorite Black celebs have a sex worker past. I am getting social with @TashaJFierce to discuss their social media campaign that talks about the sex worker pasts of your favorite Black celebs, Black sex worker perceptions, their sex worker history and the push to decriminalize adult consensual sex work. Take a listen and learn something new about an issue that is impacting the community. 

Full interview can be found at "LaDawnBlackTV" on YouTube - #linkinbio

For more on the push to decriminalize sex work visit - @decrimsexwork #sexworkiswork
Y’all, this is the LAST contributor to Black sex Y’all, this is the LAST contributor to Black sex worker history we’re going to profile in this installation! I’ve had a lot of fun writing these up. Thank y'all so much for sharing the series and big ups to Gizelle Marie for commissioning it  💖 💖 💖

S.7||Josephine Baker – YES, the inimitable Josephine Baker was a sex worker. I got pushback for this one last year, too, from a Black woman even, it was wild. It was on some respectability politics shit, talking about we shouldn’t call what Ms. Baker did sex work for… reasons? Because it was art? Why can’t sex work be artistic? Why shouldn’t we be proud that one of our sex workers was revered by an entire nation?

It’s true that she herself didn’t call what she did sex work, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t. She also didn’t call herself queer, but we claim her. Things are complicated, language changes, and we don’t always get to live in our truth when we’re alive, whether for personal or structural reasons. Josephine Baker sold sex. She played to people's sexual desires; to make it more explicit, she danced topless. Today we would call that sex work.

And she did more than that. Ms. Baker was an artist and a force of nature. With the money she pocketed from white dudes ogling her she started a cosmetic company to capitalize on the brownface trend in France. With THAT money she sheltered Jewish refugees during WWII. 

Baker was a complex figure, for sure, but she is still a queer Black sex working ancestor—may she rest in power. And I know she would want to see Black sex workers sheltered. So, give today in Ms. Baker’s name to @thegizellemarie 's fund for the purchase of an apartment complex in NYC where Black sex workers can be safe!

PLEASE SHARE THE SERIES to help educate the people AND CLICK THE LINK IN MY BIO OR go to tinyurl.com/blacksexworkerfund TO DONATE TO THE BLACK SEX WORKERS RELIEF FUND!

Venmo @thegizellemarie
Cashapp $gizellemarie
Artwork & text by @tashajfierce

#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackFuturesMonth #BlackSexWorkersMatter #BlackSexWorkerHistory
#HeauxHistory #BlackLivesMatter #SexWorkIsWork #SexWorkersRights #SexWorkers
#BlackWomensHistoryWeek
S.6||Roxane Gay (@roxanegay74) is the best-selling S.6||Roxane Gay (@roxanegay74) is the best-selling author of over five books, including BAD FEMINIST and DIFFICULT WOMEN. She’s also one of only a few Black women, not to mention queer Black women, to write for Marvel Comics (WORLD OF WAKANDA)!

Along with being a brilliantly talented writer and editor, Dr. Gay is a visiting professor at Yale University, and she once did a stint as a phone sex operator in Phoenix. She wrote about her experience in HUNGER: A MEMOIR OF (MY) BODY, another best-selling book (and one I did finish). 

While Dr. Gay’s experience with sex work wasn’t exactly generative, it certainly didn’t define her or constrain her trajectory. Like most jobs. 

So just stop with the sex worker shaming. It's Puritanical as hell. And when you engage with it, you’re upholding cisheteropatriarchy, which is keeping ALL Black folk down—read about it. 

If you wanna make up for heaux shaming, go on and donate to @thegizellemarie 's fund towards the purchase of an apartment complex where Black sex workers can prosper!

PLEASE SHARE THE SERIES to help educate the people AND CLICK THE LINK IN MY BIO OR go to tinyurl.com/blacksexworkerfund TO DONATE TO THE BLACK SEX WORKERS RELIEF FUND!

Venmo @thegizellemarie
Cashapp $gizellemarie
Artwork & text by @tashajfierce

#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackFuturesMonth #BlackSexWorkersMatter #BlackSexWorkerHistory
#HeauxHistory #BlackLivesMatter #SexWorkIsWork #SexWorkersRights #SexWorkers
S.5||Maya Angelou – Dr. Maya Angelou was a legen S.5||Maya Angelou – Dr. Maya Angelou was a legendary writer and performer, a Poet Laureate, a Tony Award winner, and a Pulitzer Prize nominee—who also happened to be a sex worker. I know there was some pushback to her inclusion on this list last year because of the homomisia/lesbomisia she displayed in I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS (?—I think that’s where it was, I gotta be honest that I couldn’t finish that book 🤣), but people are complex beings, she was apparently known as supportive of queers by the time she died, and really, Black women are owed more grace than that. Plus, we ain’t got that many famous Black sex workers to work with here. So, Dr. Angelou stays.

Anyway, Dr. Maya Angelou was a prostitute, and she managed a brothel. This was well before she shared a stage with a president! She never hid who she was or tried to bury it under layers of respectability. It was just a part of her life. And when she felt that people weren’t giving that part of her life the respect it was due, she wrote an entire book about it (GATHER TOGETHER IN MY NAME). 

Maya Angelou became an ancestor on May 28, 2014, may she rest in power. Her words on shame and sex work are relevant to our cause:

“I wrote about my experiences because I thought too many people tell young folks, “I never did anything wrong. Who, Moi? – never I. I have no skeletons in my closet. In fact, I have no closet.”

We have no shame, no skeletons, and we’re out here for the Black sex workers with no closet, literally! No safe place to rest their heads. @thegizellemarie 's  dream is to buy an apartment complex in NYC where they can thrive. I hope you'll give today to make her dream a reality.

PLEASE SHARE THE SERIES to help educate the people AND CLICK THE LINK IN MY BIO OR go to tinyurl.com/blacksexworkerfund TO DONATE TO THE BLACK SEX WORKERS RELIEF FUND!

Venmo @thegizellemarie
Cashapp$gizellemarie
Artwork & text by @tashajfierce

#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackFuturesMonth #BlackSexWorkersMatter #BlackSexWorkerHistory
#HeauxHistory #BlackLivesMatter #SexWorkIsWork #SexWorkersRights #SexWorkers
S.3||Endesha Ida Mae Holland - A survivor of child S.3||Endesha Ida Mae Holland - A survivor of childhood sexual assault (shoutout to @mirror.memoirs), Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland was an academic, writer, activist, and playwright. Dr. Holland began sex work as an escape from the rampant sexual exploitation Black women domestic workers endured under their white employers, exploitation she personally experienced while babysitting. 

During the Civil Rights Movement Dr. Holland worked as a grassroots organizer in the South registering Black voters, but she continued to do sex work when money got tight. Later in her life she earned a doctorate in American studies and taught at USC—all the while being open about her experiences with sex work and even incorporating them into some of her plays. 

Dr. Holland is an ancestor now, gone home on January 25, 2006. May she rest in power. She left us these words on transformation to lift us up: “If you’ve been a ho’, be a doctor, too. If you’ve hurt a man, be a healer. The world began when you were born. It will be whatever you make it.” 

@thegizellemarie wants to make the world safer for Black sex workers. So do I. Help us by donating to buy an apartment complex where Black sex workers can live free of harassment.

PLEASE SHARE THE SERIES to help educate the people AND CLICK THE LINK IN MY BIO OR go to tinyurl.com/blacksexworkerfund TO DONATE TO THE BLACK SEX WORKERS RELIEF FUND!

Venmo @thegizellemarie
Cashapp $gizellemarie
Artwork & text by @tashajfierce

#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackFuturesMonth #BlackSexWorkersMatter #BlackSexWorkerHistory
#HeauxHistory #BlackLivesMatter #SexWorkIsWork #SexWorkersRights #SexWorkers
Well, it’s been a minute! I know I’ve been goi Well, it’s been a minute! I know I’ve been going through it and from what I understand @thegizellemarie has too. But it’s never too late to educate y’all on the lives & contributions of Black sex workers, and Black History/Futures Month is the perfect time to pick this up. So, let’s do this!!

S.4||Gabourey Sidibe (@gabby3shabby) is an Academy Award-nominated actress and author of the best-selling memoir THIS IS JUST MY FACE: TRY NOT TO STARE. You can also catch her with @janellemonae in @antebellumfilm – sis JUST got an @naacpimageaward nom for that performance! Congrats! 👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽

Ok, so did y’all know that sex work can be good experience for other types of work, too? In Ms. Sidibe’s case, working as a phone sex operator gave her experience “leading with her personality”, and taught her to be unafraid to ask for what she wants—two vitally important skills for an actress and director (“Tale of Four”). In her memoir, Sidibe shares this wisdom on sex work, exploitation, and achieving your goals:

“I’ve had acting roles that I felt demeaned me as much if not more than the phone sex calls. I took those roles because it was my job to take them and because the relationships and experience I’ve gained will eventually allow me to create and play my own characters. I want to tell my own stories, and someday soon I will.”

We want all Black sex workers to be able to tell their own stories and realize their dreams in a safe space—that’s why we're asking y’all to give towards @thegizellemarie ‘s dream of buying an apartment complex in NYC and turning it into a haven just for us.

PLEASE SHARE THE SERIES to help educate the people AND CLICK THE LINK IN MY BIO OR go to tinyurl.com/blacksexworkerfund TO DONATE TO THE BLACK SEX WORKERS RELIEF FUND!

Venmo @thegizellemarie
Cashapp $gizellemarie
Artwork & text by @tashajfierce


#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackFuturesMonth #BlackSexWorkersMatter #BlackSexWorkerHistory
#HeauxHistory #BlackLivesMatter #SexWorkIsWork #SexWorkersRights #SexWorkers
had to post before bed so if i die in my sleep eve had to post before bed so if i die in my sleep everyone knows i was this fine
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(that’s pretty much where my mind’s at—the suffocating and unbroken wave of death that has been the last 11 months—so yesterday i decided to try some femme magic)
about a month ago i attended a very well-executed about a month ago i attended a very well-executed seminar created by @rootsofresistance & sponsored by Reclaim UGLY ( @the.ugly.black.woman ) on African plants in skincare. it inspired me to think about making my own stuff again, but in a more accessible way. i used to make a lot of balms and emulsions and creams, but i don’t have the space or the equipment for those preparations anymore. clay masks are easy, require only a utensil to mix, and the ingredients don’t take up too much room. i’m also following the instructions from the seminar to make some herb-infused oils and i’m excited to start using those when they’re ready.

this mask i did is rhassoul clay, white clay (kaolin), rose hip powder, and yogurt powder, with some essential oils (ylang ylang, sandalwood) for luxurious scent. i think i wanna dial back on the essential oils next time, though, because it was a little strong and burn-y and i dunno if the fragrance is why. my skin is sensitive to random shit. 

it worked pretty well! the lighting in my house is fucked up per usual, so you probably can’t tell, but my skin was super soft and glowy afterwards. 

uhh, you probably CAN tell that i cut my hair. it was about 3 weeks ago, but that’s a story for another day. the conclusion is: that head of hair was dissatisfied and dissatisfying. i’m more disabled than i was when i started that set of dreads/locs and i don’t have the energy to cultivate my hair anymore. i both need and desire to let it do what it do. so i’m washing it and not combing it and whatever it decides to shape itself into is what it will be. much like my self. 

hope y’all had an appropriately reflective national day of mourning. happy full moon in gemini! ♊️🤍
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