Bi's 2015 year [Updated Daily]

A lot has happened in 2015. I accepted a full-time position that took me away from writing and sharing reviews for a while as I became acclimated to the work and position. But I never stopped writing, see below for the big book I've written and how you can get your hands on it!

I've had a lot of up and down this year, but when I feel down I look back at all I've accomplished this year. Here are the items I can recall and want to include in my legacy/archive. Hope you enjoy!

January

No more cancerous cells on my cervix!

February

• Taught my first webinar: Demystifying LatiNegra Sexualities via ISEE
• Spent the month in NOLA helping a friend recover from cancer
• My interview on Cervivor TV discussing sex and sexuality after cancer was featured

March

• Attended the Cleveland International Film Festival for work and welcomed the trans community to view the film
• Met an online friend in Cleveland of several years for the first time, Justin
• Completed teaching a 4 week online course on Using Media in the Social Justice Classroom with Bank Street College of Education.

April

• Cosmopolitan Magazine featured me and my work with WOCSHN in the field of sexuality in Why We Need More Sex Educators of Color. 
• I was featured in the 4UMag speaking on the The Hierarchy is Crap: Trials and Tribulation of the Sex Writer. 
• The New York Times asked me to comment on what sexuality education needs and I was featured in their round up. 

May

• The Academy of Adolescent Health awarded WOCSHN our first award and it's for social justice!

June

• Tristan Taorimino invited me to her podcast to discuss my work in the field of sexuality and with WOCSHN. Listen to the podcast titled "Challenging Mainstream Ideas of Sexuality."
• I was on Huffington Post Live discussing queer sex and barrier methods. I am the Max Headroom in the feature. See the video here. 
• Bitch Magazine featured my boo @dopegirlfresh and me in their coverage of #BlackOut day on Tumblr (we are the center on the left giggling together)

July

• I turned 37 and it was the first birthday without speaking to my mother. She is dying of Alzheimer's. I celebrated in NOLA.
• NPR interviewed me for a conversation on Sexuality Education featuring my homegirl Lena Solow, an amazing white sex educator who gets and practices racial and economic justice!
• I built with some amazing WOC on a grant to make online violence targeted toward us end

August

• I finished writing a book, a curriculum of 13 lesson plans called What's the REAL DEAL about Love and Solidarity? that centers young Black femmes. You can purchase it until the end of 2015 for $200 and it comes with 3 short films written by youth and directed by Hollywood directors that center the curriculum. It is rooted in social emotional learning, aligns with the common core state standard in ELA, and is a call to action for educators and youth: who do you want to be and what world do you want to live in?

September

• WOCSHN won the Catalyst Award from Catalyst Con West for our work towards racial justice in the US sexuality field

October

• I presented at the first ever Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians conference in Philidelphia, PA representing my personal work on the LatiNegrxs Sex Survey, discussing the work we've accomplished at the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN), and representing my full-time job, which won an award for one of our short films centering a young Black trans student.
• I was on a panel about Latinx activism at La Casa Azul bookstore in Harlem discussing my work with The LatiNegrxs Project and being a femme elder
• I shared some narratives from The LatiNegrxs sex Survey at a AfrxLatinx reading event in Harlem at the Schomburg Center for Latinx Heritage Month
• I created a list of Resources for Black trans people and communities 

November

• Latina Magazine selected me as their Women Crush(ing the Patriarchy) Wednesday's
• Devi Ward invited me to talk with her and shared that interview on Thankstaking day tune in to Sex Is Medicine to hear more.
• Rutgers University invited me to speak about my work as a queer LatiNegra media maker and the film I'm working on BLACK PERVERT
• Latina Magazine included my story of choosing an IUD as my birth control method in #ThxBirthControl coverage
• I decided to get certified by AASECT as a Sexuality Educator and began fundraising. I am asking racially white people in the field to put their money where their talk about racial justice is for our field!

December

• My AASECT Certification as a Sexuality Educator came in the mail December 24, 2015.
  
• My interview with Dawn Serra (link forthcoming) discussing WOCSHN, BLACK PERVERT, and being in the field.
• Student responses to my curriculum have come in by those whose educators implemented it and the responses are amazing! So affirming!

Presenting at Rutgers November 12, 2015

At 8pm join me if you can! Free and open to the public. 604 Bartholomew Road.  

I'll be presenting new never seen before. Lips of the feature length documentary film BLACK PERVERT centering the stories of Black Latinx/LatiNegrxs

#ThxBirthControl

I'm thankful for my paraguard IUD (the non-hormonal option that lasts 9+ years) because growing up in a family of Puerto Rican women who remember the original birth control pill trials at home and how some women died, hormonal methods have scared me. I have an instantly effective long term non hormonal option that gives me power with my body not just over it. My IUD allows me to enjoy my body and sexual experiences with my partners because pleasure for women of color is essential.