Hello, my loves. It’s been a while! My name is Reaux (she/they), and I am a third-year senior psychology major and sociology minor at Howard University. But more than that, I am someone who has spent the last 8.5 years pouring my heart into something far greater than myself—something that has shaped me, challenged me, and, in many ways, saved me. For nearly a decade, I ran Better Future Program, Inc. (BFP)—a global home for marginalized youth, dedicated to providing free educational resources, mutual aid, and a supportive space for disadvantaged communities. It was my heart, my purpose, my family. And through it, I learned some of the hardest and most painful lessons of my life. Because even in the home we had built for ourselves, we could not escape white supremacy. Even in a space meant for liberation, the burden of care, labor, and survival always fell on the backs of queer and disabled women of color. Even in the work we cherished, we felt compelled to give until there was nothing left of us. For nearly a decade, I carried BFP almost entirely on my own, save for a few volunteers of color who were just as exhausted, just as worn down. We tried everything—transformative justice, education, grace. We gave more chances than we had the capacity to give. And when those who harmed us refused to take accountability—when they twisted our care into something they could take from without giving back—we had to make the hardest decision of all. We had to let BFP go. Not just for survival, but for rebirth. Because I have learned that in order to grow into something greater, we must be willing to release what no longer serves us. As one podcaster I love, Ri Turner, says, expansion requires elimination—a truth that I have come to understand through both heartbreak and transformation. So no, BFP is no longer. That name is in the past. But we, the youth, are still here. And we are building again—this time with boundaries and sustainability at the forefront, and a love ethic that refuses our consumption. This is reclamation. This is the Embodied Futures Collective (EFC). Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more about how we built something new from the ashes of what was. The lessons we carried, the changes we made, the ways we restructured our foundation so that what happened before never happens again. But before I invite you inside, I need you to understand this: EFC is not just an organization. It is the reason many of us are still here. It is proof that we are more than what tried to implode us. It is a love story—one written in survival, in care, and in an unshakable belief that we deserve more than just getting by, especially in our current political climate. So, please, take my hand, and walk with us. We have so much to share with you! 🩷

-- Reaux <3

Will update as our revamp series continues, for accessibility!

This series also exists on LinkedIn, if you’d like to support us there as well!

—

Last Updated: Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at 11:40 pm ET

Need $50 for food pls help lol

Need an additional $75 to pay a bill as well

An enormous portion of fat people are poor, which means worse healthcare.

Rates of fat people are high in certain racial minorities like black people and Indigenous people. These people face racism, which means racism-induced poverty, lack of opportunities, lower socioeconomic status, worse quality of healthcare, lack of access to healthcare, among a plethora of other things.

Fat people face fatphobia, a form of oppression. This oppression causes fat people to face a wage gap, lower socioeconomic status, medical negligence, just to name a few things. There are studies that show that fat people receive worse healthcare, that doctors don't even do the same amount of tests on us because they don't want to touch our "disgusting" fat bodies. We avoid going to doctors until the very last minute so that we won't be subjected to fatphobia in medical treatment, which means our conditions are worse when we do finally see a doctor. We are always prescribed with weight loss instead of actually being examined. There are plenty of accounts of fat people dying with tumors because when they went to see a doctor about pain, the doctor told them it's their fault for being fat and didn't check for anything else.

When a group faces oppression, common ways to cope are things like smoking and drinking. Does the study take that into account?

On top of that, weight gain is often a symptom of a condition, not the cause of it.

And these are just the tip of the iceberg of things to consider when we hear about higher weights being correlated with certain health conditions. There are so many other factors too.

If we can understand how AIDS was mislabeled a "gay disease" when in reality being gay does not cause someone to have AIDS, then we can understand how fat people's oppression and the willful ignorance about causation vs. correlation has medicalized fatness too, another normal aspect of human diversity just like sexuality.

When someone invents a helmet and people who wear that helmet suddenly have an increase in rates of brain damage, correlation tells us that the helmets cause brain damage. When you actually look at the whole situation, you realize that the increase in brain damage is because the people who would have died in accidents have been saved by the helmets, so the increase is from people's lives being saved by the helmets and facing non-fatal injuries rather than death. But if we stop at "helmet = more brain damage," then we never actually understand the real causation and how the helmets are effective and saving lives.

Societies that begin to allow divorce suddenly see evidence of domestic violence and unhappy relationships, so the allowance of divorce must cause unhappy marriages, right? In reality, that domestic violence and those unhappy marriages have existed the whole time. Divorce has just given people the freedom to finally leave those situations, so now we're actually getting to hear about them.

Do we see how correlation does not equal causation and that believing it does only serves to medicalize oppressed communities and actually worsen health?

The original post here is from the woman who introduced me to size acceptance and started me down this path. I am grateful to her for sharing information, research, and tips for navigating fatphobia, including in the doctor's office.

As a wheelchair user I'm trying to reframe my language for "being in the way."

"I'm in the way," "I can't fit," and "I can't go there," is becoming "there's not enough space," "the walkway is too narrow," and "that place isn't accessible."

It's a small change, but to me it feels as if I'm redirecting blame from myself to the people that made these places inaccessible in the first place. I don't want people to just think that they're helping me, I want them to think that they're making up for someone else's wrongdoing. I want them to remember every time I've needed help as something someone else caused.

To the people saying this also applies to fat people - you are not derailing! This is true!!!

Yes! Redirect the blame to the right place. An inaccessible space is not a personal failing, it is a poor design choice made by the company and people who designed it to be inaccessible. We are not too far, the space is too small and it (and the people who made it) is at fault.

anti-fatness is not just body shaming.

anti-fatness is discrimination. anti-fatness is having next to no legal protections for being discriminated against. anti-fatness is being denied housing, jobs, receiving less pay and promotions (legally) because of your size. anti-fatness is being denied access to clothing, seating, transportation, and other human rights because infrastructure has been designed to exclude you. anti-fatness is less likelihood of receiving a fair trial. anti-fatness is dehumanization. anti-fatness is being denied necessary surgeries, but not surgery that amputates the digestive tract with the intent to starve and shrink you (it doesn’t work either). anti-fatness is mutilation. anti-fatness is being subject to torture devices that bolt your mouth shut. anti-fatness is being told by close friends, family, and professionals that you are better off living with an eating disorder or other life-threatening illness. anti-fatness sells you starvation as a guaranteed opt-out of oppression, but doesn’t tell you that bodies will always regain weight to survive. anti-fatness blames and punishes you for failing at an achievement that is quite literally impossible. anti-fatness is a $90 billion dollar industry. anti-fatness is being denied gender-affirming care. anti-fatness is being barred from in vitro fertilization and reproductive healthcare. anti-fatness is being barred from adopting children. anti-fatness is being removed from your loving parents because they couldn’t make you thin. anti-fatness is intentionally starving your own baby so they won’t get fat. anti-fatness is disproportionately high suicide rates. anti-fatness is being killed at the hands of medical neglect and mistreatment. anti-fatness is the world preferring a dead body over a fat one.

April Fool’s Day is in a few days, and I just wanted to make this clear. This blog is safe, and I can promise you no screamers, nothing emotionally abusive, no fake posts, and nothing to intentionally trigger dissociation. You are safe here.

happy tdov my loves. don't let anyone else define your transness for you.

help trans women evacuate gaza

I am legitimately so fucking sick of how normalized it is to sexually harass intersex people.

Look at this shit

The fucking like ratio. Why. Is it funny? Do people find it funny when we get sexually harassed? I've gotten this question a good 8 times.

This shit is so common

Perisex people find out we exist and they treat us like we only exist as sexual objects for them

It's so common that intersex teens online need to add disclaimers like this to their posts discussing being intersex, I've seen so many disclaimers similar to this on here as well as tik tok.

It just makes me so unbelievably sad that people do not respect us. They just don't. We're sexual objects or deformed freaks to most perisex people. It makes me so sad that we can't even talk about our lives online without being seen as walking fetish material.

And this happens irl as much as it happens online. In college settings, at queer bars, in queer spaces.

Can you hear us? Can you feel what we’re going through? Fear. Hunger. Death. A never-ending siege. The silence of the world hurts as much as the bombs.

We're crying out to your humanity—please don't look away. Speak about us. Stand with us. We're not okay. We're trying to survive.

This is not a nightmare. It's our reality.

Don't forget us. Do something—anything. Share. Donate. Repost. Help keep us alive.

>> Our campaign is vetted by gazavetters list at (#291) Momen & his family

help keep a queer mixes student housed 🥲

hi everyone again 🫀

im still only working 30hrs and i go to school ft live by myself and my only support system are my friends scattered across the country

im short on rent by $279 this month after i paid my v past due electric and i have until April 5th to get it together

bcuz of yall i was able to get house items keep bathbomb fedddd but if u have a couple bucks to spare id appreciate it my baby boy will also deeply appreciate staying secure if u cant please boost then 🫀

0/279

20/279

A Palestinian sight-disabled girl reads Qur’an written with Braille alphabet at the Dar Al Kitab Wa Al Sunna Association in Gaza City, Gaza, 2015. @Ashraf Amra

Hello, my loves. It’s been a while! My name is Reaux (she/they), and I am a third-year senior psychology major and sociology minor at Howard University. But more than that, I am someone who has spent the last 8.5 years pouring my heart into something far greater than myself—something that has shaped me, challenged me, and, in many ways, saved me. For nearly a decade, I ran Better Future Program, Inc. (BFP)—a global home for marginalized youth, dedicated to providing free educational resources, mutual aid, and a supportive space for disadvantaged communities. It was my heart, my purpose, my family. And through it, I learned some of the hardest and most painful lessons of my life. Because even in the home we had built for ourselves, we could not escape white supremacy. Even in a space meant for liberation, the burden of care, labor, and survival always fell on the backs of queer and disabled women of color. Even in the work we cherished, we felt compelled to give until there was nothing left of us. For nearly a decade, I carried BFP almost entirely on my own, save for a few volunteers of color who were just as exhausted, just as worn down. We tried everything—transformative justice, education, grace. We gave more chances than we had the capacity to give. And when those who harmed us refused to take accountability—when they twisted our care into something they could take from without giving back—we had to make the hardest decision of all. We had to let BFP go. Not just for survival, but for rebirth. Because I have learned that in order to grow into something greater, we must be willing to release what no longer serves us. As one podcaster I love, Ri Turner, says, expansion requires elimination—a truth that I have come to understand through both heartbreak and transformation. So no, BFP is no longer. That name is in the past. But we, the youth, are still here. And we are building again—this time with boundaries and sustainability at the forefront, and a love ethic that refuses our consumption. This is reclamation. This is the Embodied Futures Collective (EFC). Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more about how we built something new from the ashes of what was. The lessons we carried, the changes we made, the ways we restructured our foundation so that what happened before never happens again. But before I invite you inside, I need you to understand this: EFC is not just an organization. It is the reason many of us are still here. It is proof that we are more than what tried to implode us. It is a love story—one written in survival, in care, and in an unshakable belief that we deserve more than just getting by, especially in our current political climate. So, please, take my hand, and walk with us. We have so much to share with you! 🩷

-- Reaux <3

Will update as our revamp series continues, for accessibility!

This series also exists on LinkedIn, if you’d like to support us there as well!

—

Last Updated: Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at 11:40 pm ET

Day 6: Designing Our Logo!

What does embodiment look like in an image? How do you design a logo for a movement, a library, a collective rebirth?

When we first began designing EFC's logo, we knew it couldn't just be about aesthetics—it had to be about meaning. So, we asked ourselves:

We knew, above all else, a book had to be at the center. Our Liberation Library is our heart—our soil. But we also knew we needed to capture something more: the spirit of efflorescence.

Efflorescence is a word that found three of my closest friends and I last year. A fancier way to say "blossoming", yes, but it is also so much more than that. For us, it became a framework for how we desire our communities to grow—gently, expansively, and in deep connection with one another. It captures what EFC strives to offer: a space where growth is not rushed but nurtured, where transformation is not only possible but expected, and where knowledge and care intertwine. For us, it means:

That’s why my best friends and I wear lotus necklaces. Because to us, the lotus is not just a flower. It is a vow. A symbol of our shared commitment to healing, to growth, to becoming.

And now, it is a part of EFC too.

So, the logo needed two things, actually: a book and a lotus. Knowledge and rebirth. B.A. was the first to sketch it—pages fluttering open like leaves, a lotus blooming forth. A story taking root.

More sketches followed. N.C., P.N., C.Y., even my mother—all adding their care to the process. Every version held love. Every version brought us closer.

And then, I downloaded Adobe Illustrator on my iPad. I taught myself how to use the app that very night. I redrew the final logo with our color palette in mind—rich browns, marigolds, deep greens, and so on. And after a team-wide vote and a few refinements—adjusting the curve of the pages, softening the bloom—we had it!

Really, our logo is more than just a symbol. It is a reflection of our journey—from Better Future Program to Embodied Futures Collective. It carries the weight of growth, of lineage, of rebirth.

It is... a library in bloom, where youth, like stories, are not just preserved but invited to blossom! To effloresce!

-- Reaux (she/they), Founding Executive Director

Hello, my loves. It’s been a while! My name is Reaux (she/they), and I am a third-year senior psychology major and sociology minor at Howard University. But more than that, I am someone who has spent the last 8.5 years pouring my heart into something far greater than myself—something that has shaped me, challenged me, and, in many ways, saved me. For nearly a decade, I ran Better Future Program, Inc. (BFP)—a global home for marginalized youth, dedicated to providing free educational resources, mutual aid, and a supportive space for disadvantaged communities. It was my heart, my purpose, my family. And through it, I learned some of the hardest and most painful lessons of my life. Because even in the home we had built for ourselves, we could not escape white supremacy. Even in a space meant for liberation, the burden of care, labor, and survival always fell on the backs of queer and disabled women of color. Even in the work we cherished, we felt compelled to give until there was nothing left of us. For nearly a decade, I carried BFP almost entirely on my own, save for a few volunteers of color who were just as exhausted, just as worn down. We tried everything—transformative justice, education, grace. We gave more chances than we had the capacity to give. And when those who harmed us refused to take accountability—when they twisted our care into something they could take from without giving back—we had to make the hardest decision of all. We had to let BFP go. Not just for survival, but for rebirth. Because I have learned that in order to grow into something greater, we must be willing to release what no longer serves us. As one podcaster I love, Ri Turner, says, expansion requires elimination—a truth that I have come to understand through both heartbreak and transformation. So no, BFP is no longer. That name is in the past. But we, the youth, are still here. And we are building again—this time with boundaries and sustainability at the forefront, and a love ethic that refuses our consumption. This is reclamation. This is the Embodied Futures Collective (EFC). Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more about how we built something new from the ashes of what was. The lessons we carried, the changes we made, the ways we restructured our foundation so that what happened before never happens again. But before I invite you inside, I need you to understand this: EFC is not just an organization. It is the reason many of us are still here. It is proof that we are more than what tried to implode us. It is a love story—one written in survival, in care, and in an unshakable belief that we deserve more than just getting by, especially in our current political climate. So, please, take my hand, and walk with us. We have so much to share with you! 🩷

-- Reaux <3

Will update as our revamp series continues, for accessibility!

This series also exists on LinkedIn, if you’d like to support us there as well!

—

Last Updated: Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at 11:40 pm ET

This is possibly the most insane national security story in the last 50 years. Includes a massive text chain between senior members of the Trump admin gaming out foreign policy and war plans on Signal, and they accidentally added a reporter to the group chat.

Some of the issues:

Non paywalled version

TWO OTHER USERS SUBSEQUENTLY ADDED PRAYER EMOJIS

This security leak is a big deal but can we go back to this "freedom of shipping" suez canal thing

"we have to make it clear that we're bombing arabs SPECIFICALLY out of expectation of economic favors from europe for it"

just… what in the world?

archived version of the article