*created by @m00nglades | support the creator*
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Header Image Description: Five pixelated flowers centered on a white background. At the far left there is a bright red rose with four light green leaves pointing upwards. To the right of the rose is a pink petaled flower with a golden bud with four drooping green leaves. In the center is a five petaled bright purple flower with a vine like stem. To the right of the purple flower is a red hibiscus. The flower of the hibiscus droops off to the right, and the stem holds three leaves pointing upwards. To the right of the hibiscus is a heavily pixelated baby blue flower with two thin leaves pointing upwards at the very bottom of its stem.
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This project is a love letter to the sick, disabled, Mad, queer, multiply marginalized internet. My life has been saved a thousand times over by people freely creating and sharing resources— in the sense of resources being portals to embodiment and self-accountability, and resources providing life-saving direct aid. I am deeply grateful for the internet as a tool for mutual aid, especially disabled mutual aid, as it has empowered me to sharpen a praxis of access.
What is a praxis of access?
It is a solidarity that rejects eugenics— the biological essentialist ideology that certain life is more valuable than others. It is inherently anti-ableist and anarchist. It is about refusing hierarchies and enacting sustainable alternatives built on radically meeting each other where we’re at. A praxis of access asks: what will you do to nurture a future for all instead of some?
I have created this work in solidarity with the lineages of folks who have been doing mutual aid and resisting imperialism for centuries. Specifically, this work could not have been possible if not for the lineages of Black feminism, Black/Indigenous resistance, disability justice, and for all the elders and peers I have encountered who have shared their wisdom freely and lovingly.
Archival, mapping, and creating systems have all been care work practices I have known since an early age to accommodate my disabilities before I understood them. And as the internet has become more ubiquitous, I used those skills to adopt a digital gardening practice— the work of tending, curating, and synthesizing my exploration of online ecosystems. This project is the cornerstone of that work. I have planted seeds here from my experiences as a technologist, a performer, an artist, a facilitator, a peer supporter, and a chronic lurker on social media. I’ve been ideating this project for half a decade and have no doubt that it will continue growing.
This work is an open palm I extend to the world— the truest offering of care I can make.
Image Description: Three line drawings lay on a white background. The left-most drawing is three concentric circles with an arrow on each circle. Underneath this drawing is the word “revisiting” in a plain, sans-serif font. The next drawing is a upward arrow. Underneath this drawing is the words “+ growing =” also in a plain, sans-serif font. Both of these drawings and the words “revisiting + growing =” are in a dark indigo color. The right-most drawing is an upward spiral with arrows indicating the upward direction, and the word “gardening” underneath. This drawing and the word “gardening” are in a bright, hot pink color. The words underneath the drawing spell the equation “revisiting + growing = gardening.” | Image Credit: Vincent Li
My work (the databases, guides/templates, and workshop content) will always be free to access and to share. Some of the resources listed in the databases may have different boundaries on how to share or use the work— please respect the author’s wishes in those cases.
I do not “endorse” any of these resources or authors. The resources in this guide are not meant to be pedestalized as the “only” **sources of information— neither are the people who created them, nor am I. ****My aim in this work is to compile resources that have helped me build my discernment and knowledge so I can pass that on to others. I will do my best to uplift the most marginalized in that pursuit, and am always open to feedback and criticism.