ABOUT JULIE
Julie (they/them) is an Asian-American queer, & disabled educator living on ancestral Neshnabé lands. Julie teaches high school social studies, organizes with A Just Chi & Education Workers for Palestine - Chicago, & creates art for important causes in their free time. Julie was awarded an Abolitionist Teaching Network Queer Educator grant in 2021. They live on the South Side of Chicago with their wife and dog.
Photos by Ama Merrell Photography
LIBERATORY VISION
In all work, dreaming, & collaborations, Julie strives to move closer to their vision of a liberatory future. That future includes an end of capitalism, land back to Indigenous stewards from Turtle Island to Falasteen, reparations for survivors of state-sanctioned violence, abolition of the prison industrial complex, free housing & health care for all, the end of borders, equitably funded public education, celebrations of all queer & trans identities, transformative justice, and, above all, communities of care. Central to that future is Black, Indigenous, queer, trans, intersex, fat, disabled, & neurodivergent liberation.
LIBERATORY FAMILY
Julie’s work is only possible because of the family that supports them, particularly:
Ama (they/she, Julie’s wife), who is a photographer, storyteller, & artist
Laurie (she/her, Julie’s sister), who is a data analyst & transit activist working on projects such as Ghost Buses & organizing in her neighborhood with the Rogers Park Free Store
Katie (she/her, Julie’s mom), who doesn’t have an internet presence but is essential to their work
Erick (he/him, friend), who is going to disrupt the medical system for years to come!
as well as Nina, Jack, & Madison!
Photo by Ally Almore
LIBERATORY INSPIRATIONS
Julie’s work is only possible because of the ancestors they have learned from, including (but not limited to):
Audre Lorde
bell hooks
Karen Lewis
Marsha P Johnson
Paulo Freire
Sylvia Rivera
Julie’s work is only possible because of the living writers & organizers they have learned from, including (but not limited to!):
Angela Davis
Arundhati Roy
Bettina Love & her book, We Want to Do More Than Survive
Colson Whitehead & his book, The Underground Railroad
Eve L. Ewing & her books, 1919 & Ghosts in the School Yard
Fatimah Asghar & her poetry collection, If They Come for Us
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha & her books, Care Work & The Future Is Disabled (as well as Beyond Survival, which they edited)
Mariame Kaba & her essay collection, We Do This 'Til We Free Us
Teju Cole & his essay collection, Known and Strange Things
LIBERATORY ARTISTS
Julie’s work is only possible because of the artists they admire & learn from, including (but not limited to!):