Connek Ja x We Change Jamaica x Yardy x RAGGA NYC raise funds to support Jamaican queers during Covid
Connek JA in partnership with We Change Jamaica, Yardy World, and RAGGA NYC, are raising funds to aid lesbian, bisexual, and trans (LBT) women, queer artists during Covid and bring the Connek 2022 trip to life. For this campaign we are marrying two missions to support and celebrate queer artists and LBT women living in Jamaica. The We Change Jamaica mission is to combat economic injustice and marginalization by gaining economic independence for LBT Jamaican women especially during this time of economic struggle that has only worsened due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Connek JA mission is to make space where queer Jamaican artist and creatives along with our allies—can feel safe and aided with resources through our yearly Connek trip,year-round events and commissioned projects.
Through crowdsourcing our extended communities we aim to raise $20,000 for:
We Change’s training workshops and direct relief for LBT Jamaican women affected by the Covid.
Connek JA’s fufillmet of paying local artists, Connek JAmaican staff and small businesses for the Connek JA 2022 trip and funding recurring queer events in Jamaica
JAMAICA’S COVID PANDEMIC, THE QUEER COMMUNITY AND MORE CONTEXT
The Covid-19 pandemic has not just been a health crisis globally but a financial disaster to everyone globally and especially for third world nations. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on the Jamaican economy because of the country’s heavy reliance on tourism and the closing of its borders, businesses and schools to prevent the spread of the virus. With that said there is no financial assistance system in Jamaica like unemployment and the Jamaican citizens have only received the equivalent of an $65 USD in a stimulus check to only 20,000 people (on an island of 2.961 million people) from the sitting Prime Minister at the start of the pandemic. In tandem the Jamaican government has put in place Jamaica on a curfew that has yet to be lifted, countless aggressive national lock downs that have stifled local businesses that exist outside the resort industry, which have received continued support during the pandemic from the government. The shutdowns have made it illegal for residents to leave their residents from Saturday to Tuesday with only one small 4 hour window of activity available on Saturday mornings. The only people allowed to move about the country of Jamaica during these lockdowns are tourists to and from a set of handpicked resorts. Not civilians. This has had a huge impact on everyday civilians and especially queer people living on the island already struggling to make a living in a country where vaccines are rare and hard to obtain. The pandemic has also highlighted the ways in which bias and prejudice against queer people can present additional barriers to obtaining necessary resources and assistance especially during heighted times of need. Jamaica’s history of homophobia and transphobia has been well-documented, and organizations like J-FLAG (The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays) have called specific attention to the links between employment and medical bias and the disproportion rate at which members of Jamaica’s queer community have been negatively affected by COVID. One of their survey reports that “close to 90% of LGBT people have been negatively affected, experiencing displacement, unemployment and inability to access health services.” This struggle is not only being faced by queer people in Jamaica; it is occurring globally. The United Nations released a statement in May of 2020 acknowledging that the inequalities experience by queer people prior to the pandemic made them more susceptible to being amongst the most negatively impact by COVID-19.
UPLIFTING AND CENTERING BLACK QUEER JOY
Queer people of color are not taught to think about our future. We spend so much of our lives digging up our history, focusing on survival, and legal safety of our present especially during COVID. In this time of plague, climate and economic crisis when making plans feels futile and overwhelming we work as a coalition to remember this: Imagining queer futures, queer joy, and queer togetherness is a righteous act. During the 2022 Connek JA annual trip we employ, celebrate, center and commission Jamaica based queer talent, artists, small business and queer activits to be apart of thr trip to showcase their work, celebrate and be in communion with us. There is need to supply the queer people of Jamaica with reasoruces while this Cocid 19 pandemic still wages hardship onto the community but we don’t want to just help the community survive. We want to assist the community to thrive! We want to encourage growth, celebration and dream building. This is why for the 2022 calendar year Connek is working with its Connek ambassadors and artists through out the queer community in Jamaica to commision them for art projects and skill building. This work is a way to encourage the queer community to indeed thrive and imagine the future of possibilities as the queer libration movement in Jamaica grows.