INTRO

A care rider asks different questions which could be oriented towards work conditions (physical, social infrastructure etc.), access needs, and /or, based on bids for care. These can be fluid and always renegotiated. These questions and points of attention are based on readings from “Care Work: dreaming disability justice” by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarsinha and the work of Ndeye Oumou Sylla, and conversations with friends, some previous work on care riders with Ariel Feminisms and Aesthetics and Lim Collective (based on artistic caretaking with Fazle Shairmohamed) and practices within Co.Opulence collective with xiri tara noir.

My neurospicy divergent mind/body(-ies) struggles with a hijacked nervous system from c-ptsd and also daily violences from living in an ableist anti-black and trans /queer world (the world is much vastly than our socially constructed global world yes!). I might experience periods of flaring up with chronic fatigue, IBS (autoimmune bowel disease), burn out, insomnia, pain, anxiety and depression. Which means that at times, I cannot be productive in a consistent way and might need to reduce working hours.
Make it part of a collaborative practice if we are to engage in work (or life) together to have regular check-ins in terms of energy and capacity and plan accordingly.

NEW CONNECTIONS

You can always send an email to me to sallllamtoro@bodyhacker.love if you want to connect.

I am moving away from social media slowly since sexy fascism is back! (it’s never been gone!) and living in the tycoons that own and control these platforms. I’ll be using this space (I know, it’s so one-sided!) for sharing my work and pieces of my life.

FOR INSTITUTIONS

If you are thinking of approaching me for some kind of work inquiry or invitation please do so via email: sallllamtoro@bodyhacker.love and include information about how/when you have encountered my work and why you would be interested in collaborating, and how you would see this potential collaboration unfold. I also appreciate some information about yourself/institution you are part of and how you work, and some initial expectations for the work. I am interested in a dialogue as well about this last part but some initial reflections/thoughts about this would be useful. 

Please present a budget regarding fee, production budget (materials, preparation, etc), assistance with travel and accommodation (if I am required to travel) with a contract later after the initial agreement to collaborate.

I am not prioritising short-term collaborations for, they take more energy and building trust and reciprocity becomes more difficult to do. I am interested in developing long-term collaborations and building relationships within the fields I work in and within organising too. You can always try me with your proposal of course.

⛔ TOKENISM / DIVERSITY INCLUSION 🚫

I am not interested in being included in poor diversity gimmicks nor the optics of diversity and inclusivity, nor in being the only person of color, gender and sexually diverse person involved in your work/event (read that again!).

I am also not interested in panel talks about diversity and inclusion because in my opinion, this is liberal hoax talk! As Leah Lakshmi Pietza-Samarsinha writes, “inclusion without leadership is just tokenism”, which means, just involving black, queer, trans people (or other marginalised folks) in your event /institution is not enough. Are we actually seeing these bodies in positions of power? And if so, what kind of politics do they practice? Are they subscribing to liberal, normative ideals of leadership? Are they confronting systems of violence and making space for others like them to take space, or are they just filling an empty role? Are they hired because of their talent, expertise, experience and work, or is it just a tokenist hire? I invite you to think more critically about these matters if you truly wish to be ‘inclusive’ in your work / practice.

ACCESS NEEDS

Matters of accessibility are important for me as a black neurospicy queer trans body, practicing artist, collectivist and organiser while working in the culture and arts field. I want you to think about involving visibly racialized and specially black, queer, trans, gender nonconforming, femmes, crip, audiences when curating/producing work that engages my own and making spaces accessible to them.

Make sure that your institution/space is wheelchair accessible and that bathrooms and mixed-gendered. Think further: soap neutral dispenses, wheelchair accessible bathrooms (not only entrances and exits), sign language interpretation (ASL) and different language translations available. 

If you are interested in creating your own personal care rider here’s a working document template I have written for a workshop for Ariel Feminisms.

Click on the link below or on the document in the left.