A Poem About “Finding the Queer Line”: Unseen, Unnamed, Unspoken

A Poem About “Finding the Queer Line”: Unseen, Unnamed, Unspoken

By Guneet KaurSJMAG_Lines2.jpg

Art by Nicole Zaridze

My piece is in conversation with Sarah Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology. I ponder her concept of orientation towards a set of lines which she describes as “lines that direct us, as lines of thought as well as lines of motion, are…performative: they depend on the repetition of norms and conventions, of routes and paths taken, but they are also created as an effect…

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A Poem About the White Gaze and the Surveillance of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color: The Looking Glass

A Poem About the White Gaze and the Surveillance of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color: The Looking Glass

By Tuli Chowdhury2 sorjo mag white gaze.png

Art by Nikita Kallu

The white gaze and how it leads to the surveillance of BIPOC persons. My poem voices how that surveillance serves as an apparatus of willfully ignoring humanity, effectively dehumanizing anyone in its path and depriving an individual of their unique history. Within this poem, the speaker critically analyzes the implications of that gaze and how it serves to…

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A Poem About About Surviving as a Former Kurdish Refugee and Migrant Woman: And I Will Live

A Poem About About Surviving as a Former Kurdish Refugee and Migrant Woman: And I Will Live

by Keça Filankes
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Art by Keça Filankes

And I will live.
And I will live fully.
For all my people who cannot.
Anymore.
Because you killed them.
I will live.
And I will live massively.
For all the ones like me.
But rejected at the border. 
I will live.
And I will live with flying colours.
For all the glowing faces.
Separated from their beloved.
I will live.
And I will live the most.
For the unborns.

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Sorjo’s January 2020 Favorites

Sorjo’s January 2020 Favorites

Sorjo has an incredible team of passionate creators from all over the world. Here are 7 of our favorites from t.v shows, an app for graphic designers, skin-care and more! 

Image from iOS

College by Hannah Karim

1. Sex Education

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Fabliha Anbar is the Editor in Chief and creator of Sorjo. One of her favorites from January was the Netflix original, Sex Education! She says: 

My favorite of the month has to be the…

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Teenage Beauty Queen: The Pressure of Being Perfect as a Teenager in the 21st Century

Teenage Beauty Queen: The Pressure of Being Perfect as a Teenager in the 21st Century

by Joyin Akinola

These following photos represents the struggle of being a teenager in the 21 century due to the pressure to be perfect.

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Meet the Photographer:
Joyin Akinola is a kind-hearted fourteen-year-old, who many say is wise beyond her years. Her passion for photography started when she was young, taking pictures on her parent’s phones. As she got older her passion only grew…

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A Poem About Black Ancestral Traditions: Scented Plums

A Poem About Black Ancestral Traditions: Scented Plums

by Samantha Liana
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Art by Kasmir Alyse (The Afrodigiac)

I caught a man last night.
He walked past the screened door
gloss from the window
making him look unused.
I buzzed him in.
Trapped him like grandma used to do
flies between swatter and newspaper.
Smell of nag champa and cocoa butter
led him like bethlem.

When he flew close I whispered
sing to me in his ears.
He rubbed his hands

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A Photo Series on Family Fights and Alienation: ĐừNg Có Làm Mẹ BuồN (“Don’t Make Mom Sad”)

A Photo Series on Family Fights and Alienation: ĐừNg Có Làm Mẹ BuồN (“Don’t Make Mom Sad”)

By Bryan Doan

“Đừng có làm mẹ buồn”was a phrase echoed throughout childhood during tumultuous family fights. I’ve always felt alienated, so I would mold myself into versions I believed would appease them (i.e “corporate business [cis] MAN”). I was born and raised in Minnesota, until a year ago, when I moved to New York. I felt even more isolated in my “pretty” new life and gig. Making art again…

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A Powerful Poem About Intergenerational Relationships and Domestic Trauma: Sentinel Gifts

A Powerful Poem About Intergenerational Relationships and Domestic Trauma: Sentinel Gifts

by Elizabeth Jaikaran
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Art by Genie Espinosa

Life has taken so much from granny.
but it left behind all of her fears.
A cabinet left unopened and unraided.
For that it has no use.
Her joys, her opinions, her memories —
she laid them down,
surrendered them. And they were collected
and packed away some place so far away
that she doesn’t know how to get there,
all while her amygdala…

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The Racial Tensions Between Bronzeville and Little Tokyo and the Impact of “Model Minority” Myth on Interracial Relations

The Racial Tensions Between Bronzeville and Little Tokyo and the Impact of “Model Minority” Myth on Interracial Relations

by Zubeda Newaz 

Historically, Asians and Asian-American immigrants were granted the “model minority” status which effectively created divides within the people of color community. By this, I mean inclusive of Black and Indigenous people. White Americans painted all Asian-Americans to be the ‘good immigrants’ because compared to other communities Asian-Americans were ‘making it big’.“During World…

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Atlanta Based Artist, SOFAHOOD, on the Importance of Creating Dreamy Illustrations with Queer People of Color

Atlanta Based Artist, SOFAHOOD, on the Importance of Creating Dreamy Illustrations with Queer People of Color

by Sanjeda Nayeem

When searching for inspiration to spark some creativity, I find myself going through my social media feed in search of some artwork that I can resonate with. However, after hours and hours of scavenging, I ended up only finding countless artwork of slim white girls that all started to look the same.

But after hearing from our social media manager, Amna Ali, about SOFAHOOD, I was…

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