Life 4 All Issue 6 | The Pride Issue

JUNE 2021

PUBLISHED BY LIFE4ALL

June 2021. ISSUE NO. 6

The Art of Making A Difference: A Conversation with Jonovia Chase Special Feature: Sista Afya Chipping away stigma, One picture at a time Special Feature: Howard Brown Health Pride Month

LIFE4ALL

ISSUE Pride South Side Special Feature: Project Vida "I Choose Me, today and Tomorrow": Behind the scenes with Samantha Caballero Fighting Covid together Special Feature: AIDS June 2021. ISSUE NO. 6

Foundation Chicago

The Art of Making A Difference: A Conversation with Jonovia Chase Jonovia Chase is a New York-based event producer and organizer. With a glorious career that has taken her through the nonprofit world to public health, community organising and now to the world of production as the ballroom coordinator at Pose, she has made a difference with every step she took. A dancer at heart, she has been a pioneer in addressing intersectional justice, creating safe spaces for the community and accelerating systemic change. We had the opportunity to sit with her through a phenomenal conversation and here is how it went.

Could you please say a little bit about your background?

I grew up between east Baltimore, MD and the Bronx, NY so I consider myself a hybrid, but I’m totally a New Yorker at this point. Growing up I was always a creative person known to be a dancer. Fun fact I was definitely the kid to go get to battle on any block back in my neighborhood in Baltimore lol. No wonder I found ballroom, I always loved the competitive edge or performing but also understood what it was like to be called upon and being in service to bring people joy from a young age.

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How did you start your journey?

I have always been mature and accountable since childhood with a sense of commitment to society. When I was about 18 years old and got an internship programme that was centred in sexual health, HIV AIDS prevention and that created the foundation of my work in community initiatives. With my work in the house ballroom community( kiki scene particularly) I knew I could go further in supporting the community, to be committed and divested in it not only socially, but professionally. It instilled a sense of accountability and with my engagement in the Kiki scene, I found the direction and support I needed. I now had the opportunity to create safe spaces for more people that gave support, love and a home.

Please tell us more about your current projects.

Amid Covid-19 I feel very fortunate to even have current projects. My house & ballroom family is always at the core of what I do so with that said, I do have 3 major storytelling projects that I can’t really dive into. I can say more possibilities will be open for our community to have more access and to reclaim our narratives and I am honored to be doing work that is vital in the sustainability and growth of our culture.

As always I tell people to stay tuned. Lol I am also still working on season 3 of POSE in my dual role as the ballroom coordinator and featured character Kiki Pendavis. We are in our final weeks of production so we are gearing up to launch an epic season amid Covid-19.

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"The ballroom is transformative and I received the exact creative space I needed and I could be myself there."

When you were little, what did you aspire to be when you grew up?

When I was little, I had a wild imagination. Besides being in the body that I wanted to be in, I thought of many things. I wanted to be a chef at one point, a dancer of course but I wanted to do it in concerts, music videos. I also wanted to be a spy and I totally believed I could do it. My teachers always thought I was going to be a diplomat or politician. I am glad I am not that but I am playing a similar role in many ways for my community. The biggest thing through it all was to be a performance artist.

Oftentimes in the ballroom, we devalue artistry as not being valuable or “artsy” enough but that is not true. The ballroom is transformative and I received the exact creative space I needed and I could be myself there and have made so many dreams come true.

"I have always been in a space A song could listen to on repeat?

“The SNACKTIME EP by ByrellTheGreat & Princess Precious”

where I contemplated a lot, also because I

Any role models/ mentor that you would want to mention?

cared about

That’s a hard one for me because there are so many. To name a few My sisters Jennifer Lee, Gia Love, the Iconic Dr. Ayana Eliott, my Legendary mother J’lin Lanvin and as always my peers are an inspiration.

others. But with

Anything you would like to say to your 15year-old self?

I would say “just do it!”. I have always been in a space where I contemplated a lot, also because I cared about others. But with that, I would also tell myself to be kinder to my own self, do things that bring meaning and joy, and not be afraid to be myself!

that, I would also tell myself to be kinder to my own self, do things that bring meaning and joy, and not be afraid to be myself!"

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Sista Afya is a social enterprise that provides low-cost mental wellness services that center the experiences of Black women. They believe that by making mental wellness simple, accessible, affordable, and centered around Black women's experiences, more people will get what they need to have a full, whole life.

Sista Afya Community Mental Wellness has a community support approach to mental wellness wherein community support for people living with mental health conditions can foster healing, growth, freedom, and selfactualization.

Find more: https://www.sistaafya.com/

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L I F E 4 A L L

M A G A Z I N E

Taking Down the stigma around mental health conditions is a strong non-negotiable. For people from minority communities, it becomes all more difficult to access healthcare, treatment and the support that is needed.

The TakeDOWN campaign is Life 4 All’s effort to increase awareness end stigma around several topics that harm communities with health disparities and strives to bring light, hope to those affected, and educate on how to lessen the effects of stigma to individuals and communities.

Pictures and words are powerful means that create amazing actions towards lifting each other up and creating environments that breaks barriers and giving opportunities that enhance individual life options 4 all.

The TakeDOWN 1st Campaign - National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Minority Mental Health Awareness month established in 2008, was created to bring attention and awareness to undeserved and underrepresented minority communities in hopes that it would create a path to care.

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Due to generations of stigma, lack of acknowledgment, and acceptance mental health is still one of the most devastating health issues minority communities face.

Facing mental health requires the first two steps of acknowledging and accepting and with that the path to healing can begin. But in order to begin that process, you must choose you first.

Taking those first two steps we as a community allows us to fight the stigma of silence and denial making our communities healthier and stronger.

L I F E 4 A L L

M A G A Z I N E

In July 2020 Life 4 All launched the “I Choose Me” campaign that marked an important step towards creating an inclusive community by acknowledging the everyday realities surrounding mental health conditions within minority communities.

Lack of cultural diversity, and systemic discrimination often also mean that the resources to cope with mental illnesses are not only scare but also inaccessible to many. There is little awareness about the proper utilization of the services (if they are present) and often mental illnesses in minority communities can be associated with criminal behavior. The stigma percolates into every aspect of the American cultural and social setting, making it harder to cope with and heal from generational trauma, that has been a direct result of systemic discrimination.

The “I Choose Me” campaign is a response to this stigma, an acknowledgement of the lived realities of minority communities and a step forward towards healing.

Marking the beginning of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, the campaign had been launched on July 1 and will run through June 2021. But that’s not it.

Through the campaign Life4All team is also worked towards expanding their outreach services through the mobile unit program “Lets Chat”, to democratise mental healthcare and make resources accessible.

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“ The campaign is dedicated to guiding new pathways towards healing by creating a system in which all people can benefit from the growth and progress of those living with mental health conditions and gaining support from the surrounding community.”

- Serette B. King, Founder & Executive Director Life4All

Life 4 All’s "I Choose Me" Is a collection of stories share by community for community. The campaign exist to help bring awareness and chip away the stigma around mental health. With everything going on in the world, our mental health is of utmost importance and in order to truly take care of yourself, you must choose you first.

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Special Feature Giving thanks to

Howard Brown exists to eliminate the disparities in healthcare experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people through research, education and the provision of services that promote health and wellness.

Howard Brown Health was founded in 1974 and is now one of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) organizations. With an annual budget of over $145 million, the agency serves more than 40,000 adults and youth in its diverse health and social service delivery system focused around seven major programmatic divisions: primary medical care, behavioral health, research, HIV/STI prevention, youth services, elder services, and community initiatives. Howard Brown serves men, women, trans and gender non-conforming folks, infants, youth, and children through a multi-site operation based in Chicago that includes a main health and research center in the Uptown neighborhood, Howard Brown Health Sheridan, and our other clinics Howard Brown Health Halsted in Lakeview, Howard Brown Health Clark in Rogers Park, Howard Brown Health 63rd Street in Englewood, Howard Brown Health 55th Street in Hyde Park, Howard Brown Health at Thresholds South in Back of the Yards, Howard Brown Health at La Casa Norte in Humboldt Park, the Broadway Youth Center, and three Brown Elephant resale shops in Chicago (Lakeview and Andersonville neighborhoods) and Oak Park.

Find more: https://howardbrown.org/ June 2021. ISSUE NO. 6

MONTH The Spirit of Resistance The year 1969 was a pivotal one for LGBTQ+ liberation.

Gay bars provided solace for LGBTQ+ individuals looking for a safe place to socialize and be themselves, but gay bars were also a target for law enforcement, who regularly trolled the bars for individuals engaged in LGBTQ+ relations, which were illegal at the time. On Saturday, June 28, 1969, police officers entered the Stonewall Inn, a frequent gathering place in NYC for This time they fought back. Fed up, they rioted,

LGBTQ-identifying people. The police unfairly arrested

threw debris at police officers, and set fires. The

anyone who wasn’t wearing gender-appropriate

crowd grew as local residents joined the

clothing, as well as employees of the bar.

protest, and rioting continued outside that bar for a week before the crowds dispersed.

Following the Stonewall Riots, organizers wanted to build on that spirit of resistance. The following year, they organized a march to Central Park, and adopted the theme of “Gay Pride” as a counterpoint to the prevailing attitude of shame. That march down Christopher Street soon expanded to other cities, with many more joining in year over year through the 1970s until Pride became the massive celebration that we know today.

Pride Month is a celebration and a recognition to those braves LGBTQ+ individuals who came before us and fought back for us to have the rights we have today. We will honor their mission until the end as we're still fighting Homosexuality is still illegal in over 70+

every day to be seen as equal and our

countries.

relationships to be seen as normal. Pride Month

Same-sex marriage is only legal in 29 countries.

is a month to commemorate how far we've come

77% of Trans people experience discrimination.

and acknowledge all the work that still needs

This year alone, over 250 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in the US.

to be done.

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Special Feature Giving thanks to

The mission of Project Vida is to identify the comprehensive vision of the community for its future and to develop community-based structures and programs to implement that vision in light of the needs and direction of the wider society.

Project Vida began in 1991 in a small adobe home in the Chamizal neighborhood of south-central El Paso. We wanted to know what people in the neighborhood felt they needed to help them improve their lives, and Community Congresses were held to help determine those needs. A Community Congress is a citizen-driven event where participants determine what they need as a community and how they believe that can be achieved. From those events, it was determined that the community wanted to address education; healthcare; affordable housing; gang prevention; homelessness; and later, the needs of small business owners. Since those early days, Project Vida has addressed all of these issues by building affordable low-income rental housing; building clinics and providing high quality, low cost healthcare; creating a homelessness prevention and recovery program; developing a best practice, curriculum-based early childhood education program; offering dynamic after-school enrichment; and providing microenterprise technical assistance and support.

Find more: https://www.pvida.net/ June 2021. ISSUE NO. 6

" I

C H O O S E

M E ,

T O M O R R O W " :

W I T H

T O D A Y

B E H I N D

S A M A N T H A

A N D

T H E

S C E N E S

C A B A L L E R O

"Samantha was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. She began working and volunteering at community organizations across the city since she was 14 years old. When she was 22 she moved to Portland Oregon, where she served the homeless and underserved youth community for several years. Samantha believes that community organization and participation is a critical component in the development of promoting growth, ensuring survival, and creating a strong quality of life for ourselves and for our communities.

Could you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

I was born in Chicago and I have been a part of the non-profit world for quite a while since I was 14. That’s when I started working actually. I have expanded to different community organisations and gained different experiences that have added to my understanding of the non-profit world. This past year I have been working with Serette B, King, when he was launching Life4All. It has been amazing and very meaningful to see something like this being created from the ground up and is such an extraordinary experience.

"I think when you do spend time with people from minority backgrounds, it does feel like home. "

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What are some of the challenges you have had to face during the course of your career?

Growing up in Chicago brought this up several times. Chicago is such a massive city and we are a melting pot but it is also segregated in many ways, which shows in different aspects of its existence. So when you are out there, you begin to feel the prejudice and are confronted with stereotypes. I think when you do spend time with people from minority backgrounds, it does feel like home. This drastically changed when I moved to Portland, Oregon which was a predominantly White city.

You hear people making comments, it is discreet but you tend to notice it. It was a huge eye-opener. People would ask me where I was from and when I would say “Chicago”, they would be like “Where are you actually from?”.

What was your involvement with the "I Choose Me" Campaign?

Once I started working with Life4All and when Serette brought out the idea of the “I Choose Me” campaign, I was thrilled. He particularly wanted to launch it around Minority Mental Health Awareness Month and I didn’t even know it was a thing. So it started off as a huge learning experience for me. Serette has been a part of the community for such a long time and he has done a wonderful job and having worked with him previously, I knew this would be extraordinary. It was lovely to see how many people reached out and how the concept spoke to them. For me as well, it was an incredibly personal as well as a political experience. Generating awareness about the mental health of minority communities is essential. While it started off as a way of bringing forth individual stories, eventually, it became a community support group and share this commonality we have.

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What helps you relax and unwind? Any books or

If you could go back 5 years in time, what would

movies you love?

you tell your younger self?

I have never been asked that question. I

I would say, “You are doing fine.. Relax.

am this came up. I do like to discuss this

Keep going. Keep practising. Better things

with my friend. How do you unwind after a

come with time. Emotions are fleeting and

difficult day? I love a good cartoon, a

thing change. But you will be fine.”. I think

Disney movie, some Tom and Jerry. I do

with the world we live in, it’s so easy to give

avoid social media because I know it

into competitiveness, we are so stimulated

would stress me out. Watching cartoons

all the time and want to accomplish so

relaxes me and I love going to sleep having

much in the time have. However, we do

it play in the background. Some of the

forget the importance of being present, of

cartoons were way ahead of their time!

understanding

patience,

practising,

making mistakes and taking responsibility for our actions. Things take time and practice. Slow down, you are doing fine and you will get there!

Know more about our "I Choose Me" Campaign:

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What was the most memorable experience through this all?

Since I was working behind the scenes, hearing people’s stores and doing the photo shoot was more impactful than I thought it could be. It’s a completely different kind of photoshoot; people bare themselves, you take away all the glam that usually comes with those things, to see their raw side and be so honest about it. To see people willing to be so vulnerable was transformative.

When it was my turn, I was more nervous than I thought I would be. It was beautiful though and there was so much truth to it.

What is working with Life4All like?

It is humbling. I believe when it comes to your quality of life and making meaning, it takes a village and I feel I am helping bring a village together. To be able to be in this position is humbling because you see the impact and you see how social change is created from the ground up. Focusing on mental wellness is a lot of effort, you need to revise, learn and unlearn constantly and it is so emotional. It is so intense and rewarding, you know it is essential and it is a privilege to be able to give back in this manner.

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DOING OUR BIT DURING THE PANDEMIC

WITH

HOUSE LIVES MATTER

We collaborated with House Lives Matter and awarded over $22,000 in COVID Emergency Aid. Life4All handed out more than 500 Covid Care Kits and more than 5,000 pieces of PPE equipment, 2000 facemasks, 100 hand sanitizers as well as napkins and gloves.

We organised the Covid-19 Live Series that facilitated education, awareness and highlighted the best practices during the pandemic, and reached about 7000 people.

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Special Feature Giving thanks to

AFC mobilizes communities to create equity and justice for people living with and vulnerable to HIV or chronic conditions.

For more than 30 years, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago - AFC has been dedicated to fighting and preventing HIV in Illinois. This organization works within communities to create justice and equity for those living with and at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases.

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago is instrumental in bringing together funders and service providers to create systems that meet the needs of people with HIV/AIDS. This organization is responsible for the management of nearly 17.5 million dollars in federal, state, and local funding for services related to AIDS.

Find more: https://www.aidschicago.org/ June 2021. ISSUE NO. 6

THE ROAD AHEAD- WHAT IN STORE FOR US IN 2021

Virtual Lab Series As Covid-19 hit, it became very difficult for us to continue the Lab-Series Programming. Since the Queer community is already at a high risk of health-related issues, doing in-person programming is not possible. We want to create better engagement via virtual communication and community mobilisation.

The TakeDOWN- Second edition The second edition of the TakeDOWN campaign would be “My Body, My Mind, My Health”.

Reaffirming our belief in choosing wellness and self-love, this campaign would work to bring out stories of extraordinary individuals within the community.

Life4All Zines You will see a lot more of our zines; giving insights into relevant issues, passing the mic to minority voices

Health Equity Guide With the help of our Health and Mental Health Equity guide, we will be to ensure that the transient house ball community receives informed healthcare rooted in culturally sensitive practices and accounts for the psychological safety of all.

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AUDRE LORDE

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Life 4 All Inc. is a nonprofit located in Chicago, Illinois dedicated to Health Equity Health. Life 4 All Inc. seeks to provide primary and mental health referrals and resources, outreach, and SexUeducation, while also chipping away at health stigmas and bringing awareness to health disparities through our TakeDOWN campaigns, lab series programming, and events geared towards building and strengthening community bonds. them here.

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