Cash Askew at Terminus Festival in Calgary earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Jill Grant @ Take It For Granted.
In the wake of the Oakland fire, we wanted to pay our respects on this episode of the podcast to the life and work of Cash Askew of Them Are Us Too.
-From Them Are Us Too’s interview with Hether Fortune of Wax Idols for Slutist: “I’ve never been a very assertive person, so I have a hard time confronting people on a level of this, whether its the blatant sexism or the misgendering. Breaking down the constant conditioning enveloping anyone who is not cisgender/able-bodied/white/male — that you are not entitled to space, or to be heard — can be really difficult. As a trans person, I’m constantly doubting myself and afraid that people will like me less or take me less seriously if I make a point of who I am. But I’m working on being more assertive, especially because I have the privilege of having a record out and suddenly getting a lot more attention and praise. I feel some responsibility to claim space, to be vocal and visible. I hope that in doing so I can help these spaces feel more comfortable for other queer folks and femmes who are constantly being silenced, ignored and manipulated in music. I want to take advantage of my position even if it just means one kid at our show feeling a little safer or prouder. But in advocating visibility as we try to make a living off our music, I also need to be really careful not to slip towards some assimilationist bullshit of incorporating relatively radical queer identities into a violent and oppressive mainstream culture. I don’t want my identity or anyone else’s to be tokenized for liberals to pat themselves on the back for being so progressive while ignoring myriad other injustices, and I don’t want our identities to be commodified and sold back to us for the benefit of people who already have power.” – Cash Askew, 2015
Related links:
–Prist Soundcloud
–Heavenly Bandcamp
–Fire Relief Fund for Victims of Ghostship Oakland Fire
–Relief Fund for Cash’s family
–The Washington Post’s profile of Cash and her family.
–Medium.com interview with Cash.
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