how I like to be credited for my work

Hello, reader.  How are you?  I’m thinking about how I like to be credited for my work.

My zines, blog posts, poems, and art are valuable.  Beyond money, the publishing industry, and the art world, what I create matters.  So it matters how you share.

how I like to be credited for my work

Most important is getting the ideas out.  I have an open source, copyleft mentality.  One day I will die.  It’s important to me that my ideas are shared because I don’t want to hoard them until they flicker out like a candle flame.

At the same time, I have a fan base of friends and strangers who enjoy my ideas.  I’m trying to help people find my work.  I love being credited so that readers who need these ideas have a path to read more.  Including my name and Listening to the Noise Until It Makes Sense‘s url works best.

My name is Laura-Marie Strawberry Nopales these days.  Old names are better than none!

Another option is including my linktree so readers can see many options including interviews and videos.  This is my linktree.

emotional pain

Am I an expert?  Yes, I am.  Am I a disabled person? Yes, I’m also very disabled.  It’s possible to be both.

There are nasty notions floating around that disabled people are not important.  If we’re not part of the paid workforce, we’re not professionals making money to network with for more money.  Being treated as lesser than creates a sad feeling of exclusion.  It’s emotional pain.

Yes, some people and orgs treat me like I matter in aggregate, but not as an individual.  I’m the object, not the subject.  Disabled people are seen as pathetic and lesser-than.  Beneficent people help a few of us in a charity way.

The reality of disability is so much more complicated.  True that Ming and I need help.  But we are also able to offer help.  Often it’s disabled people who are there for other disabled people; mutual aid is disabled people showing up for other disabled people.

It hurts when my words, ideas, zines, and art are treated as cute or worthless because they originate from a disabled person.  When you share what I make attributed to me, I feel considered.

thank you

Thank you for behaving like I matter.  The world treats disabled people as less intelligent, relevant, and welcome.  Also I’m treated like I’m lying about my abilities and disabilities, and like I’m a pain in the ass.

When you  treat me like I matter, you balance the harm.  Thank you to everyone who shares my work.

• skillfully crediting me
• not crediting me
• in ways that create opportunities for me
• in ways I’ll never know about
• with people you love
• a quote
• a link

Thank you for helping me do what I’m on earth to do: share my truth and say things my culture taught me not to say.  You are part of it.  The gifts are only complete if they’re received.