SOCIAL LOCATION
I am a Malay, cis-gender, queer Muslim woman in a currently able body. I exist on the neurodivergent spectrum as someone who lives with Pre Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder, though with medication I am able to move through my day to day in a visibly neurotypical way.
I am middle class, rent a home with my married partner of seven years who I am emotionally and financially supported by. Love you Charles! I have a master’s degree, am a Permanent Resident of the US with Singaporean citizenship. I grew up bilingual which means my first language in Malay while my second language is English. I’m a survivor of childhood trauma, a cat parent and travel overseas more frequent than others to visit and care for my family and parents.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I inspire to do more then only naming the land on which I practice on which is the land of Catawba, Waxhaw and Sugeree people. What began as a trading route along these ancestral rivers became a major hub in the trade system between the Virginia traders and the Carolina traders and the settlers who had leased land from the Nation and later wanted the land for themselves. Now, this land is colonially named as Charlotte, NC.
As a descendent of a country that has been colonized repeatedly, some of my Malay ancestors have fought against colonization and some continue to be rewarded for working together with the Spanish, Dutch and British colonizers.
Because of this, I am currently repairing my relationship with stolen land by collaborating with the Semai Tribe in Malaysia and paying money directly to them and advocating to return the land back to them and caring for the land that they live on.
For more information on Native lands, I recommend beginning with this website as an initial resource, and for more information on moving from land acknowledgments to #LandBack, I want to uplift this resource from NativeGov.org
ACCOUNTABILITY
Because of my frustration with systems of oppression and harm caused by white supremacy, cis-heteropatriarchy, capitalism, and settler colonialism, I always start dismantling from within myself, my intersectional identities and having tough conversations amongst friends, family and my local community.
Currently, accountability for me looks like continuously learning to have peaceful disagreements with myself and others and collaborating across lines of difference more often than not.
I acknowledge that the word branding has a racist history. Brand marks have been used to display punishments on black and brown people who were enslaved by the white superiority complex who called themselves “owners” because of xenophobia, colorism, racism and classism.
Currently, I am committed to not about forgetting the history of branding but to recognize that not all of us start from the same place because of many cultural and institutional oppression.
As such, I have added a anti-racism clause into my web design and branding contracts.
BRANDING AND ITS’ IMPACT
FINANCIAL ACCESS
Apart from offering a Sliding Scale for my offerings, I also often offer personalized payment plans for branding, website design and retreats. I never want cost to be an obstacle for folks and yet I live in a culture and system that requires that I create pathways to generate income in order to exist.
As such, I am committed to charging equitably for my work and offerings (as in, in accordance with and consideration of my own time, training, and labor) and I am equally committed to making my work as accessible as I can while creating sustainability.
I have been consistently paying 20% of my accumulated wealth income towards Mutual Aid funds and since 2020,10% of our shared income goes directly to organizations that support, represent and work with BIPOC LGBTQIA+ communities namely Equality NC, Design Justice, and the Mecklenburg Interfaith Network.
Updated on 04/07/2023