Beyond Utopia: The Building Utopia Guide for Queer and Trans Muslims

Abstract

Much of the theory of what Utopia is and pathways to building Utopia are attributed to white-cis-global north males. However, communities have been dreaming of Utopia and working toward building Utopia for centuries prior to the existence of the theory we have today. Further, marginalized individuals begin dreaming of Utopia before they have access to language. We do not learn about Utopia from the “fathers of Utopia”, we learn it from our ancestors and communities. To honor this transgenerational labor, this essay serves as a guide by and for the most marginalized trans community members toward building Utopia, countering imperialist white supremacist narratives telling us that our Utopia must be built by white-cis-global north citizens.

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Notes on contributors

Mx. Yaffa A.S.

Mx. Yaffa A.S., is an award-winning disabled, mad, trans, queer, Muslim, indigenous Palestinian. Mx. Yaffa A.S. conducts transformative work around displacement, decolonization, equity, and centering lived experiences of individuals most impacted by injustice. Mx. Yaffa A.S. is a storyteller and an equity and transformation consultant, having shared their story with over 100,000 audience members at speaking events globally. Mx. Yaffa A.S. has worked in over two dozen countries, and specializes in global and community vision building. Mx. Yaffa A.S. is an engineer, with a speciality in sustainability and social engineering, a peer support specialist, and an equity and transformation consultant. Mx. Yaffa A.S. utilizes peer support as a foundation for all their work, supporting peer-run spaces in organizational capacity building, equity, and sustainment. Mx. Yaffa A.S. brings together engineering, peer support, and trauma to support their vision of more equitable and accountable communities that lead to individuals’ self-actualization. Mx. Yaffa A.S. is the Founder of several nonprofits and community projects, such as CT Mutual Aid, and Life in My Days, an international nonprofit that supports individuals and their communities on their journeys for self-actualization through mutual aid, transformative justice, and disability justice. Mx. Yaffa A.S. has a MA in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice from Queen’s University Belfast, a Childhood Traumatic Stress graduate certificate from the Boston Trauma Center, and a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from WPI. In their free time, Mx. Yaffa A.S. is a world traveler and novelist, having visited over 70 countries and written over a dozen books. E-mail: [email protected]