WORLDBUILDING

What liberatory practices does the future hold? How is healing a part of our day-to-day? What new political systems arise and which ones fall? In this 12-part, four chapter collection, we want to show how we might live day-to-day within a future that responds to calls for equity; we want to explore policies that would make public spheres more accessible and expansive; we want to share stories that are rooted in frameworks of abundance instead of scarcity. Imagining worlds of joy and justice is one step toward building them, and we cannot move forward without elevating and centering the visionary perspectives of queer and trans BIPOC communities.

For Color Bloq, Worldbuilding is More Than a Theme

This collection capped off a challenging year and a new chapter in our growth as a platform and as a team. We each wrote a note to give you a deeper look at who we are, and why we do the work we do.

Toward Black Trans Eldership

Dominic Cinnamon Bradley

In this narrative, Dominic Cinnamon Bradley describes what practices and responsibilities accompany becoming an elder in the Black trans community who is healthy, accountable, and courageous.

The Retelling: A Future in Which I Exist

Swetha Ramesh

In this entry, Swetha Ramesh writes a poem about their ancestors and their influence in imagining the future.

‘Aprakratika’: The pride of my shame 'Bindi'

Rohan Mishra

In this essay, Rohan Mishra writes about making sense of their surroundings at home, and finding space in a puzzle that doesn’t seem fit for them.

cuando una trans muere, nunca muere

xime izquierdo ugaz

In this entry, xime izquierdo ugaz is joined in conversation with Gahela Cari Contreras, the first Indigenous Trans Woman to run for political office in Peru. In this 3 chapter photo essay, we join xime and Gahela as they discuss Gahela's story, and the world she envisions for Trans people everywhere.

Ode to Blackness and Queerness: The World We Already Built

Kenna Williams

What tools are needed to manifest a brighter tomorrow? In this personal reflection, Kenna Williams writes about how Black Queer people already have the tools within themselves!

Queer and Trans-formative Game Design

Toto Lin

The expansive worlds explored in video games have the power to shape the ways we imagine the world we live in. In this entry, Toto Lin describes how centering Queer and Trans narratives in game design is a tool in building a better tomorrow.

Wastewomxn On Making Their Own World(s)

Kim M Reynolds

In this entry, Kim M Reynolds interviews Tobi Adebajo (they/them), Adedamola Bajomo (they/them), and Kyoko Takenaka (they/them), the three members of Wastewomxn. They discuss creative collaborations across timezones, expansive genre practices, and the influence of culture.

Imagining Asian Futurity: History, Multiplicity, and Racial Solidarity

Allison Hsu

How do we reclaim the vision of Asian futurism that rejects the western gaze often centered around Techno-Orientalism? Allison Hsu writes about how racial solidarity and taking stock of how other historical movements in reclaiming power, namely the Black Power movement, can reveal the guide posts.

Parable of the Dreamer: Black Dream Escape and “Rest As Architecture”

Almah LaVon Rice

In this entry, Almah LaVon Rice describes "rest as reparations" and interviews Onika Reigns, co-founder of Black Dream Escape, about "rest doulas" who guide and support individuals from a rested state to a dream state.

Black Worlds & Queer Possibilities

Audley Puglisi

In this personal reflection, Audley writes about breaking away from the rigidity of our realities with dreams and speculative fiction—essential tools in imagining worlds of justice and joy.

Where We Let Love Live

Liljuan Gonzalez

How does love feel in a future filled with kindness and nourishment? In this entry, Liljuan Gonzalez writes about discovering a new version of love in a space of healing.

The WORLDBUILDING collection was supported by an Assistant Editor, Dana M. Nowlin-Russell.

Dana was born and raised in Washington, DC, and currently lives in Southwestern PA. She holds an MFA in creative writing (with specializations in nonfiction and children’s writing) from Chatham University and a BA in Sociology and Public and Professional Writing certificate from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh and teaches courses in the English Composition Department.

Dana is a lifelong student of creativity who writes poetry and YA stories. She also crochets, plays piano, games (video & tabletop) with loved ones, and cares for her two furkids.