Finding Our Way to Celebration & Resilience.

Inside this edition: an excerpt of a recording from Luc & M dating back to March 2024 and an introduction to some of the Creatives who will celebrate with us on March 19th!

Coming to the Podcast

Here’s a little more about us (Luc and M) this week and how our friendship and professional experiences merged to co-create Rooted Resilience. We recorded this in March of 2024, when we were still figuring out online recording practices in our respective homes and when we were approaching this work with our voices as part of the mix (awkwardly, of course). We have grown so much since then, both in our skills and approach. But the one thing that remains true is the roots of our collaboration and how it grew from our personal and professional identities.

A Night to celebrate 2SLGBTQIA+ Artists, Creatives & Culture Makers in the 413.

If you haven’t already purchased your tickets to join us at Bombyx on March 19th for our Opening Launch Celebration, make that your Monday morning gift to yourself!

Here are several 2025 Creatives that will be joining us that evening (plus a few more not listed here!) Also, Sip413 will be with us for the evening with drinks and delicious treats on hand to supplement our ever-queer roundup of seltzer and snacks!

Indë (they/he) is an artist-scholar born, raised, and residing in Massachusetts. In a nutshell, they contend with American imperial systems of division, using multimedia compositions to combat the lynching, disenfranchisement, and misrepresentation of queer people of color.

A gifted jazz vocalist, Leo (he/him) croons over syncopated bass lines, colorful keys, and hip hop beats with supreme ease. His cool, sophisticated musicality is reminiscent of Stevie Wonder and João Gilberto, not only in ingenuity but in his ability to convey complex ideas in deceptively palatable ways. This ability is more than a knack, it’s a means of survival. As an autistic trans man, Leo has to swim upstream, and his music is rife with Black American blues. Yet Leo perseveres, and his songs of love and everlasting comfort shine all the brighter.

Hannah Moushabeck is a second-generation Palestinian American author, editor, and book marketer who was raised in a family of publishers and booksellers in Western Massachusetts and England. Born in Brooklyn into Interlink Publishing, a family-run independent publishing house, she learned the power of literature at a young age. She is the author of Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine (Chronicle Books, March 2023). She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts on the homelands of the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc Nations.

Author Corrie Locke-Hardy (she/they) is the queer owner of The Tiny Activist, a consulting business that focuses on social justice education and literacy. For their “first career,” Corrie spent nine years in the hospitality industry cooking professionally, concentrating on pastry and bread. They worked in a wide range of establishments, which reinforced the message that community is key. This cookbook is a combination of Corrie’s lifelong passions for education, activism, and yummy treats. She lives a hobbit life out in western Massachusetts with her spouse and two rescue dogs. If you find her, she'll probably give you a snack.

Karol Matuszak is an actor and performer of Polish origin, currently living in Ashfield. His journey in theater began in 2017 at the Copenhagen International School of Performing Arts (CISPA) in Denmark. In 2019, he moved to Fredrikstad, Norway, to join the BA Acting program at the Norwegian Theatre Academy, from which he graduated in September 2022. During his time at NTA, Karol first connected with Double Edge Theatre, and since then, he has participated in several intensives and exchange programs in Ashfield. In May 2024, Karol officially joined the company of Double Edge Theatre, where, in addition to performing, he works as an Outreach Associate and a cook. In the most recent summer spectacle, The Heron’s Flight, directed by Jennifer Johnson and Travis Coe, Karol played the role of Minos, the Minotaur.

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Remember to Vote With Your Dollars to Uplift and Center 2SLGBTQIA+ Creatives as an Act of Resistance and Resilience!

With the launch event, and new 2025 Creatives added to our interview schedule, we'll be investing $2,790 into our local creative economy over the next few months. Some of these costs weren't in our original budget, but we know we can cover them with your help.

Here are some ideas:

• Make a trusted, tax-deductible donation to our GoFundMe campaign. ANY amount is HUGE for us!

• Start a paid subscription to our Substack. Support us with $8 Monthly, $80 Annually, or contribute $150 annually as a Founding Member.

• Attend our Rooted Resilience Launch Celebration in Florence, Massachusetts on March 19th.

• Become a sponsor of a podcast episode or event. We have a wide range of opportunities and welcome the opportunity to uplift you as part of the exchange. Contact hello@bloomlocal.live for more details.

• Do you own a place of business? Are you willing to display our (snazzy) postcards to direct people towards our campaign? Contact us.

• Share this article and our fundraiser with your circle!

You’ll always be glad for the creativity and history that you helped to preserve by contributing.