Status Updates From Hijab Butch Blues

Asiyah- I loved the revisionist ending the author gives to the story of asiyah the wife of pharaoh (step mother to Moses). That she left him and found happiness (paradise) on earth at the end of her life, not unlike the paradise that god promised her in death, is a beautiful alternative ending. I wouldn’t mind a book like that- similar to the Palace of Illusions I read earlier this year.

Really enjoying the way she writes

I appreciate the author sharing the different nuances/tensions within the queer community. I also appreciate her sharing the different responses she received when coming out to straight friends- the good the bad and the ugly, but also the subtle micro aggressive homophobia rampant in the “liberal” straights.

Right now the only country she mentions by name is the US and NYC. It’s strange to me that she’s omitted these countries. Even if the author is still in the closet, why mention nyc by name then? And allude to so many other indicators of where she was originally born. It seems inconsistent to me.

Chapter Jinn. I wonder why the author chose not the reveal the name of the country she is from, and where she moved to. Also, why she hasn’t shared the year. I’m curious how close her time in college was to 9/11. Recommended reading (bell hooks, Angela Davis, Audrey Lorde of course) and Decolonising the Mind by Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, The Wretched of the Earth.