Wherever We Go, Love Follows

Held in Clinton Hill South, on a block lined with nineteenth-century row houses and tall, rough-barked trees, the dinner's location felt lived-in. It was a house, obviously old, but also welcoming. Knowing that the holidays can be a lonely time for many in their community, for this dinner, the collective really wanted to recreate “the nostalgia of being at home with family,” and as I watched everyone move around, catch up, sharing laughter, stories, and wisdom over glasses of wine and plates of food, it did feel like home — a space for a family sowing the seeds of a lasting legacy.

In the large sitting room, there were healing modalities people could take part in: ear acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, cupping, somatic therapy, and gua sha; Morning Glory, a Bronx-based community garden the girls frequently collaborate with, donated respiratory-support tea blends infused with raspberry leaf, shiso, mugwort, and echinacea; Milk Makeup put together product bags; Star Route Farms supplied Kevin, the night’s chef, with fresh produce for the menu; and attendees were also encouraged to bring their own dishes.

Historically, Black Trans people have faced significant barriers to building legacies and space, which has served as a balm and refuge for communities operating beyond heteronormativity, has also been the site of ongoing violence and erasure. In response, the collective asks: “How can collective care enable our community to exist in a way that is wealthy beyond financial means? And what does it mean to have wealth in our bodies, minds and hearts?” Positioned at the threshold, Demiyah and the collective’s members — Angel, Kam, Sinn, Divine, and Ramie — challenge the meaning of taking up space by actively imagining and creating new ones.

For Perez, “Nourishment can exist in so many different ways.” The dinners are an opportunity to expand the meaning of wealth from monetary excess to forms of nourishment that sustain the body in different ways. Beyond that, safety is of utmost important so attendees are also given cars to and from the space and a stipend of $100 for any other needs.

There was something dreamlike about being there, as if I had stepped into some kind of utopia. The love in the air was thick enough to slice through. Whether I had met some of these people minutes before, I felt embraced with open arms.

Ramie ran around the foyer taking portraits of everyone so that attendees could have tangible memorabilia to look back on. For Isa, whom I sat next to while trying ear acupuncture for the first time (more on that later), it was her second dinner. She attended the Angelito Collective’s screening of their sophomore film, ‘CIÓN, MAMI, at the Brooklyn Museum in June 2022, and her first dinner last February. Bunny, who sat next to her, was also trying ear acupuncture for the first time. For both of them, it was exciting to be around everyone, as much as it was to feel the buzz of electricity from the five points piercing their ears. 

When it came time to eat, I sat down next to Divine and Kam who reflected on the many dinners up until then, “It’s nice to have a space like this, and some of these people have been coming around for three years, it’s like family.” Watching her, Angel, and Sinn move around the room making sure everyone had tried some kind of healing practice, had their portrait taken, and had eaten, it was clear how important this was to them. As the night drew to a close, I made my rounds to say goodbye to both familiar and new faces. Stepping into the kitchen, I was reminded of the joy shared that night by Ramie’s polaroids, which sat on the mantle for everyone to see.

The Angelito Collective sees As the girls plan their next dinner, they keep in mind that: “Creating a space of love where people can feel a sense of belonging and know that they are not alone, that they are loved and mean something to a lot of people is very important.” The vitality of this dinner as a testament to a future filled with many more, and what's most striking is that up until know, the dinners have been made possible entirely through crowdfunding and donations. Submissions for the next are now open, anticipated to happen at some point in the Spring.

You can donate and support the next dinner HERE.