It’s Soulful and It’s Survival: A Conversation with Four Drag Artivists in the South
On December 17, 2023, we talked for four hours with our favorite drag artivists in our new city of Charlotte, North Carolina: Oso Chanel, Nova Stella, Lolita Chanel, and Onya Nerves. They discussed the forces that drive their drag and activism and the issues that they’re focused on as leaders in the queer community—from immigrant rights to representation to HIV prevention and care. The title comes from their explanation of the unique power of performing drag in the South. Listening to them talk about facing down death threats and protests, on top of drag bans and anti-queer and trans bills, to transform culture, felt like a revolution in our living room. A brief excerpt of this interview came out in Scoundrel Time in March 2024, but the conversation in its entirety was so powerful that Freedom Tunnel Press decided to make it available, in book form, at the April 11th COUNTRY OF UNDER Book Launch & Drag Extravaganza, where these four wonders performed. For those who couldn’t make the launch, it’s available for order here as well.
The Understory: Roots of a New India
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.
On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
— Arundhati Roy
The Understory is not strength through force, but through interdependence, interconnection, empathy, community, and care. It envisions solidarities woven across caste, religion, class, gender, and geography—solidarities that make justice possible.
In a time of polarization and systemic injustice, The Understory asks:
- Where can we choose empathy over apathy, dialogue over division, bridge-building over withdrawal?
- How might our voices, in all their difference, converge to imagine new solidarities and possibilities?
This anthology brings together:
- Voices from the margins naming lived realities and offering testimony
- Personal acts of connection where individuals reimagine how to live in relation with others and the environment
- Collective efforts by artivists, nonprofits, and movements building solidarities at scale
- Visions of futures rooted in empathy, care, and shared belonging
Freedom Tunnel Press grew from the spirit of underground movements depicted in Country of Under. The Understory’s power similarly lies in coming together, in singing our stories into a shared country of possibility.
Do you have a piece you would like to contribute? Click here to learn more.
Whispers of the Forest (working title)
This book is a vibrant tapestry of Gond art, interwoven with the rich oral traditions of the Gond people and the hidden intelligence of the mycelium network. The collection will explore reciprocity, kinship, and the unseen connections that sustain life. Through intricate illustrations and lyrical storytelling, Whispers of the Forest reveals how ancestral wisdom and fungal networks mirror each other—both offering lessons in resilience, cooperation, and the art of listening to the land.