An Ode to Beyoncé in Times of Quarantine

Musings

Apr 13

The world is 𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕝𝕪 𝕀𝕟 [ℂ𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕤] and many important life events like weddings, graduations, celebrating life at homegoings, religious gatherings, and 𝔹’𝔻𝔸𝕐[s] feel bittersweet. With no definitive end, it’s doubly hard to accept these conditions as normal.

As our semester went virtual, .@robinmaxile & I tried to stay grounded in our mental health and connected to our families/communities despite the distance. We failed at focusing on our research danced to our favorite #Beyoncé bops instead. We felt joy and confidence because [𝕎𝕖 𝔸𝕣𝕖]... 𝕊𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕒 𝔽𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕖 and academia isn’t the sum total of our lives.

After what feels like 𝟜 years of sheltering in place, 𝔹𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕔é was less a soundtrack for the quarantine and more so the heartbeat of our friendship. We sipped on 𝕃𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕕𝕖 - and spilled some sweet tea - and found comfort in our ℍΘ𝕄ΣℂΘ𝕄𝕀ℕ𝔾 to Georgia, where we nurtured 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕚𝕗𝕥 that is our deepening siblinghood.

Kristian Contreras

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The Blog

Pray to Know Sistahood

In celebration of April 18th and bonds of sistahood.

Putting Pen to Paper

Keynote address delivered at the New Jersey Women's and Gender Studies Consortium’s Undergraduate Colloquium at The College of New Jersey on March 27, 2026.

Free Palestine

Free Palestine.

These last few days have left me with more questions than answers and deepened my commitment to thinking, living, and creating beyond binaries. What we are witnessing with the escalation of violence in historic Palestine moves beyond “conflict” and reductive colonial logics. This violence is rooted in 75+ years of an (illegal) Israeli military enforced occupied apartheid state and over 16 years of Palestine existing as an open-air prison. I have grappled with the right words, the right resources, and how I understand solidarity and accountability beyond identity politics.

I am sitting at the seat of empire as a documented citizen of the United States of America and live on unceded land shepherded by the Tigua Pueblo peoples – right on the border of the United States of America and Mexico. The dehumanization and criminalization of immigrants along this border feels echoed in the nonchalant admission from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that Palestinians are “human animals”, and the normative framing of whose lives are grievable – who we deem innocent and the communities who are disposable. There are no clean equations for human rights and what one’s right to liberation looks like. There are no clean and neutral definitions that make “condemning violence” simple.

To My People, Thank You

Today I became a doctor and I am SO proud of myself - all that I survived, created, achieved, and let go in a journey that took so much from me. Without my people, I would not have made it to my final graduation stage. To my people, I love you:

Whole and Well 🧠

Explore this collection of resources meant to nurture our mental health and wellness needs. The university works to disappear and exploit Black women intellectuals and I want us to survive the journey in one piece and in peace.

*It's important to note that the design and intention of this thread, originally developed for the Our Sistren's Garden Discord, is not meant to operate in place of mental health professionals and/or services.

Soundtrack to the Season 🎶

This thread on the Our Sistren's Garden serves as a place to share anything "audio" that you keep on repeat or listen to as a reminder of who you are in spite of American academia's commitment to keeping us at the figurative bottom. Maybe its Tina Turner's entire discography (a personal fave), a podcast you love, spoken word, or something in between - share your soundtrack to this season of our lives as emerging scholars!

Please enjoy our playlist, Soundtrack to the Season - a compilation of songs that got us, the sistren of the study, through the journey when we needed inspiration, a pick me up, or an invitation to dance it out.

Community In Real Life (IRL)

The Our Sistren's Garden's #communityIRL thread acts as ahub to share/discuss community resources in real life and on the web - organizations and groups may offer services or a place for support as Black women navigating this chapter of life. The degree and the process are only one component of the full lives we're meant to lead - so grow your community!

Money Moves

A collection of funding opportunities that I've compiled over the course of my doctoral journey. This feels especially important considering how challenging it is when we don't receive full-funding and trying to be well can sometimes feel impossible when we are not paid living wages. Have suggestions? Holler at me here!

Our Sistren’s Gardens

The Our Sistren's Gardens Discord server is our slice of the internet that heavily draws inspiration from the life & legacy of bell hooks and Alice Walker. I’m interested in curating spaces for us – educators, dancers, scientists, creatives, activists, dreamers, disruptors, and artists – to “talk back” as Black women, femmes, and non-binary folks.

Buddaaaaaaay, Happy Birthday!!

The universe 🪐 threaded us together, tightlywoven like my favorite hand-me-down sweater. Our friendship holds me tighter though, with a softness that rivals the finest silks. Though ‘friendship’ feels incomplete, and the syllables of ‘sisterhood’ makes far more space for who and what we are to one another. One year has passed since we first linked up and I’m so very grateful that the magic of our ancestors and mentors stitched us together. With you, this patchwork quilt, my sistren, of kinship brought me much solace and laughter in one of the most challenging chapters of my life.

Kristian Contreras

An Ode to Beyoncé in Times of Quarantine

Kristian Contreras

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An Ode to Beyoncé in Times of Quarantine

Kristian Contreras

More on the blog

≈ Three Hundred Credit Hours

two thousand and nineteen