All my life I had to advocate for myself to survive. At a certain point I understood that nothing is gonna change if I advocate only for myself. That all injustice is interconnected and rooted deeply in the system. So I must advocate for others, for the groups (and not only groups I belong to) and not just individuals, because injustice is not something occasional. Opression is systematic. It always affects the vulnerable groups the most.

And though I am from dysfunctional abusive family, I was born in a female, very fragile and weak body, I am neurodivergent, I am disabled, I am queer, I am an immigrant to EU from a non-western country and I have a very hard time in Germany, I have almost no support system and I experience a lot of discrimination, making it very hard for me to even receive basic medical care, I still have some privileges, and my disprivileges are not an excuse to not take accountability for them.

I can pass for a german on the street as long as I don't speak - I experience less discrimination than people of colour do. I live in Europe and can speak openly, without risking being sent to prison (like my friends were in the country where I was born). I have access to at least some medicine, food and clean water, I have access to the internet, information, I have some education (an outdated one and irrelevant in Europe, but it's still something, and I studied journalism, which taught me to look deep at the root of issues, research, collects facts and analyze them, ask questions and search the truth, and my brain is especially good at recognising patterns), I do not have children that I must feed, bombs do not fly over my head.

I have privilege to be able to create and write at least sometimes, though because of health issues I can not be as active as able collegues.

I want to use these privileges to advocate for all the people who suffer in this patriarchal colonial society, as the only way to change the unfair system is to see it for what it is and raise awareness, not blame people's sufferings on just some 'misfortune'. It is not misfortune, it is discrimination.

I am realistic - I don't think that art can stop wars and make the world fair, if that were the case there would have been peace and justice on earth already, because many artists made statements against wars and injustice. But art can highlight social problems and ask questions. And the more voices there are, the better. Making art is a way to be heard for me.

Photo selfshot by Nik Maksimyuk