Progress Reports: June 2025
It's Not Clocking To You, Is it? — Confessions of a Recovering Court Jester, A Month in Review, On Repeat: June's Playlist, and The Community Corner
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Confessions of a Recovering Court Jester (Excerpt)
TikTok is always pushing some subconscious revelation to the front of my mind. Recently, my algorithm has been showing me videos of women detailing their experiences of being the “court jester friend,” or a friend kept around only as a form of entertainment. I never heard it put like that before; nevertheless, I felt the urgency of that truth to my core. Intentionally or unintentionally — I, too, have been a court jester to family, friends, and acquaintances throughout the years.
Of course, the intentional humor began as a coping mechanism with my family of origin, and then developed into a real problem when I couldn’t connect with others without using humor to seek attention and validation, even to my detriment. It didn’t help that I always struggled sorely with communicating and socializing. There were equally as many moments when my genuine reactions would be met with laughter, even though I wasn’t telling a joke…They were laughing at me. Even I couldn’t make sense of why I so frequently made poorly timed and inappropriate comments, couldn’t regulate my speaking volume, or control my hyperactivity.
When I’m at my worst, I tell myself it was all my fault. You only receive what you accept, I mutter to myself. And when I surrender to the invasive grief, I can forgive myself for how others choose to treat me.
The discovery of these videos felt personal, and I became invested, looking for other netizens who could relate. (Woo!)
To my surprise, the court jester discourse wasn’t just happening on TikTok, but on various subreddits like r/depression and r/dating_advice. Interestingly, autistic centered subreddits like r/AspieMemes and Meeka La Fay’s YouTube video, “The Untold History of Disabled Jesters,” theorize that many court jesters were most likely on the spectrum.
This is because court jesters were more complex than our modern misconceptions of them. Most major civilizations all over the world had court jesters. They were chosen, seemingly at random, because of their abnormal size, voice, looks, or overall vibes. And vibes were important to the court. Contrary to popular belief, court jesters were actually highly intelligent members of society existing at the crux of powerlessness and powerfulness. They brought awareness to the importance of critiquing and humbling leaders in a humorous way.
Just like jesters and their masters, there exists a stark difference between the allistic and autistic thought process, communication styles, and core identity, which causes people on the spectrum to be pathologized and mistreated as a second class.
Interested in reading more about this topic? Stay tuned for the full essay’s release at the end of July.
A Month in Review
There’s so much to share from this month! I feel it’s been a long time since I’ve felt just plain happy. It’s wild how much of human happiness is dependent on how much you are not feeling anxious about money. It felt like everything happened all at once. I am thrilled about how it’s going for me.
I started my new position as Pharmacy Museum Research Assistant! It’s so different than working as a substitute teacher in the best ways. I’ve noticed how differently I feel after work and how much more I can socialize with my loved ones and community members outside of work. Not for nothing, though, I had to watch a lot of videos on how to dress business casual in the summer because I had no idea what that looked like. Think I’ve been eating it up, though!😜
Temple and I started vending this month, and whew! Starting business ventures is not for the weak. We spent a lot of hours and money preparing to sell our art and increase our exposure. So far, we have met many new people and made so many connections with supporters.
Portraits of Pride and Resilience opened in the Creative Arts Gallery at City Hall, and I was soaring the whole night! It was truly an honor to celebrate the exhibition opening alongside other members of my LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month.
As my artwork label says: The collective human experience is made up of tiny, distinct moments and memories. This is why hand-cut collage feels like such an apt medium for my work, which synthesizes themes of disenfranchisement, queerness, identity, and class. There is still beauty, pride, strength, and resilience in the struggle to overcome our conditions. Each work presents an opportunity for the viewer to connect deeply with the minute complexities that create our unique individual experiences.
Thank you, City of Philadelphia (NOT YOU, MAYOR CHERELLE PARKER), Creative PHL, and Rue Landau for putting all of this together. I am so grateful to jurors Lauren Rinaldi, Symone Salib, and Tu Huynh for choosing my work. Thank you to my friends Keana Bloomfield, Whitney Marsh, Saffiya McNulty, Temple Douglass, Margot Field, Lannawill Caruth, Chelsea Okeh, and Em Anticoli, among others, for showing up and supporting me.It meant everything to have my little brother, Richard, and his beautiful girlfriend, Siani, show up for me, too.
The exhibition will be up until August 30th! I hope you love it.
On Repeat
June’s positivity most definitely rubbed off on my music taste. The first song on the playlist obviously had to be, Fuck Marry Kill by The Resonaters! I was so excited to have worked on the cover art for the single that I made sure to listen to the single at midnight! Congrats again to the Resonaters, and make sure to listen to the new single to support queer musicians
The rest of the playlist is just super good vibes. I’m tammat stretch before listening because you gonna be shaking your ass to Megan the Stallion, Fridayy, Tyla, Litty Vuiton, Cardi B, and more!
I want to write more about it, y’all…but you just gonna have to give it a listen.
The Community Corner
The Community Corner is a space to uplift community members, events, and resources.
This month’s shoutouts go to:
Court L. is a disabled and queer Black public health worker, housing activist, and harm reductionist seeking our support. This is one of the most overwhelming and dangerous periods of her life. She urgently needs to be relocated due to two serious threats to her safety and well-being. Since 2002, Court has worked countless hours supporting community members, even working through the 2020 lockdown before vaccines were readily available. Recently, she unfairly lost her employment, medical coverage, and food assistance benefits. Without benefits, it has been difficult to pay for her necessary medication, which can cost thousands without coverage. Unfortunately, Court’s support systems have turned their back on her in her time of need. When she is in a better headspace and physical housing location, she plans to pivot away from frontline services and return to school to be a therapist for the same populations she worked with, like those experiencing domestic violence and trauma. So far, she’s raised $4,513, but is ultimately seeking $7,000 to cover relocation costs, emergency housing, basic living expenses, and give her a chance to breathe and focus on recovery.
Court and her dog, Wiley Coyote Please purchase an item from her wishlist, as it will support her relocation and healing from harassment. To learn more, please read Court’s full story on her GoFundMe and donate!
If you’re unable to donate, please consider sharing this with others. Every bit of support—financial, emotional, or social—makes a meaningful difference. Thank you so much for your compassion and care.
Black Hippie Art is “a vibrant digital space and art club dedicated to empowering artists of color through creative expression and well-being.” I joined the group to tour Boom: Art & Design in the 1940s at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It wasn’t my favorite exhibition, but I enjoyed meeting other artists and sketching after the tour.
Thank you for reading this month’s newsletter!
Until next month!
xoxo,
Richelle
