In this episode of The Dugout, we sit down with ASL PRINCESS, a visionary artist, organizer, and founding member of CLASS WAR COLLECTIVE, to talk about the power of queer anger, the necessity of being antagonistic to trans misogynoir, and the radical act of building community on our own terms.
ASL PRINCESS shares stories about growing up in a family with mixed political values, navigating rage as a Black trans person in a violently anti-Black world, and why we don’t waste time arguing with bigots to prove our existence. We explore the horror of defining ourselves through the lens of the state, decolonizing our love and intimacy, and what it means to show up in community—not just for others, but for the past versions of ourselves who needed that space, too.
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00:00 - Intro: Meet ASL PRINCESS and explore the roots of her political journey.
03:30 - Early Years: What was young ASL PRINCESS like?
12:40 - Finding Freedom: Black trans and queer liberation in music, DIY, and punk spaces.
14:50 - Hood Communalism: Hip-hop, gang culture, and collective survival.
18:00 - Afropessimism & Afropunk: Racism in punk spaces and the contradictions of Afropunk.
23:05 - Checking Out & Black Queer Anger: How we feel when Black people disengage from politics + anger as a tool.
26:03 - Sharing a clip from MOONLIGHT (2016)
31:13 - How ANGER can liberate us
33:33 - Ready to give up being American? and Blackness as Anarchy
40:05 - Not arguing with bigots: Why we don’t prove our existence.
49:20 - Beyond Language: “The freedom we need, we don’t have the phonetics for it.”
53:25 - Radicalization: The moment that shifted ASL PRINCESS’ worldview.
57:45 - Support The Dugout: Join us on Patreon.
58:18 - Intergenerational Organizing: How to show up for community across generations.
01:10:03 - Loving Black Trans Women: What does it mean in practice?
01:18:00 - AI & Subjugation: Why material change matters more than tech solutions.
01:24:45 - The spirituality of Black revolution
01:40:50 - Class War Collective: What it is & how to support ASL PRINCESS.
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📖 Articles & Essays
🔗 "Laundering Black Rage" (Black Agenda Report):
https://www.blackagendareport.com/laundering-black-rage
🎥 Books & Films
📚 The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study – Stefano Harney & Fred Moten:
🎬 Afropunk documentary – Directed by James Spooner:
https://www.spoonersnofun.com/afropunk
✊🏾 Movements & Organizations
🔗 The Black Panther Party & the Republic of New Afrika
🔗 Taala Hooghan Infoshop (Arizona)
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🎨 CLASS WAR COLLECTIVE
🔗 Instagram
🔗 Linktree
🔗 Bandcamp
💰 Support ASL PRINCESS:
💵 CashApp: $ASLPRINCESS
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