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whitney, owner of Odja

@_odja

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2008

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i take photos and really care about the world
📍MD• DC • VA (and everywhere else)
🇨🇻 Kriola kidney donor
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Keeping the Myspace angle alive is a lot to carry on just my shoulders alone by @_odja

September Poku-poku: what do these all have in common?
Black mental health vs systemic harm. With this month being Suicide Awareness Month I think it should be emphasized how much access to housing, hobbies, not having to wear an ankle monitor or be heavily surveilled by the govt, and of course- having your mental health taken seriously can all be forms of suicide prevention.

Whenever I post these I try to post a group I haven't posted before and I try not to overwhelm everyone with too many options, buuut fair warning I'm going to post a ton of volunteer opportunities soon 🖤

📸 Art classes, but especially photography, was pretty much the only safe outlet I had in my junior and senior years of high school. I don't work a 9-5 because in many ways photography still is my safe place. I love seeing organizations like @criticalexposure providing access to what can seem like a very inaccessible hobby (it is wildly expensive tho).

I try to share a different rapid response group each month. Hagerstown Rapid Response has been doing great work assisting neighbors and opposing the 825,000 square-foot proposed ICE facility in Williamsport, MD ( 16220 Wright Road). In just 2 weeks at the beginning of August ICE abducted 1,300 neighbors in MD and NOVA. 3 days ago an ICE raid in Frederick, MD turned violent quickly when neighbors were present to denounce ICEs presence and protect their neighbors.

; I shared a post recently from @blackpeoplediebysuicidetoo regarding how we speak about the recent hangings of Black people around the South. I've also shared my own personal experience on why we must use more responsible language beyond "Black people don't hang themselves!" (not sharing it again here so just go follow their page, check out their podcast, and learn to expand your empathy around the subject 🖤)

*correction- I believe the eviction notice was given to residents on 7/21 not 7/24 Please watch the full video in the next 2 slides then head to @tajalloyd bio or the Poku-poku link in my bio to access the Google doc! These residents need assistance relocating by October 19th!

Help the residents of Aqualand pt. 1

Help the residents of Aqualand pt. 2 by @_odja

What can't our community do?! We are so grateful to our community member who showed up to help make back to school shopping accessible for our neighbors in need 📚🎒📓✏️ it may not seem like a lot in a sped up video, but we received over 30 notebooks, 11 glue sticks, so many pens, and so much more! This was an amazing start!

Let's keep the giving going!

We will be hosting a donation collection day this upcoming Saturday August 15th for our next table hosted on August 16th from 11am-1pm. Canned goods, snacks, cereal, fresh produce- we'll take anything unopened and in great condition! If you have more school supplies to drop off we'll take those too 😄

Location and time are TBD so keep an eye out for updates on Instagram and Facebook. #mutualaid #feedthepeople #southernmd by @_odja

Family time: Love ya, Dawn!

I don't know a single person on this earth who is capable of meeting you and not loving you instantly. Your humor, your passion for family, and your ability to show everyone the love they need- I can only hope we were able to show it back!

Just want you to know I had a chance to sneak in a photo of you in the 80s with a very questionable haircut, but I didn't because I love you 🤣 by @_odja

July Poku-poku roundup ->
Community impact initiatives for the month
Additional info via Poku-poku link in bio

#mutualaid #communitycare #pokupoku

@freethemallva is a group providing support to detainees in VA detention centers. They are currently in need of donations. Proceeds go directly towards the needs of detainees.

@lifeafterrelease is need of of volunteers for jail support every other Friday from 7:30-9:00pm.

@feedthepeoplelaplata is a mutual aid group based in La Plata MD offering food/hygiene distribution. Whenever you book a session I'm asking clients to bring a donation item or leave a tip labeled "donation"! You can follow FTPLP on IG/Facebook for updates!

@cvnurses Now that everyone is Cabo Verdean let's support more CV-focused organizations! The Cape Verdean Nurse's Association is organizing a health fair on my ancestral island of Fogo for October 2026. They can't do it alone and they can't do it without funding so go show them your support! by @_odja

•On Voting Rights and Suppression•

I left for vacation at the end of one of the most brutal Black maternal health weeks I have ever been old enough to remember. When I came back, not even three days later SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act. For Black people in this country concepts such a rest and grief are short-lived because to survive we have to constantly fight, constantly act in some fashion.

In taking some time to reflect I was reminded of a clip from this interview wherein Malcom X explained that laws in this country are created to continue oppressing Black people- that the goal post will always move therefore we do not need to take the laws which are created to oppress us as anything more than a reminder of the real status quo being upheld. As I've been sitting on these thoughts Tennessee has redrawn their map to remove the last democratic seat in their state which belonged to a Black majority with other Southern states not far behind. Again, this is all white supremacy in action.

Context:
You will hear Malcom saying "we, the Muslim community" instead of "we Black people".
This interview was conducted before news had come out about Elijah Mohammed's sexual abuse and inappropriate relationships within the NOI (which Malcolm X condemned/eventually left the Nation of Islam group). Religion does not separate any Black person then or now from oppression. Our oppression is shared.

Source:
Herman Blake interviewing Malcolm X, moderated by John Legget

Malcom X Interview (1963); C-SPANs American History TV (YouTube)

#votingrightsact #blackhistory by @_odja

May Poku-poku pt. 2

With the repeal of the Voting Rights Act we all need to turn our attention to populations that are overlooked and underestimated: sex workers, inmates, and the South. Why? Because all of these are interconnected. In my previous post I focused on the first two portions of that, but let's take a look at the South.

The US has the highest incarceration rates in the world and while southern states do not make up the largest majority for female inmates, they do make up the largest rate of incarceration overall. Guess who is targeted for arrests the most? Yup, Black and Brown people. How can we vote if we're behind bars for at least the next four years? Exactly- we can't.

Depending on the state, being convicted of a felony can pause your right to vote or forfeit that right to vote entirely. For many states, completion of sentence/probation is enough to restore your right however anyone who has engaged with the legal system will know that the system is designed to set returning citizens to reoffend and remain in the system. There’s way more to it, but basically this country sets people up to be impoverished and then criminalizes poverty. It's a vicious cycle.

Two groups I wanted to highlight:
@stopcopcity - I feel like people forgot about this...we need to be paying closer attention to this
@raiseupthesouth - Southern workers rights for fair treatment

Imagine description in comments by @_odja

May Poku-poku: pt. 1; Yo Mama (respectfully)

This weekend is about to be all about moms/mother figures and we have to be mindful of who that title includes: those from unconventional backgrounds. Part of this month’s poku-poku roundup on resources for incarcerated mothers, decriminalizing sex work, and prison birth doula resources.

@decrimny - S3x work is not a crime.
@aidtoinmatemoms

Prison birth support:
@vaprisonbirthproject
@prisonbirth
@endprisonbirth

Image description: film photograph of my mother at 2 months old being held by her Cape Verdean immigrant grandmother in the early 1960s. by @_odja

A heavy week for Black women and gender non-conforming people. I love us and we deserve to grow old. I'm going to be MIA for a week, but if you would like to donate towards a fund to help Kyle's friends secure housing I will be collecting donations. Our goal is $1500 by April 30th.

Venmo: Odja_photo *please label each donation with "🏳️‍⚧️ fund" by @_odja

Fostering the Future Together Global Summit; ©Whitney Ingram

Last week I was asked to photograph the first lady of Senegal, Marie Khone-Faye, during her attendance throughout the summit. All views expressed are my own and separate from those expressed from attendees of the event.

The positive:
- 🇸🇳 Marie Khone-Faye of Senegal was delightful as was her team. She carried herself with grace throughout the summit.
-🏳️‍⚧️ Due to Senegal's anti-LGBTQ laws $100 of my check was donated to a trans mutual aid request (not super positive, but happy to be able to redirect some money)
- 🇨🇻 I got to see the first lady of Cabo Verde for the first time
- 🇬🇭 the first lady of Ghana thought I was taking her photo and accidentally blocked the first lady of Senegal, but she was so pleasant I couldn't be upset. Whenever I encounter public figures whose politics I'm not familiar with, even from afar, and they're actually likeable I hate having to think "God I hope you're not a war criminal" 😅🤞🏽
- I survived my 2nd (?) press pool and didn't punch anyone despite day 2 being an absolute mosh pit

Aaaand the not so positive:

The summit focused primarily on indoctrinating children by having them become familiar with Ai- specifically companies like Palantir or OpenAi as well as few others. While the remarks from both days were not entirely idiotic due to some of the speakers acknowledging the duties governments have to ensure Ai is used responsibly, some remarks were concerning (continued in comments).

Slide 17: I've never felt so nauseous in an instant than I did realizing I was standing within 30ft away from Satanyahu's wife. Still calling for her and her husband's public execution...

Slide 18 & 19: taken as soon as day 2 was over. You put me on White House grounds I'm gonna exercise my right to free speech by @_odja

The United States of Isre@l is committing ecocide.

Still researching impactful ways to center this properly with action first, donation second, but in the meantime here are some things I wanted to focus on for April:

• @mariposafund: reproductive care for undocumented persons. ICE is reproductive oppression.
• @strippersunite: sex work is work. Workers rights for errbody. I've been seeing too much discourse of "we're not SW, we're pole dancers there's a difference 😭" on here and it needs to stop.
• @equality4flatbush: love them and all they do for their community. Wish I could give them all the funding to help tenants of Brooklyn!
• @friendsoftheeverglades: Alligator Alcatraz is still in operation. It's ruining both human lives and the natural environment in which it was built.
• @beyondabuddy_pg: full credit to @the_yvesdropper for putting me onto this one- go volunteer with cute dogs!

Edit: * I didn't see that the slide for @memoriesfoundation wasn't included. This is a group I'm hoping to volunteer with very soon!

Anyway- link in bio for everything as usual ✨ by @_odja

Running on minimal sleep and driving 8hrs today so I'm gonna keep this brief. Summary: Women are amazing, but still need help. Our trans friends in Kenya have launched a fundraiser! Help. Just because you're enlisted doesn't mean you can't oppose war- there's help. Protect each other from ICE.

featured organizations:
@sistersincinema
@voices_unchained
@vetsaboutface
@sstpmutualaid
@eachstephome

I'll share more about the trans my mutual aid fund in my story and a separate post. I'll comment image descriptions soon.

Link in bio for erthang else

#pokupoku #mutualaid #fuckice by @_odja