TAUNTLouisville

04/19/2022

Hi! Founder is one of LVA’s new community curators. We are hosting an event to meet artists and share more about the program. Only 20 tickets left. Link in bio to register. You can also read more about it on !

03/08/2022

When I sunset TAUNT, I used the remaining funds to create opportunities at other local publications. I wanted to minimize the vacuum of opportunities and loss of stories told that might be created by TAUNT's absence. With Ruckus, I created a "First Byline Fellowship," and this the first fellow they've published! https://ruckusjournal.org/Kara-Walker-in-Context-Cut-to-the-Quick-at-the-Cincinnati-Art-Museum

Above: Kara Walker, An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters: no world (2010). Etching with aquatint, sugar lift, spitbite, and drypoint, edition 19/30....

12/17/2021

One of our readers tagged us on Twitter in their reply to the director’s request for top collabs for the year. Thankful y’all are just as passionate about us as we are about you 🖤

11/26/2021

The final issue of TAUNT is now live at www.taunt.me ft. guest editor .simonee and contributors 25&Under 👉🏽 , .pixie, , , , , , and laid out by .jpg 🖤

08/17/2021

"A few weeks after the waters rose, I called and visited over a dozen residents in five impacted counties between the ages of 21 and 72, who experienced what they, and Kentucky’s governor, called the worst flooding they’d seen in their lifetimes. While climate change means these disasters are going to happen more often, and get worse, civic leaders and community members are seeking tangible, long-term solutions like infrastructure investments, land reclamation and insurance programs that cover flooding and mudslides, while advocating for the sustainability of the land they call home." Read more from Austyn Gaffney at marqueelouisville.com.

Art by Shae Goodlett

08/16/2021

Austen Smith x Gabe Tomlin's "collects the interviews, photographs, and cherished artifacts of Black Kentuckians who are attempting to define themselves and reconnecting to pre-colonial concepts of gender. Black Kentuckians have something special to offer other Black thinkers, artists, and healers already examining how the social constructions of gender and race overlap." Check it out now at marqueelouisville.com

08/13/2021

Like Kelsey Westbrook says, it's time to start "sharing the words, stories, and voices of those directly harmed by" the prison industrial complex. Take your first step toward abolition work by reading these letters from solitary at marqueelouisville.com.

Art by August Northcut

08/12/2021

I didn't know much about Black civil war re-enactors or their importance to preserving our history until I read 's beautifully written essay. You won't regret spending a little time pondering the past and how we make the contributions of Black Kentuckians visible. Read at Marqueelouisville.com.

Art by Shae Goodlett

08/11/2021

Recently Cassia Herron, spoke with six Black women organizers — all but one of whom are Kentuckians — who worked the 2020 election cycle in Kentucky. They discussed their experience as organizers, their thoughts on electoral strategy and their hopes for the political future of the Bluegrass State. Read the excerpts from their interviews at marqueelouisville.com.

Art by Nobie Martin

08/06/2021

NOW LIVE: UNACCOUNTED - Our statewide issue in partnership with QueerKentucky x Southerly presented by with a grant from Press On Media and managing editor Dylon Jones ft.
Cassia Herron - We Have a Place: Black Women Organizing in Kentucky
Jasmine Marie Wigginton - Answering the Call: Black Kentuckians and the United States Colored Troops
Kelsey Westbrook - Letters from Solitary
Austen Levi x Gabe Tomlin - Love is the Through Line: Archiving Black Genders
Austyn Gaffney - ‘Tired of worrying about water’: Kentuckians grapple with historic flooding
Scotty Perry - PHOTO ESSAY: A FAMILY REUNITES AFTER COVID LOCKDOWN

Cover art by Nobie Martin and additional illustrations by Shea Goodlet

https://www.marqueelouisville.com/

07/08/2021

Hey y’all we’re ready for pitches for the 25 and under issue! We’re looking for writers, photographers, art, etc. Email your pitches to [email protected]. Please remember your ideas must be Louisville-focused!!

06/09/2021

TAUNT fave returns with a series of interviews with Louisville creatives who now reside elsewhere but still know the vibe 😎 including my fave poet ! Check it out over at www.taunt.me 🖤

06/02/2021

Our CULTIVATE issue was curated by Brianna Harlan and ft. Kiana Del Music, Faith Lindsey + Zach Lindsey + Ramona Lindsey, more work by Jasmine Marie Wigginton and hey did you know Otis Junior is also a writer?! Too much talent. We hope you love it

04/04/2021

"It is the human lives that are impacted by one group predominantly, white males, communicating people studies through investigations that provide what is termed factual. One would wonder how people isolated from lived experiences can dictate how those lived experiences pan out, and have the audacity to narrate a story that they do not know. However, this oxymoron occurs all too often."

Marlesha is dropping FACTS in our Counterculture issue!
🔥 Read her essay here: https://www.taunt.me/reclaming-research

04/03/2021

"We urge our listeners to sit with these stories and explore the truth in them. And then, when they’re ready, maybe cook something that brings pleasure into their lives. For Black lives, seeking a life of pleasure can itself be an act of protest."⁠

https://www.taunt.me/butter-pecan
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After you read Darryl and Kelly's piece, support Butter Pecan Podcast, and Louisville Cream

04/02/2021

"At times feeling isolated, tokenized, fetishized, and ostracized, I almost quit tattooing. I thought tattooing was supposed to be that alternative community where all misfits were accepted. I wondered when my gender wouldn’t play a role in the value of my art."

Flame essay by Sharon Lynn (link below)

https://www.taunt.me/tattoos-counterculture-gender

04/01/2021

A note from our editor Minda Honey - Writer:

Sarabande put Uyên on my radar when she participated in Joy Priest’s poetry workshop for the Sarabande Writing Labs this past summer and I had the pleasure of publishing her poem on TAUNT. When Erica Codey-Rucker came to me about writing a piece for the LEO Weekly on my experiences with s*xual harassment as a woman of color in the aftermath of the Atlanta shootings, I offered up Uyên’s name instead knowing she’d deliver that fire if offered the opportunity to write about her experience with racism as an Asian woman. Uyên says this is the first time she’s had an essay published in English under her full Vietnamese name.

This is a full circle moment for me. In 2016, Alex Zaragoza was asked to write a piece about what Beyoncé meant to her as a woman of color for her local alt-weekly and she offered up my name instead to center the experience of a Black woman. And look where that generosity led.

I’m proud of the writers I get to publish on TAUNT and I’m even prouder to watch where their names appear next.

https://www.leoweekly.com/2021/03/not-responsible-anyones-bad-day/

"The recognition over and over again that the world you live in is not safe for you is trauma."

04/01/2021

Yoko Molotov is a multimedia artist and illustrator specializing in transgressive and abstract drawings, art books, and poetry.

Check out her stunning JUICE series:

https://www.taunt.me/juice

03/31/2021

“It’s clear that a lack of human interaction, touch, and intimate relationships can have a lasting negative effect on our mental health, and online s*x workers have been that salvation for so many.”

- Check out Kelsey's piece here:

https://www.taunt.me/onlyfans

03/30/2021

“I wonder what possibilities come with acknowledging that hormones are not gendered until we gender them, that bodies are not gendered until we gender them. Not every woman experiences menopause. Not every woman who experiences menopause is cis. Not everyone who experiences menopause is a woman. These are just the facts.”

read Austen's full piece: https://www.taunt.me/trans-menopausal

03/26/2021

Our COUNTERCULTURE issue is now live ft. guest editor Erica Rucker, cover art by Keith Rose, layout by Kendrick Jones Designs and contributors Austen Smith, Kelsey Westbrook, , Root Cause Research Center community researcher Marlesha S. Woods, Mama Tried Tattoo Parlour artist Sharon Lynn, and local artist 👉🏽 www.taunt.me/counterculture

When I started talking to Minda about guest editing this issue, I was a fancy and untethered freelance spirit. I don’t live a traditional life in many ways. I’m a Black woman, who sells the English language back to the people who forced my ancestors to learn it. I live in a counterculture.

03/26/2021

We’d like to give a great big ol’ thank you to the Kentucky Foundation for Women for the grant that made this month’s issue possible!!! We hope you love COUNTERCULTURE ft. the LEO Weekly’s own Erica Rucker as guest editor!!!!!!!!

03/25/2021

Tomorrow we drop our Counterculture issue, but tonight we celebrate the offerings to our altar ft. photography by Natosha Via, a quote from Nicole C. and the poetry of Steven Michael Carr. Thank you for being in community with us https://www.taunt.me/the-altar-miracle-stewart

03/01/2021

returns to TAUNT to guide us through rituals around grief. If you'd like to add your words, photos, or memories to the TAUNT altar, please read the message at the bottom of the post and then email us by March 15th (all the info you need is in the post - THX!). https://www.taunt.me/the-altar-miracle-stewart

02/28/2021

"There was a part of me that felt silenced, at the core I was this human whose Mexican identity was such a big part of him but there was no room or space for that part to be known in the good ole’ country town of LaGrange, KY." - co-founder Joshua González on loss, tradition and, always, the importance of familia. https://www.taunt.me/remember-me-joshua-gonzalez

02/28/2021

Thanks for the feature!!!

02/28/2021

Ariel Brooks is a therapist with a therapist. She discusses the challenges marginalized individuals face getting access to the healthcare they deserve and what happens when your therapist turns out not be a safe space after all 😬 https://www.taunt.me/your-therapist-has-a-therapist (P.S. Don't skip the bio at the end!)

02/28/2021

The final installment of our LIFE//DEATH series ft guest editor Kaitlyn Soligan is now up on the site with writing by Ariel Brooks, FOKO - Logan Street Market’s Joshua González and Miracle Stewart 🖤 www.taunt.me

Join Our Newsletter Get what we got delivered directly to your inbox. First Name Last Name Email Address Sign Up Thank you! What We’re About The People Have SpokenTAUNT has raised nearly 20K from community donations and through a combination of grants and sponsorships, we’re on track to exceed ....

02/26/2021

"Although we were warned by many not to attend [the inauguration] out of fear for our safety, the idea of not witnessing such a monumental transfer of power was something we decided we would regret."⁠
⁠
Aaron Thomas takes us on a wild journey to the country's capital to witness the view from inauguration day in THE LINE IT IS DRAWN ⁠
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[Image Description: A red and pink background with blue lines on each side. A text box in the center reads, "Are we to feel more safe with these relatable faces heading the major departments of our nation’s government? Or do we now push even more aggressively for change while we have them in place to amplify our voices? Can we do both?", Aaron Thomas]

02/24/2021

When Scotty Perry got the call about the decline of his grandparent's health, he dropped everything to move in with them to become their full-time caregiver and captured the slowness of death. For 16 hours a day, for almost 6 months, he cared for the people who once cared for him. ⁠
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Check out 's moving photo-essay "Here. (And Now.)" ⁠
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[Image Description: A transparent black and white background of a white plastic yard chair on a front porch. Behind the chair is a house, a screen door, and a partial view of a window shutter. The text reads: "Here. A lot of people would consider photographing the slow demise of my grandparents taboo, but for me it was a way to pre-grieve what I knew would happen while they were in my care." - Scotty Perry]⁠