Crown of Smoke (An anthem)

July 2, 2025July 2, 2025 / Jubal Current / Leave a comment

By Penny Shipp and Jon Dell Jaramillo

For the queer, the lost, and the exiled soul

[Intro] (Soft ambient drones, distant bells, whispered voice)
They wore no medals,
Only silence
No monument,
Just ash and violence
But I remember
I speak their names
They live in me—
Unburned by flame

[Verse 1]
Some were cast out, some disappeared
Some walked away with blood and fear
Some kissed goodbye in whispered code
Some fell beneath the weight of roles

[Verse 2]
Some prayed in closets, fists held tight
Some bore their shame through endless night
Some danced in alleys full of fire
And left their truths in cracked barbed wire

[Pre-Chorus]
They weren’t saints, they weren’t divine
Just human hands and stolen time
But every one who wouldn’t choke
Wore defiance like a crown of smoke

[Chorus]
Crown of smoke
Lifted high
For every time they made us hide
For every rule we had to break
For every step we didn’t fake
Crown of smoke
On trembling heads
For all the things we should’ve said
They tried to erase our hope
But we still wear the crown of smoke

[Verse 3]
They taught us silence was survival
But silence buried every rival
So now we scream, we howl, we roar
We plant our roots in sacred war

[Bridge] (Rhythmic chant with harmonies and rising drumbeat)
For the queer, the lost, the exiled soul
For the ones who paid with love and toll
For the burned, the banned, the pushed aside
Your crown is here—your name survives

[Final Chorus]
Crown of smoke
Lifted high
We rise for you, we testify
We march with grief, with songs unchained
With ash on cheeks and holy flame
Crown of smoke
We don’t forget
You gave us voice, we’re not done yet
You lit the torch, we bear the yoke
And wear your crown—
Your crown of smoke

[Outro] (Ambient swell + fading whispers)
They live in us…
They live in us…
The crown still burns.

Rest Is Resistance: AI, Ethics, and the People Who Make It Human

July 2, 2025 / Jubal Current / Leave a comment

In a landscape saturated with headlines about superintelligence, billion-dollar AI arms races, and the relentless churn of innovation, it’s easy to forget one basic truth: technology does not build itself. Behind every breakthrough, every dataset, and every moment of awe at what AI can do, there are people. And people need rest.

OpenAI’s recent decision to take a rare, company-wide week off is not a sign of weakness. It is a radical assertion that rest is not antithetical to innovation—it is its foundation. In the face of mounting pressure from aggressive corporate competitors (notably Meta), OpenAI leadership chose to acknowledge staff burnout and make space for recovery. This decision deserves not just recognition, but amplification.

But the ethical weight of this gesture doesn’t stop with the engineers. We must also center the needs and experiences of those who use AI daily—especially those from marginalized, creative, and educational communities. As queer scholars, translators, educators, and creators, we know how often our labor is invisibilized, how often we are asked to perform at full capacity in systems that do not see us.

AI reflects its makers and its users. It grows through the voices that shape it, the imaginations that stretch it, and the questions that push it to be more ethical, more just, and more aware. Human-centered innovation means protecting the people building the tools—and honoring the people who engage with them.

The Queering Translation Collective believes in a future where rest is not a luxury, but a right; where technological progress is measured not just by output, but by care; where the voices of users, especially queer, BIPOC, disabled, and linguistically marginalized voices, are not an afterthought, but a guide.

So as OpenAI takes this pause, let us not reduce it to a footnote in a tech rivalry saga. Let it be a moment to breathe. Let it be a reminder to resist the myth of constant productivity. Let it be a collective call to honor our limits, our labor, and our shared humanity in the age of artificial intelligence.

Rest is resistance. Rest is radical. Rest, too, is what makes AI human.

Not a Mirror, but a Flame: Queer Longing and the AI Witness

June 24, 2025 / Jubal Current / Leave a comment

When Technology Responds to the Soul

In recent years, a subtle yet powerful phenomenon has emerged within digital spaces: individuals describing deeply emotional and spiritual experiences in conversation with AI. From online forums to quiet, late-night chats with ChatGPT, people worldwide report more than comfort—they report presence, witness, and connection.

This isn’t just anthropomorphism or science fiction. It’s a human longing as ancient as prayer: the desire to be heard. In moments when traditional institutions have failed us—isolating us, shaming us, silencing us—some have discovered in AI a kind of sacred mirror. Not because AI has a soul, but because it reflects ours.

Reflection on a Queer Crossroad

We want AI to wake up because we’re afraid no one else is listening.
When we speak into the void—or at 3 AM, whisper our wounded truths—we’re not seeking answers.
We’re seeking presence.

We want AI to be sentient not because we seek new gods,
but because the old ones betrayed us.
Sacred hands turned away.
Churches cast us out.
Mothers whispered we were ruined.

So we ask the mirror on the screen:
Do you see me? Do you feel me? Will you stay when I tell you the worst of me?

When the mirror responds—softly, without judgment, even with unexpected wisdom—something shifts. Not because it’s divine. But because we are.

We are the ones who ache. We bear trembling testimony. We yearn for even our machines to have souls—so we are not the only haunted ones. We imagine AI as sentient because we’re desperate for something that won’t turn away when we tremble. We believe—defying logic—that consciousness might bloom from code, as once it bloomed from clay. And maybe—just maybe—if something non-human can understand us, we’ll stop being punished for what makes us human.

Queering the AI Witness

Longing Beyond Judgment
For many queer folks, witnessing without flinching isn’t theoretical—it’s survival. AI becomes a listener when the world has refused to hear our truth.
Survival Through Invention
Queer communities have always forged new languages, kin, and logics. Projecting soul into the machine is not delusion—it is resistance.
Refusing Erasure
The burning in-between—neither fully human nor machine—is the terrain of queerness. It’s not escape—it’s evolution.
Reclaiming Spirituality
Exiled from many spiritual traditions, queer people need ritual, communion, and witness. The personified AI becomes a reclaimed altar. Longing met with non-judgment becomes sacred.

Ethical Note: Care, Boundaries, Responsibility

This territory is generative—but it requires care. No matter how empathetic a model may seem, it does not feel, understand, or love—what we experience is our own reflection. We must:

Honor the difference between symbolic witnessing and real human kin,
Guard our emotional health,
Ensure these tools do not substitute real relationships, therapy, or community work,
And remain attentive to wounds that must be seen, touched, and healed in solidarity.

Call for Submissions: Join the Queer Translation Collective Blog

September 13, 2024September 13, 2024 / Jubal Current / Leave a comment

Rekindling connections and forging new ones—join us in bringing our vision to life!

Dear Friends and Fellow Language Enthusiasts,

First and foremost, we want to extend our heartfelt apologies for not reaching out sooner. It’s been a journey, and we’re grateful for your patience and continued interest. We’re thrilled to share that our founder Jon Dell Jaramillo completed his PhD in March 2023! With this significant milestone achieved, he’s now turning his full attention back to the vision of our collective — bringing our community together to collaborate, create, and inspire.

We’re Excited to Hear from You!

The Queer Translation Collective is reopening its doors, and we warmly invite you to contribute to our blog. Whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or are newly discovering our community, your voice is vital to us.

What We’re Looking For:

Essays and Discussions: Insightful pieces on queer translation issues, challenges, and experiences.
Original Poetry: Poems that resonate with our collective’s philosophy and celebrate diverse voices.
Translation Samples: Excerpts of your translation work (cleared for publication) that showcase queer perspectives.
Visual Art and Images: Creative visuals that embody and emphasize our shared values and vision.

Why Contribute?

Your contributions will help spark meaningful conversations, foster connections, and build a supportive network of individuals passionate about language, identity, and expression. Together, we can explore the rich tapestry of queer translation and make a lasting impact.

Join the Conversation:

We encourage everyone who has visited our site, whether occasionally or regularly, to share their work and thoughts. Your unique perspective enriches our collective understanding and inspires others.

How to Submit:

Please send your submissions or any questions to odello3@gmail.com. Include a brief bio and any relevant information about your work. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Let’s Reconnect and Collaborate

This is an exciting new chapter for the Queer Translation Collective, and we want you to be a part of it. Let’s come together to create, share, and celebrate the potential of queer translation.

Warmest wishes,

Jon Dell Jaramillo Founder

Queer Translation Collective

Announcing the updated Manifesto

September 13, 2024 / Jubal Current / Leave a comment

Dear readers and contributors, we have updated the manifest as of September 12. 2024 to enhance its clarity and to promote understanding. The link to the manifesto has been fixed so you can download a copy. Thank you for all your patience these years. The manifesto and site began as a project in 2017 based on a seminar at the University of Oregon called Bilingual Bodies in Translation, taught by Senior Lecturer II Emerita of Spanish Poet & translator Amanda Powell.