About SiQ

Sick in Quarters (SiQ) is a network of disabled and chronically ill artists and activists, connected to each other and working in collaboration through the Internet. Because of our own struggles with self-advocacy, we recognize a need for information that has not been easily shared within our own histories of navigating illness within bureaucratic systems. 

Through the facilitation of community-building virtual workshops with artistic expression, we seek to empower our comrades and peers with a greater sense of agency while navigating the path of their own care. By referencing and honoring the visual arts history of the disability rights activists before us, we create our own forms of art as resistance, mutual aid and storytelling. Art operates as a point of entry to shaping paths of interdependence and connectivity across generations. A way we access that entry is through having sound, music, and writing based artist guests in our workshops to help attendees feel open to imaginative expression. 

Sick in Quarters Safety Guidelines 

• Be open to learning and supporting others. Encourage and support your fellow SiQ members. This is not a place for unsolicited criticism, cynicism, advice, or judgment. We also welcome anyone who is questioning their own disability.

• Be willing to hold and validate multiple truths. Not everyone is going to agree here and that's okay! It makes for a much richer discussion and can build bridges for learning and unlearning. Our differences can strengthen rather than divide us. We are all coming with our own set of experiences, so even if something doesn't resonate for you, be willing to recognize and validate someone else's perspective.

• Share generously. Your stories and experiences may be exactly what another member needs to hear today to solve a problem or seize an opportunity. Here we honor and respect all forms of vulnerability.

• Speak from the "I." When you share, speak from your own personal experiences. Remember that we are all experts in multiple ways. Also, please credit sources when sharing articles, ideas, or resources.

• Share resources, Don't sell. This community exists to help guide your learning and exploration. Share resources, links, and information that is relevant and on topic. Please don’t spam or promote your services or businesses. 

• Take care of yourself and the community.  While this is a space for sharing experiences, resources, skills, and perspectives, this is not a support group or mental health service. While we hope you find solace and connection with others here, this space is not a substitute for mental health services. We invite you to take care of yourself in this space as needed, while supporting the community with your thoughtful and engaging feedback. Please be mindful of consent and anonymity. 

• Collective liberation and overcoming oppression. Everything we do is in the spirit of liberation. This means we don't tolerate hate or discrimination of any kind. This includes racism, colonialism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, whorephobia, and any other forms of oppression. We hold ourselves and each other accountable with curiosity and compassion, in the spirit of shared learning and growth.

• Sick in Quarters prioritizes the voices and experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of the Global Majority, respectively. With that in mind, SiQ’s Host will call on and prioritize their voices to take the lead in our event spaces, and white community members will be asked to wait for their shares to follow after. 

We recognize that the most marginalized among us experience oppression through additional prisms of persecution and are disproportionately affected by systemic exploitation. While anti-Blackness is a pervasive thread through multiple identities and spaces with intersectional impact, we will not tolerate or replicate it here.  Venues for racialized Black folx, especially Black Queer / Trans folx, to be vulnerable and safely take up space are scarce. Please respect our efforts to provide an equitable space for these silenced voices.

* BIPOC / POGM are defined as people who are descendants of: Africa, Asia, Indigenous/First Nations, Latinx people of colour, people of colour from the Swana region, or anyone of mixed racial or ethnic heritage including one or more of the above. The 2SLGBTQIA+ community is defined as people who are Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and additional identities not captured by these identifiers signified with the ‘plus’ sign.

 

Zoom Guidelines

Please set your name on Zoom to the name that you RSVP’d with so we can keep track of attendance. If you are comfortable doing so, please add your pronouns to your Zoom name. 

Please remember to keep your microphones muted unless you are speaking. We understand these topics can be heavy and encourage participants to take breaks as needed. If you are triggered/activated, or your accessibility needs are not being met during the meeting, please contact one of the co-hosts and we will try our best to accommodate. 

We request that everyone observe the following guidelines, created to foster the smooth running and safety of the meeting.

• On your computer, to rename yourself during the call, click “…” ➡︎ “Rename”
• On your phone, hit participants, and select your name

Please set your Zoom view to the Gallery view, in case one of our peers signals for the speaker to slow down or provides a trigger warning.

• On your computer, click “View” in the top right corner ➡︎ “Gallery”
  
• On your phone, swipe either right or left

We are not recording this event. We ask that everyone also does not record the event. Please do not share the Zoom link, as we require everyone to RSVP.

We request that everyone have their video on unless doing activities that may distract. If this conflicts with your access needs, please message the host in the chat. Attendees who don’t respect this request after being reminded will be asked to leave the meeting.

For the sake of access, if someone in the meeting is talking too fast, please utilize the reaction feature “slow down” [⬅︎ in a light grey circle], and deselect when resolved OR please message Dove.

• On the computer, it’s on the toolbar at the bottom of your screen
• On the phone, click “...” in the bottom right corner of the screen and select “Slow Down” [⬅︎ in a light grey circle]
  

Please respect the anonymity of those who share with us today. What is said here, stays here, in the effort of maintaining confidentiality and privacy for our community. Gossip is damaging and can lead to relapse. We encourage you to take what you need and leave the rest to the internet Æther!

If you feel unsafe in this space at any time as a result of someone’s actions or presence, please privately message one of the SiQ hosts. All SiQ hosts will have a SiQ green background or a title in their names on Zoom.

If you have any questions, please privately message one of the SiQ hosts. All SiQ Co-hosts will have a title in their names on Zoom.

Anonymity reminds us to place principles before personalities.  We are conscious of helping one another preserve anonymity.  If you are sharing physical space with others, please consider using headphones so that audio remains private.  We ask that you not screenshot or record any part of the meeting.  We strive to maintain an environment where personal and honest shares can occur, and stay solely between those present at the meeting. Anyone who cannot commit to these guidelines will be asked to leave the meeting.

This space is intended to provide members and supporters of the disability community the opportunity to connect and talk about death, grief, and mourning, without fear of silencing, ridicule or judgment. If you do not identify as an ally to the disability community, please be respectful by exiting the space.