Queers and Communities of Color
by: Brownie
Sat Jan 31, 2009 at 15:14:45 PM EST
http://pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=C47B0A69549713A9B4A2ACDFEA9D1BD4?diaryId=9293(I wish that I had been able to attend Creating Change this year. It's always held during a time when it's nearly impossible for me to get away from my day job (budget time), so yet again, I'm stuck here in NC - but hey, that's is the job that keeps a roof over my head. No one is going to pay me to be a full-time activist in this economy, lol. - promoted by Pam Spaulding)
(crossposted at Amplify)
Creating Change 2009...this has been a wonderful week. There are so many powerful spirits here in Denver. On Friday I was scheduled to present a session on the Advocates for Youth Anti-Homophobia/Transphobia Project. The intended purpose of the session was to inform session participants of the project work we have been doing at Advocates in concert with project partners around the country. Also, we wanted to give participants tangible tools to utilize when working to redress homophobia and transphobia in communities of color.
As usual I asked participants to introduce themselves by telling us their name, preferred gender pronoun, and they motivation for attending the session. As you might imagine, the last request assist me in gauging participants' expectations and needs during the session. As we went around the room I quickly realized that the needs of my participants were not going to be fulfilled by my "professional" presentation on the work that was being done around the country to build capacity of providers to re-dress homophobia/transphobia. No. Instead, I had a room full of individuals that were eager to discuss the real life challenges to dialogue about homophobia/transphobia and racism. I was ready.
