Nico Lang
Co-Creator and Co-Editor, In Our Words
Interview with KOKUMO, Chicago Trans* Activist and Founder of KOKUMOMEDIA
Posted: 09/25/2012 1:31 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nico-lang/interview-with-kokumo-kin_b_1907563.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nico-lang/interview-with-kokumo-kin_b_1907563.html)
Nico: So, first tell me about yourself, where you come from, any pertinent information you want the world to know.
KOKUMO: My name is KOKUMO (pronounced "koh-koo-mah"). I gave myself that name, because KOKUMO is Yoruba, a West African Dialect, for "This woman will not die." The reason I named myself that is because, unfortunately, that's what typically happens to women like myself. We are basically murdered, or just subjected to lives of isolation. I'm an artist. I have a multimedia production company called KOKUMOMEDIA, and KOKUMOMEDIA is a company that uses music, film and literature to illuminate the experiences of TGI (Trans*, Gender Non-Conforming and Intersex) people of color, specifically trans* women of color. And some of the projects that we have going on and we have executed are TGIF (Trans*, Gender Non-Conforming, Intersex Freedom), the world's first TGI State of the Union address, which was held in Chicago, July 29th in Union Park. It was billed as Trans* Pride, but we realized that that didn't make sense -- that this was something so much more than being Trans* and having pride. This is about making demands and having them heard.
N: When you talk about not using the word "pride," how do you think -- that not only Trans*pride but the larger work that you are engaged with -- is bigger than that concept?
K: I believe that Prides are superfluous. Because for me, we already are proud. We woke up this morning proud; we stepped out of our house this morning proud, but we don't always go around this world powerful, and that's what I'm here to do. I'm not here to let people know I'm proud. I'm her to remind people that I'm powerful.