February

This panel discussion, organized by Prof. Sarah Ohmer, celebrates Black History & Women’s History Months, with perspectives from the American Hemisphere and Global South. Four speakers will offer their reflections on being black & queer/cuir in the Americas, focusing on what it means to be revolutionary, and how to contribute to current revolutions with Black Queer/Cuir experiences. The event will include a reading and discussion of Audre Lorde’s “Learning from the 60s” in conversation with influential black cuir voices from the Caribbean and Latin America: Tanya L Saunders, Ochy Curiel, Juliana Costa, and Grisel Y. Acosta. In English, Spanish and Portuguese with interpretation for English speakers. We invite the audience to dialogue with the speakers and share their own responses to Lorde’s essay during Q&A. “Palabreando,” an interactive performance hosted by Lyrical Bliss and BocaFlojaQuilombo, will follow this event.

If you missed this month’s event, just click here to learn more. 


Meet our February Featured Speakers!

Grisel Y. Acosta

is an associate professor at the City University of New York-BCC. Her first book of poetry, Things to Pack on the Way to Everywhere, is an Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize finalist and it is forthcoming from Get Fresh Books in 2021. Recent work can be found in Best American Poetry, The Baffler, Acentos Journal, Kweli Journal, Red Fez, Gathering of the Tribes Magazine, In Full Color, Paterson Literary Review, MiPoesias, Short Plays on Reproductive Freedom, and Celebrating Twenty Years of Black Girlhood: The Lauryn Hill Reader. She is a Geraldine Dodge Foundation Poet, a Macondo Fellow, and the editor of Latina Outsiders Remaking Latina Identity, an anthology that features over Latinx 30 contributors and subjects. Her work focuses on her Afro-Latinx and indigenous ancestry, queer identity, the punk and house music subcultures, her birthplace of Chicago, and the destruction of post-colonial neoliberalism in educational environments.

To learn more about and connect with Dr. Acosta, please click on her featured photo!


 

Lyrical Bliss

is a Pro-black conscious rapper, poet, host and music enthusiast using her platform to uplift others and shine light on social injustices.

To learn more about and connect with Lyrical Bliss, please click on her featured photo!


 

Juliana Costa “Sankofa” 

is a Black artivist, writer, and researcher. Anti-racist activist, black Brazilian literature scholar, with a masters in Literature. She is the founder of “Pretas das Letras,” which organizes regular events to feature black female writers in Brazil.


 

Ochy Curiel

is a professor of Gender Studies at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. She is an Afro-Dominican feminist, lesbian, anti-racist, and decolonial singer/scholar/activist who has been at the forefront of contemporary Afro-feminist movements throughout Latin America.


 

Boca Floja Quilombo

Bocafloja​ ​is an Interdisciplinary artist based in New York; Documentary Filmmaking, Music, Literature, Photography, Design, Theater and Video art are some of his mediums of creation. Critical Race theory, Global South, Coloniality, and the African Diaspora in Latin America are fundamental topics addressed in his body of work. Bocafloja’s soulful musicality is merged with a rich diasporic vernacular resulting in a vibrant live performance that has been enjoyed by multi-generational audiences internationally. Bocafloja has been featured in: OKAYAFRICA, AFROPUNK, BBC, NPR, LA JORNADA, ONCE TV, REMEZCLA, MTV, NACLA, CULTURESTRIKE, and many other newspapers, magazines and media outlets globally.

To learn more about and connect with Bocafloja, please click on his featured photo!


 

Tanya L. Saunders

Dr. Saunders is a sociologist interested in the ways in which the African Diaspora throughout the Americas uses the arts as a tool for social change. They hold a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Master of International Development Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Dr. Saunders’ book on ​Cuban Underground Hip Hop can be found​ ​here​, as well as a recently published chapter in No Tea, ​No Shade: New Writings in Black Queer Studies​ found​ ​here.​ For those of you who read/speak Portuguese, check out their essay ​Epistemologia negra sapatão como vetor de uma práxis humana libertária.​ Dr. Saunders is currently working on a forthcoming documentary short about Black Feminist Activism in Cuba.

To learn more about and connect with Dr. Saunders, please click on their featured photo!