New York educator says drag balls gave the revolution a theology
New York educator and activist Michael Roberson kicked off the 2018 ArtsEverywhere Festival this past Thursday with his talk about the strength of the trans, black, female voice. Roberson is a public health practitioner and an empowering leader within the LGBTQ2IA+ community, and the creator of The Federation of Ballroom Houses. He holds Masters degrees in both Divinity and Sacred Theology from the Union Theological Seminary.
As part of the Big Ideas in Art & Culture Lecture Series, co-curated by Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area (CAFKA) and Musagetes, Roberson took inspiration for his topic — “The Trans Sound of Black Freedom” — from Ultra-red, a sound art collective founded in 1994 that believes “Silence is death, therefore sound is liberation.” This liberation can be personal or in reclaiming space. Black trans women, exiled from their families, used drag balls as a political act to liberate themselves from the pressures of society: “Drag balls become not only the political but the theological space for movement,” explained Roberson.
Additionally, these performers used their bodies to create conversations to further the revolutionary LGBTQ2IA+ movement and ensure trans bodies are part of that revolution. After watching videos of trans icons Princess Janae, Sylvia Rivera, Tracey Norman, and Leiomy Maldonado, Roberson asked the audience about what they heard, what they saw, and what they felt. Responses from the audience demonstrated vulnerability and engagement with the content.[trx_slider engine=”swiper” custom=”yes” count=”3″ offset=”0″ orderby=”date” order=”desc” controls=”yes” pagination=”no” titles=”no” descriptions=”0″ links=”yes” crop=”yes” autoheight=”yes” slides_per_view=”1″ slides_space=”0″ interval=”5000″ top=”inherit” bottom=”inherit” left=”inherit” right=”inherit”] [trx_slider_item src=”https://www.theontarion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TraceyNorman_TheCut.jpg”] [trx_slider_item src=”https://www.theontarion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/sylviarivera_taggmagazine.jpg”] [trx_slider_item src=”https://www.theontarion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PrincessJanae_Twitter.jpg”] [trx_slider_item src=”https://www.theontarion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/LeiomyMaldonado_Latina.jpg”] [/trx_slider]
The lecture was attended by roughly 80 people, and Ann Clayton, an audience member, reflected on the videos by saying, “People have a lot of courage in performing, and it’s become a new kind of art form.” Glodeane Brown, a board member of CAFKA, said, “I think it’s important to have diversity. That’s what Musagetes and CAFKA do. It’s all about conversations and activism and art. I think that was a good choice for [Roberson] to come here and speak about that; important issues that are happening in the world today.”
Photo courtesy of ArtsEverywhere Festival
Great article.