the young people's professor

The changing political and social landscape of the United States in the age of neoliberalism has helped to facilitate an increasing climate of violence and surveillance towards racialized queer bodies. The recent murders of Michael Sandy, Rashawn Brazell, and Sakia Gunn; the death of Christopher Street and the West Village as “safe spaces” for queer youth of color, and a climate of crisis among queer African American men caught in a pandemic (33% of whom are presumed to be HIV positive in New York) all points to the urgency of conceiving new modes of scholarly engagement that speaks with rather than for marginalized communities on “the ground.” What does performance studies have to “say” (or “do”) about contemporary HIV/AIDS activism? About neoliberal violence, state-sanctioned hatred, or queer, racialized political disenfranchisement? Bringing together scholars focused on queer black politics in three centers (Chicago, Detroit, and New York City), this panel addresses how performance studies can approach some of the most pressing political and social issues facing queers of color today.

Panelists:

“Sitting in The Toilet: American Violence, Race, and the Queer Present”
Jeffrey Q. McCune, Assistant Professor of American Studies and Women’s Studies, University of Maryland, College Park

“Back to the Future: Towards the Reconfiguration of African American Studies and AIDS Cultural Critique”
Frank Leon Roberts, Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Performance Studies, New York University

“Performance as Intervention: Ballroom Culture, HIV/AIDS, and an Urban Crisis”
Marlon M. Bailey, Assistant Professor of Gender Studies and African and African American Studies, Indiana University---Bloomington

Michael Roberson, Executive Director, People of Color in Crisis (P.O.C.C.) [Discussant]

Posted by the young people's professor on 11/05/2007 at 1:47:00 AM | Permalink