Che Gossett

Che will expand on and further display how intricate and rich black trans history, cultural production and performance have been in Philadelphia. They will use multimedia techniques and research methodology to create a dynamic website where black trans oral history, cultural production and performance can be made accessible to a larger audience. The intention is to make black trans Philadelphia visible, to show how these communities have engaged in activism, fostered resilience, forged kinship and families.

Che will combine literary art and activist history in the form of a zine in order to bring to the foreground narratives of resistance regarding trans and gender non-conforming people’s experience with HIV/AIDS, prison, and criminalization—in direct contrast to a mainstream narrative that is often white and gender-normative. The zine will explore the politics of loss and mourning around the HIV/AIDS epidemic that trans people of color in general, and trans women specifically, have survived and the ways in which they have created community and formed networks of support for one another.