America in Transition is a web series, interactive documentary, and community engagement campaign taking a real look at social change from the perspective of trans people in marginalized communities. Each episode explores one person’s story in depth, tackling intersectional issues such as HIV criminalization in Arkansas, black trans masculine (in)visibility in the media, and barriers facing trans latina immigrants. America in Transition offers customized screenings, workshops, and lectures to a variety of audiences including Film, New Media, Public Humanities, Public Health, Multicultural Student Affairs, Latino Studies, and more to bring intersectional programming to colleges and universities across the country.
BEHIND THE SCENES
CONTACT US TO SCHEDULE A SCREENING OR WORKSHOP: BookAmericaInTransition@gmail.com
GET INVOLVED: www.AmericaInTransition.org
FEATURED SPEAKERS & WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
André Pérez, Director / Producer of America in Transition EPISODES AVAILABLE FOR SCREENING EP1: LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE MYSELF AGAIN Little Rock: The threat of violence is an everyday experience for trans people. When Tiommi Luckett’s worst fears come true, she struggles to reconnect with the bold, adventurous woman she’s always been against a backdrop of selfimposed isolation. Episode addresses HIV criminalization, sexual violence, and healing from trauma.
André Pérez is a mixed-race transgender oral historian, educator, filmmaker, and community organizer who founded the Transgender Oral History Project in 2007. He created a traveling multimedia historical exhibit about trans activism in 2009. André’s videos have been featured at the Chicago History Museum and Philadelphia Folklore Center. André recorded 500 interviews for StoryCorps, including 50 segments that aired on NPR and WBEZ. Summer 2016, Pérez released Been T/Here, a docuseries about trans people of color in Chicago focusing on love, creativity, and healing, on Open TV. André currently works as Director of Marketing and Communications at Trans Lifeline.
Tiommi Luckett, Storyteller & Advisory Board Member
EP2: A FAMILY MATTER Milwaukee: Dezjorn is a pretty boy. After modeling from infancy, his mother struggles to understand why her child wanted to become a man. Even as he became a transgender public figure, he hid his gender identity from his mom. Now they are trying to understand one another before it’s too late. Episode addresses family acceptance, media literacy, race, and social transitioning.
Tiommi Luckett is a Black transgender woman. Former co-director the Arkansas Transgender Equality Coalition, she advocates for the liberation of trans & GNC people, prioritizing the decriminalization of HIV, decriminalization of survival sex work, affordable housing, equal opportunity employment, comprehensive healthcare and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Luckett works nationally with Positively Trans under the tutelage of the Transgender Law Center, blogs for A Girl Like Me, is a Community Advisory Board member of The Well Project, sits on the Steering Committee of the US PLHIV Caucus, and is part of Positive Women’s Network-USA.
IN DEVELOPMENT (COMING SUMMER 2017)
Dezjorn Gauthier, Storyteller & Advisory Board Member
EP3: LEGISLATING HATE North Carolina: Unspoken tension explodes when North Carolina law makers pass the most regressive law in 50 years. Follow residents as they fight the bill while dealing with the new reality it brought. Episode addresses civil rights and history. IN DEVELOPMENT (COMING FALL 2017) EP4: DETAINED WITH APATHY Arizona: A decade ago, a trans woman named Victoria testified to a congressional committee about the mistreatment and abuse she suffered in an immigrant detention facility. Learn about what has and has not changed in that time and what you can do to support Latina immigrants today. Episode addresses civil rights, trans history, and immigration. EP5: MOVING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK Wisconsin: Part Ogibwe and part Onieda, Ty Defoe grew up on a reservation. He was mentored since youth to become the only hoop dancer from his tribe, reminding humans of their connection to the Great Mystery. Join Ty as he attends Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit Powwow, the largest gathering of it’s kind. Episode addresses coming of age, colonialism, and cultural preservation.
Dezjorn Gauthier started modeling at just 6 months old for top children’s brands, winning national titles. He was featured in a Barney’s New York campaign with all transgender models and has since enjoyed international coverage as well as celebrity shoots all while attending Washington University School of Law. Dezjorn owns his own clothing business I am here, I am he LLC which brings awareness to trans men of color through education, empowerment and inspiration.
Karari Olvera-Orozco, Production & Advisory Board Member
Karari Olvera is the genderqueer first born of Mexican immigrant parents. An activist, writer, and makeup afficionado, Karari is the co-founder and former editor-in-chief of xQsí Magazine, an online LGBTQ Latin@ multimedia publication based out of Los Angeles. They current serve on the board of United Latin@ Pride, organizing the Midwest’s first and only week-long celebration of LGBTQ Latin@ Pride, and Karari is the first genderqueer person on the National Board of the Trans Latina Coalition.
Lex Lawson, Producer & Tour Manager
Lexington L. Lawson is a writer, educator and community organizer focusing on youth experiences, social justice issues and LGBTQ identities. They have developed curriculum, performed workshops and trained trainers for over ten years with community groups, social service providers, high school and college students, and institutional decision makers. Lexington is also a writer and producer for the award winning animated web series McTucky Fried High.
PROGRAMMING AVAILABLE FOR EACH EPISODE
EP3: WHERE IS MY REFUGE? GENDER VARIANCE IN LATINX COMMUNITIES
8 YEARS OF COLLECTING TRANS STORIES
Gender policing begins at birth, intensifying as we come of age. What does it mean to go outside of those rigid expectations? Even in trans communities, we sometimes carry those legacies. Learn about the journey to forge an empowered latinidad as a gender non-conforming person.
When the Trans Oral History Project started in 2008, it was the only of its kind. 85 interviews in over a dozen states later, it’s still going amidst a media landscape of trans trendiness. View clips from the TOHP archive through the years, learn how the work has changed, and leave understanding of why documenting trans histories matters today.
DEBUNKING THE MODEL IMMIGRANT MYTH
EP1: LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE MYSELF HIV ISSUES IN TRANS COMMUNITIES HIV prevention and treatment are changing rapidly. Factors that drive the spread of the virus are as complex as our relationships, our cultures, and power itself. Why are HIV rates so high in trans communities? What is being done to help? What policies need to change? GROWING UP TRANS IN THE SOUTH Many of us have complicated relationships to home, yet the South continues to be painted as a simply awful place in urban-centered queer culture and community. We confront regional biases by sharing a range of stories from Southern trans folks. EP4: LEGISLATING HATE STANDING UP AND FIGHTING BACK Trans people of color find ways to survive, build community, and resist even within hostile contexts like churches and the military. Uncover hidden histories of resistance and trans southern leadershipfrom repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to supporting suicidal trans folks and fighting HB2 in NC today!
EP2: WHERE CAN WE SEE OURSELVES? THE VISIBILITY CONTRADICTION: WHY ARE TRANS PEOPLE DYING IN AN AGE OF CELEBRITY? 2015 was heralded as the transgender tipping point, but it was a record-breaking year for violence and murders of trans women of color. Does celebrity make us safer? We will examine the role of visibility in movement building, the fight for civil rights, and achieving social justice. WHOSE REPRESENTATION? STORYTELLING ETHICS IN MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES Documentary and anthropology are informed by an exploitative, colonialist legacy. How do we transform them and make them our own? Andre Perez draws on experience working in 100 different communities as part of StoryCorps and the Trans Oral History Project to share best practices, case studies for collaboration, and lessons learned the hard way. LECTURES, WORKSHOPS, AND PANELS FOR REMAINING EPISODES COMING SOON!
CONTACT US TO SCHEDULE A SCREENING OR WORKSHOP: BookAmericaInTransition@gmail.com
GET INVOLVED: www.AmericaInTransition.org
GENERAL PROGRAMMING (MIX & MATCH)
From DACA to Dreamers, the media spins a story that our immigration policies help the “derserving.” However, these laws are predicated on anti-crime rhetoric that ignores the painful inequities of the (in)justice system. We will deconstruct immigrant narratives, while discussing how transmysogyny and criminalization impact latinx trans communities.
WHAT DOES INTERSECTIONAL, SOCIAL JUSTICE DOCUMENTARY LOOK LIKE? Director, André Pérez discusses some of the pitfalls of traditional documentaries that he is attempting to subvert in AIT. Learn about models from community organizing, interactive design, and citizen journalism that can help move towards more just, collaborative, and participatory storytelling.
ALLYSHIP TRAININGS TRANS 101 & 202 (FOR INDIVIDUALS) What are the unique experiences and needs of trans people? How can you be a better ally in your personal and professional life? Part informational lecture and part participatory activities, this workshop can be tailored for different audiences including students, SOFFAS, or the general public.
UNLEARNING WHITE SUPREMACY IN COMMUNITY Develop a deeper understanding of how white privilege operates in your own life as well as the world around you. Share strategies for interrupting racism. This workshop is geared towards white people in the LGBTQ community, but it is open to a broader audience.
TRANS 101 & 202 (FOR INSTITUTIONS)
HONORING INTERSECTIONALITY IN OUR WORK
What are the unique experiences and needs of trans people? What structural and procedural barriers do trans people face? How can your institution or organization create policies to better support our communities? This workshop can be tailored for different audiences including administrators, non-profit workers, or business professionals.
Intersectionality is a popular term in recent years, but what does it look like in practice? This is an interactive workshop to help social workers, organizers, and others who interact directly with diverse communities develop practices of cultural humility. We will strategize together about how to create spaces where people feel comfortable bringing their whole selves.
CONTACT US TO SCHEDULE A SCREENING OR WORKSHOP: BookAmericaInTransition@gmail.com
GET INVOLVED: www.AmericaInTransition.org
WE’VE WORKED WITH OVER A DOZEN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES:
Memphis Trans Activist Panel during AIT Screening, Rhodes College
Student Meet & Greet at Loyola University of New Orleans
André Pérez Keynote, TDOR in Peoria, IL
Lecture at Loyola University of New Orleans
OUR AWARD-WINNING CREW HAS WORKED WITH LEADING MEDIA COMPANIES:
STUDENTS
PROFESSORS
WHAT ARE THEY SAYING? “Our students never have queer programming. Some are afraid to walk off of campus. AIT connected with them on a deep level emotionally and intellectually. We are still processing it weeks later.” --University of Loyola in New Orleans
“Pérez was a generous and adept public speaker and facilitator who delivered a lively and informative workshop. America in Transition was the best programming decision we made at Vanderbilt this year!”
“We’ve never had a black speaker before. You can’t underestimate what this means for our campus.” --University of North Florida
Melanie Adley, PhD Director of Undergraduate Studies (WGS) at Vanderbilt University