As an AfroQueer non-binary student leader and social entrepreneur in the City of Austin I have experienced racism, homophobia and discrimination. During the presentation I will be discussing my experiences as a Queer non-binary person of color and emphasizing how my existence is resistance. This entails discussing the importance of intersectionality, equity and inclusion and the use of social media to dismantle systems that perpetuate Eurocentric and heteronormative conditioning and ideals.
The question is how do we create spaces for QTBIPOC+ students to feel celebrated, needed and heard? From my experience as a student leader and community member, I will go in depth on the importance of amplifying the voices of youth to claim their space, constructing a table to bring youth and their peers to the table and creating opportunities for youth, not only to piece together their identities, but to become catalysts of change in their communities, schools and homes.
In all, how do we use the concept of intersectionality, structures of equity and inclusion and the tool that is social media to make it known that as QTBIPOC+ youth our existence is resistance and it’s our time to claim our space(s)?