Queer Dreams and Nonprofit Blues

In October 2013, during my fellowship withThe Engaging Tradition Project at The Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School I collaborated Urvashi Vaid and the Barnard Center for Research on Women to convene a conference called Queer Dreams and Non-Profit Blues to examine the critiques emerging from queer and feminist activists and scholars about the impact of funding on social movement agendas and formations.

During the conference, Hope Dector and I conducted interviews with many of the speakers about their analysis and strategies related to the conference themes. These interviews were edited into 30 short videos that aim to bring these critical perspectives into an accessible format for use in activist spaces and classrooms. These videos highlight the type of knowledge production that is possible when the boundaries between activism and the academy are actively traversed. The first three videos focusing on lessons from the anti-violence movement can be found here.

These six videos explore how the NPIC affects activism, from how we work to who leads, and feature interviews with Christine Ahn, Trishala Deb, Kenyon Farrow, Reina Gossett, Shira Hassan, Paulina Helm-Hernandez, Imani Henry, Amber Hollibaugh, N’Tanya Lee, Andrea Ritchie, Urvashi Vaid, Jason Walker, and Craig Willse.

Click here to watch the videos.

Image credit: riotjoke.com.