Voice of Consciousness

With a name like "Abigail Sewell", people are usually surprised to meet me -- black, queer, masculine-of-center woman. Intending to put my gender non-conforming self on blast, I showed up to my Emory photo shoot by Bryan Meltz this past Fall in full gear -- tie, sweater vest, fancy socks, bright colored button down, and oxfords. I was pleased a couple of weeks later when Bryan sent me pictures that revealed myself as strong, confident, and at ease. This is the face that I want to present to students: We are not all battle-weary. Instead, the battle to be and write authentic fuels me to look to myself as the source of my own safety net and creative muse. Basically, it starts with me. I was reminded of that when a student in a class I guest lectured in this past Fall came to me and asked: "I hope you don't mind, but...Where do you buy your clothes?" A bit startled, I fumbled a bit for an answer. Yet, as this fellow Black masculine-of-center, gender non-conformin...

Today, I ran across a pleasant delight while taking a "break" from work - U People. U People is a multi-faceted conscious-raising project that bridges art and activism and provides a critical assessment of race and sexuality in America. " U People " -- a documentary that is an outgrowth of the broader project premiered on Logo February 7th and won the Jury Award at the IMAGE-NATION LGBT Film Festival in Canada. I was able to catch parts of the documentary online at the Logo site but was unsuccessful in seeing the entire film (although they say the Full Documentary is present). By digging a bit further, I found this 15 minute trailer that provides a closer look at why YOU should be buying-watching-talking about this film. The U People website states that: the mission of the documentary is to dismantle the blanket categorization and ignorance inherent in the phrase "you people" by displaying unique individuals in possession of personal power and self-determi...