S4.7: Ferrin Evans : Queer Loss, Marginalized Experiences and Demanding a Seat at the Table

Once again, I must apologize for the long period it has been between recording this and it going live.
I fear that the entirety of Season 4 is going to have some…bumps…in it because there were many moments in the last 6 months where I did not feel comfortable posting a new episode and having any attention taken away from a) what was going on in the news (the protests, etc) or b) lessen the wonderful words of my guests. So you’ll have to just sorta deal with the fact that some of the topics on here are a little dated but it’s interesting to consider them in light of what then occurred AFTER this conversation, for better or worse.
Whatever life is, it is far from boring….

I will also apologize for myself. I got far too excited during this podcast episode and I think I spoke over Ferrin too much and I regret that because while editing it, I realized that there was so much more I wanted to know about and wanted to ask him but I was having such a good time with the kind of energy that he exudes, even over a vocal virtual communication system that I almost forgot what we were there for.
I will have him on again and I promise to be a much better listener next time. Wow am I embarrassed! But it just goes to show Ferrin’s charisma and brilliance. What an incredible human being. I hope you all can get a feel for the groundbreaking work he is doing, the passion he has for life and living and the way he conquers his (and the) world. It’s stunning. Like him.

As usual, bio and links under the podcast!

Ferrin Evans is a Master of Information candidate at the University of Toronto.  He currently has two media archiving contracts at the university: at the Media Commons Archive and at the Sexual Representation Collection.  In the past, he has worked with the Gay Archives of Quebec, Inside Out Toronto, Toronto Queer Film Festival, Cinema Politica, and the MIX New York Queer Experimental Film Festival, where he served on the Board of Directors.  He is currently completing an oral history-centered thesis about risk, desire, and loss on Fire Island during COVID-19.

LINKS:

Article related to my most current media archival work at University of Toronto:http://sds.utoronto.ca/news/new-acquisitions-at-the-sexual-representation-collection/
SAA Community Reflection on Black Lives and Archives (June 2020):https://www.pathlms.com/saa/events/1996/video_presentations/162192
“Treat Them with the Reverence of Archivists”: Records Work, Grief Work, and Relationship Work in the Archiveshttps://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13699

The Children ARE The Future

Hey fam.

Today I looked at pictures of people marching all across the country supporting kids. With posters, talking about gun violence, discussing (essentially) children/youth rights. The right to exist. And I saw (and have seen a lot of people so amazed that young people can be “so eloquent” and “so together” and “so activist.”

It’s awfully condescending. I hate to bring David Bowie into this but I don’t hate to bring David Bowie into this. He wrote the lyrics to “Changes,” the song quoted at the beginning of John Hughes’ 1985 film, The Breakfast Club, in 1972.  Read again what Bowie wrote:

And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re goin’ through,

I was a child activist. I did HIV/AIDS education throughout my teen years. Everyone thought I was SO AMAZING. I didn’t feel amazing. I felt like people I knew were dying. I felt like when I got to high school, and my friends (or myself) were going to become sexually active, death was going to be part of the equation if I didn’t do something about it before I got there. There wasn’t an option for me.

Children aren’t stupid. These marches are great, please don’t stop them, the kids are the CENTER OF THEM! But the way that everyone is treating these highly smart, HIGHLY NORMAL, teenagers is fucking infuriating. I was doing marching and activism in the 1990s and my mom was getting lauded for having such a “bright and socially aware” daughter. And I’m not saying that I’m not an awesome smartypants. I am an awesome smartypants. But there were plenty of other teens who were doing it by my side. I was part of a group of teens who went and spoke in schools to other teens about how to prevent each other from getting infected.

Through the years, I’ve ALWAYS known children and young adults like this. Getting shot should not be a catalyst for change anymore than getting raped or harassed should be the force to make large organizations stand up and say, “Oh shit-we need to do something!”

Children and young adults should ALWAYS be listened to and they very rarely are. Because they have hormones or they are emotional or they are going through the really sucky fucked up issues of growing up. But fam- listen to your kids. Listen to your friends’ kids. At all ages. And don’t be shocked or surprised or OMGWTFBBQ when they spout Real Knowledge and Truth. They see everything much clearer than “Adults” do. The passions are real with them.

Now all of you: go listen to Whitney Houston sing “Greatest Love of All” UNIRONICALLY. This is your homework for today.