LOCATION
GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94114
ADMISSION
Free Admission, $10 suggested donation
On Thursday, November 7th, the GLBT Historical Society and Queer Rebel Productions presents "Give Us The Word: Queer Yesterday, Today, and Forever", a powerful literary exploration of Queer and Trans BIPOC history.
Held at the GLBT Historical Society Museum, this event is curated by Crystal Mason and features four talented writers crafting new works inspired by the museum's exhibition, “Queer Past Becomes Present.” The evening will celebrate how queer history shapes our present and inspires future generations to build inclusive communities that embrace diversity. Following the readings, a short panel discussion will offer insight into the creative process and the ways in which history continues to fuel queer and trans resilience.
Join us for an unforgettable evening of storytelling, reflection, and celebration of Queer and Trans BIPOC voices!
SPEAKERS
Crystal Mason (they/them) is an Artist, Activist, Cultural Worker, Facilitator, and Co-Founder of Queering Dreams. Crystal makes art because they want to tell people something about themselves. They want to say something about being black and queer, fat and black, and being angry and full of love. they want to reveal the fear, hope, and danger they live with. They want to remember joy and connection, rage and grief. Art-making is a tool against oblivion. What we create is a tribute to our existence, to our resistance.
Ms. Momos (Therese Davis) (she/her) is a SF Bay Area Social Practice Artist, Administrator, Soul Coach, and Social Media, Event Planning, and Marketing Specialist Contractor, Ms. Mo has an extensive background in the arts. Ms. Mo is a Queer Rebel Fellowship, San Francisco Emerging Artist Professions Fellowship Cohort IX Alumni, lifelong activist and artist whose earliest memories involve advocating for voting equality and civil rights. Her extraordinary social justice lens contributes to these extraordinary times as she weaves her talents as a vocalist, songwriter, composer, dancer, sketch comedy writer, curator, painter, visual artist, lyricist, producer, improvisational singer, storyteller and founder of SF Songbird Festival Music Festival into the bay area art, music, culture and change maker community. She has worked as an artist project and performance manager, recorded seven CDs, worked for 10 years as a hired session back-up vocalist, and performed internationally at small and massive venues.
Mason J. (he/they) is a Blaxican-Indigenous and Sephardic Jewish artist, historian, and community organizer based on Ohlone Land (San Francisco). As a queer writer, visual artist, and disability justice advocate, Mason amplifies marginalized voices. They served as interim Executive Director of Radar Productions 2022-2023, contributing to projects like SFPL's Show Us Your Spines residency and teaching for the Queer Ancestors Project. Mason's work with Still Here SF and Give Us the Word reflects their commitment to challenging societal norms through innovative projects.
Tijanna O. Eaton (Tə-zha-na; she/her) is a Black butch writer whose work appears in Panorama Journal, Honey Literary, Noyo Review, and Yellow Arrow Vignette. She received the 2021 Unicorn Authors Club Alumni award, was a 2023 Rooted & Written Fellow, and was the nonfiction judge for the 2024 Best of the Net contest. Her memoir, BOLT Cutters, is the story of her 12 arrests in three years in the early 1990s during the height of the crack epidemic. Tijanna is program director for the Unicorn Authors Club BOLT Cutters cohort. She has served on the Five Keys Schools and Programs Board of Directors since 2006, becoming Board Chair in 2021. She also served on the board of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project from 2016 to 2018 and was co-creator of a queer people of color recovery conference in the late ‘90s. Please visit https://www.bolt-cutters.com for more information.
Joshua Merchant (they/them) is a Black Queer native of East Oakland exploring what it means to be human as an intersectional being. A lot of what they’ve been exploring as of late has been in the realm of what it means to be a “Delectable Negro” in a world with an insatiable appetite for Blackness and the many ways we show up spiritually, mentally, and physically. They address the countless exaggerations of white fantasy as a means of humanizing the Black Queer experience through a lens only someone who grew up ashy and yet a teardrop slicker than the average lesson any Corner-Store-Prophet could provide. They've had the honor to witness their work being held and understood in literary journals such as 580Split, Roi Fianeant Press, Snow Flake Magazine, Corporeal, Anvil Tongue, Verum Literary Press, Ice Floe Press, Mongoose and elsewhere. They have also received the 2023 San Francisco Foundation/Nomadic Press Literary Award for poetry and was nominated for the 2023 Best of the Net Poetry Award by Spare Parts Lit.
Location
GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94114
Admission
Admission is free for this event, though a $10 donation is suggested. This event will likely sell out, so guests are encouraged to reserve their tickets early. Tickets are available here.
Join the GLBT Historical Society
Become a member of the GLBT Historical Society for free museum and program admission, discounts in the museum shop and other perks throughout the year.