I get to chat with LaVelle Ridley (University of Michigan) about her doctoral research on black trans life narratives in this one and I must say, she’s a tonic. From important observations on the role of storytelling in political and community activism to the deeply personal process of healing that appropriate representation can initiate, LaVelle covers it all. She’s a scholar, an activist, a pisces (hell, yes!), a creative writer, a mermaid, and an absolute delight to talk to. Don’t miss this one; it’s fun!

Texts and people mentioned:
Paradise on the Margins: Lessons and Dreams from Trans Women of Color
https://www.paradiseonthemargins.com/
Atargatis
https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/
Susan Stryker
Maggie Nelson’s “The Argonauts”
Janet Mock’s “Redefining Realness” (2014) and “Surpassing Certainty” (2017)
CeCe McDonald
Toni Newman
Venus Di'Khadijah Selenite
Laverne Cox and Jac Gares’ “FREE Cece!”
Ridley, LaVelle. "Imagining Otherly: Performing Possible Black Trans Feminist Futures in Tangerine." TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly 6.4 (November 2019): 481-490.
LaKisha Simmons
“Tangerine”
Mya Taylor
Kiki Rodriguez
Mj Rodriguez
POSE
Kai Cheng Thom’s “Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars”
Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”
https://lavelleridley.wixsite.com/mysite

Need more queer stuff on your socials? Follow LaVelle and me on Twitter (@lridley16/@Lena_Mattheis) and Instagram (academicfish/lena_mattheis).

Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:

1. What is life narrative? Can you think of an example for this from literature or film?
2. Where does LaVelle locate the role of storytelling and self narrating? How does it intersect with activism?
3. Which poet does LaVelle quote when she speaks about ‘containing multitudes’? Why is this poet relevant in this context?
4. Why is it productive to trouble genre distinctions? What is a genre?
5. Why does LaVelle find it important to be personal in her research? What does this mean to her?