The Caribbean Equality Project, in conjunction with the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium and Medgar Evers College, hosted a day-long event this month to bring attention to gender-based violence and gender equity in the Caribbean and throughout the Caribbean diaspora.
The “Queeribbean Crossings: Confronting Gendered and Racialized Violence” conference, held on December 9 at Medgar Evers College at 1638 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, featured panel discussions, speeches, a film screening, and other elements as part of an effort to generate conversations surrounding areas including gender, race, sexuality, HIV care, and immigration. There were more than 200 people in attendance
“As we are caught in a difficult and precarious time of ongoing and colliding pandemics, we bring queer and trans Caribbean communities across the region and its diasporas to think collaboratively about what wellness, safety, healing, and care can feel and look like, particularly as we are caught up in the colliding forces, or crossings of violence,” the event description noted.
The event featured talks with a wide range of panelists along with a film screening highlighting a 2022 short film called “Gyal.” The film’s producer and director, Ryan Persadie, aka Tifa Wine, was in attendance.
There were also performances by Premika Leo and Lamont Joseph of Bloodline Dance Theater. Kenita Placide, the founder and executive director of Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality, was the keynote speaker.
The Caribbean Equality Project said the conference commemorated Human Rights Day and 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence.
“In 2015, the Caribbean Equality Project was launched in response to anti-LGBTQ hate violence — the same day the US Supreme Court passed the Marriage Equality Act,” said Mohamed Q. Amin, founder and executive director of the Caribbean Equality Project. “My brother, partner, and I survived that hateful attack in our Richmond Hill Little Guyana neighborhood.”
The crossings of violence and trauma, Amin said, led to the emergence of a new path forward for change-makers and visionaries.
Below, see some photos from the conference.
