The Gender and Sexuality Center hosted its annual Queer and Trans People of Color Black History Month Gala on Thursday, Feb. 27 at the Robert J. Higgins Welcome Center in honor of Black History Month.
This event focused on bringing together community members to honor resilience and storytelling through the theme “Mending the Fabric: Weaving Together Stories of Resistance.”
The GSC worked with the African Student Organization to help organize this event.
Manuela Vadis, coordinator of the GSC, opened the event by emphasizing the importance of visibility and community.
“We are here to say our stories matter,” Vadis said.
The event centered around multidisciplinary artist Ariel Tavares, a Providence-based artist whose work explores themes of identity and the history of activism. Tavares said she set the event with a triangle table installation inspired by Judy Chicago’s award-winning feminist artwork, “The Dinner Party.”
“I purposely did this so everyone can feel like they have a seat at the table,” Tavares said.
Throughout the evening, Tavares encouraged attendees to connect with each other with a group activity where audience members had a “menu” of conversation starters, creating an interactive experience that included a bingo activity that lasted throughout the entire presentation.
Tavares took attendees on a journey through historical acts of resistance, covering topics from book bans to the origins of drag culture and vogue.
“People have been resisting through time – we are here to travel through stories,” Tavares said.
Tavares urged attendees to embrace their creativity as a tool for change. She emphasized the importance of learning from the past and reclaiming lost narratives.
“Learn from your history; rewrite the history that was forgotten,” Tavares said.
As the presentation progressed, Tavares reinforced the role of imagination in activism.
“It’s important to protect your imagination to dream,” Tavares said. “Resistance is most important to me because it’s an artist’s love.”
The event concluded with a poetry reading by Tavares with a poem she wrote herself called “Aliens and Love,” leaving guests with a final thought from Tavares.
“The good thing about resistance is that it’s like a recipe, it needs to be created,” Tavares said.
The ASO has an annual African hair show on April 19. Information can be found on their Instagram @uri_aso.
