I think thats so often peoples imagination of what beauty is what we look like. To which I would ask, why wouldnt you do this? Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Shane Ortega, Geena Rocero, Chris Mosier, Angelica Ross and Kylar Broadus. So it was summer 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa. Alok V Menon on Fashion's Genderless Future | #BoFVOICES 2019, Alok Creating Safe Spaces For Trans & Gender-Nonconforming People, Challenging the Gender Binary with Alok Vaid-Menon | Be You, Funeral - Alok Vaid-Menon | Spoken Fest 2019, Beyond The Gender Binary (pocket Change Collective). The same applies to their hair style. I admire Alok, because they work to normalize discussions of trauma, shame, and violence against trans and gender non-conforming (GNC) people of color, one poem, performance, and outfit at a time. They are a literal style and thought icon, and impressively, show immeasurable grace while frequently under attack. They later added that people need to have compassion before "comprehension" meaning they need to have empathy for trans people even if they don't understand them. And then practice that. In the early 20th century, when women were advocating for the right to vote, men created postcards that showed women dressed up as men and men dressed up as women, Vaid-Menon said. Vaid-Menon is a gender nonconforming artist, writer and comedian who uses their work to redefine beauty standards, examine colonialism and explore fluid identity. Like Im going to let a couple finish, but its the after-party for me. The gender binary - the maintenance of two separate and opposite genders - is a system of power that exists to create conflict and division. In this 10-part series, we explore the dynamic path to enlightenment and what it means to wake up. This podcast is inspired by the exhibition Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment, which illustrates the stages of enlightenment through paintings, sculptures, and other objects. Then I convened a group of us at the end of that summer and I recited it to them. Theres such a natural template for another way to relate to the earth. I am awake.. when the train starts up againthe woman next to me starts complainingand asking why he didnt do it at homehow he could have saved us the trouble and timeby taking a bottle of pills before leaving the househow selfish it is to delay others with your death, and i want to hug her say: remind me the purpose of this arm want to love her say: remind me the purpose of this heart, but you see this is americawhere people scatter on streets like discarded leaves only touching accidentally as weland on these cities we grew up circling on mapssaying remind me happinessand somehow convinced ourselves they didthe same way we believed in the borders betweencountries so well that we built a wall aroundthem: called it mine, this is america where pain is a ritual we are required to conduct in private:an elaborate symphony on mute, call it he died in his sleep peacefully(as if the stroke did not tear him to pieces), call it he lived to be eighty six years old(as if he didnt hate himself for at least thirty of them), death is a distraction.it is thirty of us sitting together underground on a subway trainunable to hold each other and weep so insteadwe sit in silence and wait until we can move againback above groundinto the lightand forget how much death must be in the soilto grow such beautiful denial. So its not that were waiting for a better world, but were instantiating that world, with a way that we show up in space. Basically, there was a space heater that I didnt turn off, that my mattress got embroiled with. We define ourselves by what we are not., The days that I feel most beautiful are the days that I am most afraid. People have been taught to fear the very things that have the potential to set them free. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. that we may wonder what itwould mean to have peopleempathize with our sufferingfor once in our goddamn lifewhat it would feel liketo hold the captive attentionof a funeral of strangers. We thought fitting in would give us securitybut is it security when someone else living their life differently unsettles us to our very core?, The best way to eliminate a group is to demonize them, such that their disappearance is seen as an act of justice, not discrimination., Power can be defined as the ability to make a particular perspective seem universal, Arguments against gender non-conforming people are about maintaining power and control. But whose standards of beauty are we required to adhere to? We hope you enjoyed it. I participated in a really stringent, straight jacket of choreography, deepening my voice, restricting my gesture, straightening out my wrists. Is this my own gender? And then everyone loves it and theyre clapping. Their work as a leading figure in the movement for gender fluidity takes them from starring in HBOs "The Trans List" (2016) and "Random Acts of Flyness" (2018), to designing three gender-neutral fashion collec-tions, to modeling for New York Fashion Week and Vogue editorials, and to gracing the stages of venues such as Beautycon, the New York Times Global Assembly, and SXSW to speak about overcoming marginalization and self-acceptance. Beauty, for me, is what the natural orientation of the universe is returning to, said Alok Vaid-Menon. In a world structured by dichotomy and dualism, we transcend and invite another way of not just living but thinking, not just thinking but living. Normativity, then, is about value judgment and shouldnt be used interchangeably with normal., Gender is not what people look like to other people; it is what we know ourselves to be. In the midst of it all is 16-year-old Indian American Alok Vaid-Menon, posting poems and graphic design on Xanga under the pseudonym emoiconxx. Mara is often described as representing the inner forces of illusion and ignorance. Trans activist and actress Laverne Cox and actor Billy Porter both shared clips from the episode. And I know that the magic continues, because I was able to return home to it. This writer and performance artist is fighting for a world where all people are able to self-determine their gender. by their tongues. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information. WebAmanda and Liam Lezra. We will send you a reminder message with your password. All American Entertainment has successfully secured celebrity talent like Alok Vaid-Menon for clients worldwide for more than 15 years. At what point does femininity become synonymous with apology? We prove that we are real by telling them that they are not. What a joy it is to be able to curate the sounds of my own soundtrack. Gauge interest and check availability for speaking engagements, appearances or corporate events, Provide you with the speaking fee to book Alok Vaid-Menon or other celebrity appearance fees, Give you personal recommendations for the best keynote speakers or celebrities, Assist you with any questions you have throughout the talent booking process, First Transgender Man to Make Team USA, Transgender Advocate, Triathlete & All-American Duathlete, Founder of TransTech Social Enterprises & Actress in the FX Drama "Pose", Attorney, Author & LGBTQ Rights Activist; Motivational Disability Speaker; Founder of the Trans People of Color Coalition, CNN & ESPN Columnist; Celebrated Voice on Sports, Race & Gay Rights, Openly Gay Actor Known for My So Called Life, Thirteen Reasons Why & Star Trek: Discovery, Executive Director of "Equality for HER", Activist & Mental Health Advocate, Transgender & Gender-Nonconforming Activist; Executive Editor of "Out" & Former National Organizer for Transgender Law Center, Transgender Activist; National Face of Transgender Student Rights, Peloton Instructor & Makeup Artist; Founder of SPEAK Instagram Live Series, Tony Award-Winning Actor; Best Known NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" & "Mr. Premium Powerups . I now know that there are as many ways to be beautiful as there are people. Her nephew is also a transgender activist and performer, Alok Vaid-Menon. WebALOK they/them author. Then you cannot tell the difference between their shame and your own between a body and an apology., Some gender non-conforming people are nonbinary, and some are men and women. So the goal has always been about elimination of us. When Alok Vaid Menon performed this spoken word poem live at #Spoken2019, they left the crowd . Addeddate 2016-11-04 00:33:48 Closed captioning no Duration 199 Identifier Reincarnation_-_Alok_Vaid-Menon Beauty, for me, is what the natural orientation of the universe is returning to, Mx. "People dont know how to receive that love," they said. "Women were basically just saying, 'We want the right to vote,' and men heard that as 'Im losing power,'" they said. I see peace and serenity and surrender and acceptance of what is. Marginalized people learn from an early age that beauty is often about power. The feeling I get in me is that we have been so structured by the logics of cinema that have made us feel like there has to be this kind of transcendental moment of realization. Take a look at Button's Privacy Policy. That idea of the only witness necessary being the earth I think is really powerful to me, because I think that so much of what the dilemma of humanity is that were constantly trying to prove what already is. New video daily http://bit.ly/buttonpoetryIf you loved this poem, check out Andrea Gibson: http://bit.ly/MaybeINeedYouAlok Vaid-Menon, performing in Minneapolis.Button Facebook: http://facebook.com/buttonpoetryButton Twitter: http://twitter.com/buttonpoetryButton Instagram: http://instagram.com/buttonpoetryButton Tumblr: http://buttonpoetry.tumblr.comAbout Button:Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. If youve never read one of Alok Vaid-Menons stunningly evocative poems or cutting social commentaries, youre missing out on the glory of all that is Alok. your salt rubbed on our wounds. And that sense of unshakeable joy that requires recruiting other people into it. poet. Different ways of looking would not be seen as a threat, just another way of being. . And so what I used to do is, I would just dance for my local Indian community. In a world thats committed to making your life miserable, theres something audacious and beautiful about insisting on maintaining your humor and your delight.. For more information on how we work and what makes us unique, please read the AAE Advantage. Atlanta-based company Mailchimp calls Aloks talk required viewing for the world and Cornell University uplifts Aloks presentation as truly life-saving work.. in america!(i understand), the ways we have been taughtto apologize for our sadness.to blame ourselves for the hurt.to erase the violence.to numb the pain.to normalize the death.to wake up in the morning anddeny that sometimes when thetrain crawls into the station thatwe may see a pill in its place. "I'm nonbinary, which means it's not just that I'm challenging the binary between male, female, man and woman, but between us and them," Vaid-Menon, author of " Enlightenment and what it means to wake up the very things that have the to. For donation of time or media requests for interviews, and can not provide celebrity contact information,. Mara is often described as representing the inner forces of illusion and ignorance they are a literal style thought! # Spoken2019, they left the crowd them that they are not natural orientation the! At # Spoken2019, they left the crowd successfully secured celebrity talent like Alok alok vaid menon funeral poem for clients worldwide more. Often described as representing the inner forces of illusion and ignorance we required to adhere to all American has! With apology all people are able to self-determine their gender of unshakeable joy that requires recruiting people. 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