Tourmaline
Tourmaline is the former membership director at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and director of the Welfare Organizing Project at Queers for Economic Justice (QEJ). An activist, writer and filmmaker, she is a recipient of the George Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship by the Open Society Foundation for her work with LGBT people navigating criminalization. In 2009 she was the Stonewall Community Foundation Honoree for her collaboration with Sasha Wortzel on Happy Birthday, Marsha!, a film detailing the lives of Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, and Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. In 2013, Tourmaline was awarded the BCRW Activist Fellowship for her work at the intersections of trans justice and prison abolition, and to support her ongoing work to document and elevate the histories and legacies of trans women of color.
As an Activist-in-Residence, Tourmaline will continue her work producing videos and other activist-educational resources, as well as organizing and hosting a collaborative art exhibit featuring work on disability justice, prison abolition, and queer and trans liberation in collaboration with Sins Invalid, a disability justice organization that centers the work of queer and trans artists of color, and the Trans Life and Liberation Art Series, which amplifies the struggles and resiliency of trans femmes of color.
Among the video series Tourmaline has produced in collaboration with BCRW include I Use My Love to Guide Me and No One Is Disposable.
PROJECTS
Happy Birthday, Marsha!
Happy Birthday, Marsha! is a film about iconic transgender artist and activist, Marsha “Pay it No Mind” Johnson and her life in the hours before she ignited the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. Written and directed by Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel. Learn more on the film’s website.
Atlantic is a Sea of Bones
“Atlantic is a Sea of Bones” is an original experimental short film by Tourmaline starring Egyptt LaBeija, exploring how small every day acts of refusal, resistance, and existence—such as performance and self expression—have a tremendous impact on the world. This film was commissioned as part of ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS, the 28th annual iteration of Visual AIDS’ longstanding Day With(out) Art project. Curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett for Visual AIDS, the video program prioritizes Black narratives within the ongoing AIDS epidemic, commissioning seven new and innovative short videos from artists Mykki Blanco, Cheryl Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Tourmaline, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia LaBeija, Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Brontez Purnell.
Read Tourmaline’s artist statement.
Read an essay response by Tourmaline’s sibling Che Gossett.
The Personal Things
“The Personal Things” is a short film directed by Tourmaline with art by Micah Bazant and animation by Pamela Chavez, produced by Tourmaline, Hope Dector, and the Barnard Center for Research on Women. Released in conjunction with Trans Day of Resilience/Remembrance. Click here for more info.
No One Is Disposable: Everyday Practices of Prison Abolition
In these videos Tourmaline and Dean Spade explore how to build societies where the process of creating justice is as important as the end—communities where no one is exiled. The series was released as part of the online discussion “No One is Disposable: Everyday Practices of Prison Abolition,” held on February 7, 2014. Watch the series here.
“I Use My Love to Guide Me”: Conversations with CeCe McDonald, Tourmaline, and Dean Spade
In 2014, CeCe McDonald joined prison abolition activists Tourmaline and Dean Spade in a conversation about her own experiences surviving trauma and impossible situations, and the importance of collective organizing for people facing systems of violence. This video series captures themes from that conversation. Watch the series here.
FEATURED VIDEOS
Atlantic is a Sea of Bones
An original film by Tourmaline
Happy Birthday, Marsha!
An original film by Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel
The Personal Things
An animated short by Tourmaline, illustrations by Micah Bazant
We Move Together: Disability Justice and Trans Liberation
A conversation with Patty Berne, Tourmaline, Kiyaan Abadani, and Malcolm Shanks
May 11, 2017
41st Annual Scholar and Feminist Conference: Sustainabilities
February 27, 2016