{"id":2238,"date":"2014-03-27T13:37:15","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T17:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/?post_type=event&#038;p=2238"},"modified":"2025-10-14T15:52:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T19:52:23","slug":"i-use-my-love-to-guide-me-cece-mcdonald-reina-gossett-dean-spade","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/event\/i-use-my-love-to-guide-me-cece-mcdonald-reina-gossett-dean-spade\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;I Use My Love to Guide Me&#8221;: Surviving and Thriving in the Face of Impossible Situations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/105146071?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=ffffff\" width=\"590\" height=\"332\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"conference-button\" href=\"#info\">EVENT INFORMATION<\/a> <a class=\"conference-button\" href=\"#videos\">VIDEOS<\/a> <a class=\"conference-button\" href=\"#questions\">ASK A QUESTION<\/a> <a class=\"conference-button\" href=\"#resources\">RESOURCES<\/a><br \/>\n<a name=\"info\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Event Informaton<\/h3>\n<p>In 2011, CeCe McDonald was a fashion design student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College when while walking to a grocery store, she and her friends were attacked by a group of white people shouting racist and transphobic slurs. When CeCe fatally stabbed one of their attackers in self defense, she was arrested and eventually imprisoned for 19 months. As she awaited trial and experienced incarceration, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.transyouthsupportnetwork.org\/\" title=\"link to the Transgender Youth Support Network\" target=\"_blank\">Transgender Youth Support Network<\/a> in Minnesota created the <a href=\"http:\/\/supportcece.wordpress.com\" title=\"link to Free CeCe\" target=\"_blank\">Free CeCe<\/a> campaign, inspiring an international community of activists to support CeCe and rally for her freedom. Throughout, CeCe updated community members with her evocative and thoughtful writing on police brutality, transphobia, homophobia, racism, and the power of love against systems of injustice. <\/p>\n<p>Recently, CeCe 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. <a href=\"#videos\" title=\"link to video on this page\">Watch videos from this conversation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On April 21, CeCe, Tourmaline, and Dean will share additional excerpts from their discussion and continue the conversation, responding to questions from the audience and online. Join us to support CeCe and the continued push for an end to the prison system and the institutionalized structures of violence throughout our society which support it.<\/p>\n<p>This event is part of the series <a href=\"http:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/event\/no-one-is-disposable-everyday-practices-of-prison-abolition\/\" title=\"link to No One is Disposable\" target=\"_blank\">No One is Disposable<\/a>, which features conversations on trans activism and prison abolition with BCRW activist fellow Tourmaline. Co-sponsored by the <a title=\"link to BCRW\" href=\"http:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\" target=\"_blank\">Barnard Center for Research on Women<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newschool.edu\/leadership\/provost\/social-justice\/\" target=\"_blank\">Office of Social Justice Initiatives at The New School<\/a>, the <a title=\"link to SRLP\" href=\"http:\/\/srlp.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sylvia Rivera Law Project<\/a>, the <a title=\"link to CSGSNYU\" href=\"http:\/\/www.csgsnyu.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at NYU<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/web.law.columbia.edu\/gender-sexuality\" title=\"link to Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School<\/a>, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.transyouthsupportnetwork.org\/\" title=\"link to the Transgender Youth Support Network\" target=\"_blank\">Transgender Youth Support Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/cece-reina-dean.jpg\" alt=\"Dean Spade, CeCe McDonald, and Tourmaline\" width=\"590\" height=\"331\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2241\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/cece-reina-dean.webp 590w, https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/cece-reina-dean-300x168.webp 300w, https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/cece-reina-dean-270x150.webp 270w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>CeCe McDonald<\/strong> is an activist living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is a creative and energetic person who, before her life was so unjustly interrupted, was studying fashion design at MCTC. She had a stable home where she lived with and helped support four other African American youth, her family. CeCe\u2019s family describes her as a leader, a role model, and a loyal friend. She is known as a wise, out-spoken, and welcoming person, with a history of handling prejudice with amazing grace. She is currently working with actress Laverne Cox and director Jac Gares on a documentary about her experience.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tourmaline<\/strong> lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and believes creativity &#038; imagination are vital in movements for self determination. She is a trans activist &#038; artist, working as membership director at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. Tourmaline\u2019s work has been featured in BCRW\u2019s <em>The Scholar &#038; Feminist Online<\/em>, as well as <em>Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment &#038; The Prison Industrial Complex<\/em>. She is an activist fellow at BCRW.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dean Spade<\/strong> is the founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, author of <em>Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of the Law<\/em>, and an associate professor at Seattle University School of Law. He is currently a fellow in the Engaging Tradition Project at Columbia Law School.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"videos\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Videos<\/h3>\n<p>Captions are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLLlbjNglS2TDL6U7UitOt4aFvWF9wFcc0\" title=\"link to YouTube playlist\" target=\"_blank\">available on YouTube<\/a>. Additional videos, including event footage, will be posted here as soon as they are available.<\/p>\n<div class=\"program-head\">Prisons Aren&#8217;t Safe for Anybody<\/div>\n<p><iframe src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/92665077?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=ffffff\" width=\"590\" height=\"332\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"program-head\">Police + Prisons Don&#8217;t Keep Us Safe &#8211; We Keep Each Other Safe<\/div>\n<p><iframe src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/90554286?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=ffffff\" width=\"590\" height=\"332\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"program-head\">I Use My Love to Guide Me: Surviving and Thriving in the Face of Impossible Situations<\/div>\n<p><iframe src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/90555410?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=ffffff\" width=\"590\" height=\"332\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"resources\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Questions<\/h3>\n<p>Have a question for CeCe, Tourmaline, or Dean? Submit your question here, email bcrw@barnard.edu, tweet <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/bcrwtweets\" title=\"link to bcrwtweets on twitter\" target=\"_blank\">@bcrwtweets<\/a>, or ask on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BCRW.Feminism\" title=\"link to BCRW on Facebook\" target=\"_blank\">BCRW&#8217;s facebook page<\/a>. Questions will be accepted both before and during the event.<\/p>\n<p>[contact-form-7 id=&#8221;2239&#8243; title=&#8221;CeCe McDonald Event Questions&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"resources\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Resources<\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/event\/no-one-is-disposable-everyday-practices-of-prison-abolition\/\" title=\"link to No One is Disposable event and videos\" target=\"_blank\">No One is Disposable: Everyday Practices of Prison Abolition<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nIn this video series and online event, activists Tourmaline and Dean Spade respond to questions about prison abolition as a political framework, exploring why this is a top issue for those committed to supporting trans and gender-nonconforming people.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/bcrw-blog\/no-one-is-disposable-resources-and-context-for-a-conversation-on-prison-abolition\/\" title=\"link to BCRW Blog post featuring resources and context for No One is Disposable videos\" target=\"_blank\">No One is Disposable: Resources and Context for a Conversation on Prison Abolition<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nResearch Assistant Carly Crane wrote a BCRW Blog post intended to be &#8220;a reference for the videos and discussion, to provide broader context as well as a starting point for further exploration of the prison abolition movement.&#8221; Carly&#8217;s post includes helpful definitions, links to the organizations and activists Tourmaline and Dean mention in the videos, as well as additional links and twitter handles to follow to learn more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EVENT INFORMATION VIDEOS ASK A QUESTION RESOURCES Event Informaton In 2011, CeCe McDonald was a fashion design student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College when while walking to a grocery store, she and her friends were attacked by a group of white people shouting racist and transphobic slurs. When CeCe fatally stabbed one of their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2240,"template":"","tags":[26,17,44,6,59,39,199,35,11,34,28],"class_list":["post-2238","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-activism","tag-class","tag-economic-justice","tag-gender","tag-human-rights","tag-politics","tag-prisons","tag-queer","tag-race","tag-transgender","tag-violence"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/2238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/event"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/2238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2245,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/2238\/revisions\/2245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/staging\/2435\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}