Togetherness: QTIPOC Dinners

Spectrum Center and the Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs Office (MESA) are proud to continue an initiative centering Queer and Transgender People of Color (QTPOC): Community Dinners for/by QTPOC. FREE DINNER will be provided to the first 15 students who sign up for the respective dinners. If there are more than 15 students signing up for a dinner session, they will be put on a waiting list. The host for this dinner is Dominique Canning. 

Dominique is a Ph.D. candidate in Linguistics (with a focus on sociolinguistics and phonetics) and in her 4th year at the University of Michigan. She graduated in 2016 from Eastern Michigan University (EMU) where she was part of the McNair Scholars Program.

Dominique’s research is partially motivated by her own identity as a queer woman of color. She identifies as aromantic asexual and is frequently conscious of how she uses language to navigate through both academic and non-academic spaces. At EMU, she researched the discussion around asexual inclusion in queer spaces online. Though she is not currently looking at asexuality specifically, she looks at queerness and language in her current research. Most recently, she examined the way language was used to construct Titus Andromedon's identity as a Black gay man in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. In her future research, she plans to look at how queer people of color use language to construct their own identities in various spaces.

Spectrum Center and the Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs Office (MESA) are proud to continue an initiative centering Queer and Transgender People of Color (QTPOC): Community Dinners for/by QTPOC. FREE DINNER will be provided to the first 15 students who sign up for the respective dinners. If there are more than 15 students signing up for a dinner session, they will be put on a waiting list. The host for this dinner is Layla Mohammed Abdul-Jabbar . 

Layla Mohammed Abdul-Jabbar (she/her/hers) is a new media artist and animator based in Metro-Detroit. She is involved with the local DIY community, discussing intersectionality between topics such as mental health, queerness, and racial and religious inequalities. She finds inspiration from nightlife, body horror, Islamic architecture, and whatever’s popping on the Instagram explore page. Her latest piece In the Margins: Illuminating Islamic Queerness is an experimental documentary animation which investigates the intersection of faith, sexuality, and gender by following people who identify as queer and/or trans and Muslim. She graduated with her BFA at the University of Michigan’s Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design.

Spectrum Center and the Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs Office (MESA) are proud to continue an initiative centering Queer and Transgender People of Color (QTPOC): Community Dinners for/by QTPOC. FREE DINNER will be provided to the first 15 students who sign up for the respective dinners. If there are more than 15 students signing up for a dinner session, they will be put on a waiting list. The host for this dinner is Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes.

Food available will include:

• Jerk Char Grilled Chicken Breast.
• Cuban Black Beans and Rice (Gluten Free, Vegan). 
• Jerk Tofu with vegetables (Gluten Free, Vegan).  

Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes is Professor of American Culture, Romance Languages and Literatures, and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and is the former director of the Latina/o Studies Program. He received his A.B. from Harvard (1991) and M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia (1999). He is author of Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora (2009), Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails (2009), Abolición del pato (2013), A Brief and Transformative Account of Queer History (2016), and Escenas transcaribeñas: ensayos sobre teatro, performance y cultura (2018). He has co-edited two issues of CENTRO Journal on Puerto Rican queer sexualities as well as Keywords for Latina/o Studies (NYU Press, 2017). He is currently writing on Puerto Rican transgender and drag performance and activism. He performs as Lola von Miramar since 2010.

Spectrum Center and the Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs Office (MESA) are proud to continue an initiative centering Queer and Transgender People of Color (QTPOC): Community Dinners for/by QTPOC. FREE DINNER will be provided to the first 15 students who sign up for the respective dinners. If there are more than 15 students signing up for a dinner session, they will be put on a waiting list. The host for this dinner is Mark Chung Kwan Fan.

Food TBA

Mark Chung Kwan Fan currently serves as the Assistant Director for Engagement at the Spectrum Center at the University of Michigan. His main responsibilities focus on events and partnerships, external/community relations, assessment, alumni and stewardship, and the Center's communications work. With a student-centered approach, he grounds his work with a racial and gender justice foci while centering the intersections of students' multiple complex identities and experiences. His past experience revolves in areas of housing and residence life, honors college, international student orientation and support, and various identity-based initiatives. He obtained his bachelor's degrees in Spanish and French from Adrian College followed by a master's degree from Michigan State University in Student Affairs Administration. ​Born and raised in Mauritius, Mark is a Taurus sun, world traveler, and an Asian food lover while being vegetarian for 346 days a year on a leap year. He currently is involved with ACPA-Michigan, a state division within ACPA: College Student Educators International; ACPA 2020 Nashville, TN Convention Planning Committee; and a regional representative for the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals. Mark engages with the local community as a member of the Board of Directors of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair and as a Community Advisory Board for the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center.

Spectrum Center and the Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs Office (MESA) are proud to continue an initiative centering Queer and Transgender People of Color (QTPOC): Community Dinners for/by QTPOC. FREE DINNER will be provided to the first 15 students who sign up for the respective dinners. If there are more than 15 students signing up for a dinner session, they will be put on a waiting list. The host for this dinner is Leon Golson.

Food TBA

For the last 13 years, Leon has worked as Director of Prevention Programs for Unified HIV Health and Beyond. His role as Director of Prevention Programs includes supervision of Unified's HIV Counseling and Testing Clinic, outreach, prevention and education efforts. His 30 years of HIV prevention work includes work with the agency formerly known as the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project as their Program Director and the American Red Cross in their AIDS Education Department. Leon has developed and/or facilitated various HIV/STI workshops, trainings and interventions such as, Peer/Opinion Leader Training, Cultural Sensitivity workshops for providers who work with LGBTQ+ clients, Many Men, Many Voices, Prevention Options for Positives and Healthy Relationships.

Spectrum Center Event Accessibility Statement

The Spectrum Center is dedicated to working towards offering equitable access to all of the events we organize. If you have an accessibility need you feel may not be automatically met at this event, fill out our Event Accessibility Form, found at http://bit.ly/SCaccess. You do not need to have a registered disability with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) or identify as disabled to submit. Advance notice is necessary for some accommodations to be fully implemented, and we will always attempt to dismantle barriers as they are brought up to us. Any questions about accessibility at Spectrum Center events can be directed to spectrumcenter@umich.edu.

Please note: this session is for the attendees and hosts of 2019 - 2020 academic year dinners ONLY

The last month of the semester will not have a traditional QTIPOC-centered dinner, but will instead be a social specifically for any student or host from the 2019 - 2020 academic year. Each invitee is allowed to bring one other person, provided that that person fits with the intended audience for the Togetherness dinners. There will not be a specific person hosting and the space will be open to reconnect with past attendees and meet those who went to other dinners.

Food is TBA

Spectrum Center and the Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs Office (MESA) are proud to continue an initiative centering Queer and Transgender Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC) into the summer. The Togetherness series of events is meant to build belonging for students identifying within the QTBIPOC community and to connect you with UM staff, faculty, and community members who also identify in the community.

Unlike our Togetherness Dinners, we will not be able to provide free food to participants. We invite everyone to bring their lunch to the call and eat together while your host, Elizabeth Gonzáles, brings everyone together in conversation. Liz serves as the Education & Training Program Manager at the Spectrum Center. Her responsibilities include facilitating Allyhood Development Trainings and consulting with campus partners about inclusive practices. Liz is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Social Work where she studied Interpersonal Practice and Mental Health. Liz earned a Bachelor’s of Arts with a focus on Sociology and Government and a Bachelor's of Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin.

Spectrum Center Event Accessibility Statement:

The Spectrum Center is dedicated to working towards offering equitable access to all of the events we organize. If you have an accessibility need you feel may not be automatically met at this event, fill out our Event Accessibility Form, found at http://bit.ly/SCaccess. You do not need to have a registered disability with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) or identify as disabled to submit. Advance notice is necessary for some accommodations to be fully implemented, and we will always attempt to dismantle barriers as they are brought up to us. Any questions about accessibility at Spectrum Center events can be directed to spectrumcenter@umich.edu.