Earlier this year, Joakina Stone, then a Res Life colleague and collateral work staff with Student Life's Mosaic Center, along with an amazing group of students, staff and faculty, helped us to co-create our new Mosaic Social Justice discussion series.  We exchanged a bunch of ideas for a title - some basic and others long and academic.  After ruminating far too long, I finally settled on “What’s the Tea?”.  Thankfully, Zach Kosinski and Jasmine Malhotra, our Graduate Coordinators, agreed and our series launched this year on October 1st.  

Everything seemed to be going well with what we are calling our “pilot semester/year” for the series.  It even had what we hope was an effective, context-setting description: 

“We all talk about how diverse UMBC is.  But what does that mean in reality?  How does it show up in how we communicate and interact with each other?  When does celebrating diversity shift into inclusivity that creates positive social change in and outside our campus community?  This new series hopes to help us grapple with these questions.  Join us for a facilitated discussion of these topics.  Voice your opinions and hear those of your fellow community members.”

This description, along with a co-facilitation model, guided questions, and a brief evaluation has helped us to move forward.  Things were going really well, until our November 5th Cultural Appropriation discussion.  During that discussion, our well-intentioned start had an unintentional stop.  In my desire to get the discussion underway, I unintentionally culturally appropriated the name of the series—“What’s the Tea?”—while talking about cultural appropriation as it relates to native, indigenous peoples.  

My blindness as the lead discussion facilitator set into motion what those in the social justice education and activism world would call a concrete example of “intent versus impact”.  Thanks to some generous feedback and calling out by a couple of the discussion attendees, next came my PAN, “Pay Attention Now,” moment.  PAN and PAN-ing is both an acronym and a practice I learned a couple of years ago during my time at the December 2012 Social Justice Training Institute.  

This post is my apology to all the attendees of our Nov. 5th Cultural Appropriation discussion and a thank you to those brave participants for their helpful feedback and “call out”.  Through that experience, and all the hours I’ve spent since replaying and processing that discussion with supportive colleagues and students, I’ve learned that there are hills, valleys, starts and stops in the often times messy yet rewarding work towards social justice.

Now, for those of you who’ve been patiently waiting and wondering, here’s what’s up with “What’s the Tea?”:

This phrase is an extended version of “What’s the T?” a phrase originating from Black Gay Ball culture.  Urban Dictionary, Answers.com and Wikipedia all offer solid definitions and/or historical information on the term and it’s origins.  

“What's the T? - It means like "Whats up?", "Whats going on?".  It's commonly used in the LGBT Community and is commonly used for gossiping.” Source: Urban Dictionary

“A term originated in Black Gay culture circa 1970-1989 that indicated some one was the "T"alk of the "T"own, hence the "T". The term was often used by female impersonators to describe a fellow impersonator that did an exceptionally good job on stage in a live lip syncipated performance which was talked about in the gay circles for long periods of time. The term grew to define any memorable person whose actions were or would soon be largely talked about in the gay circles. Also a person who was popular in the gay community would be talked about may have been referred to as The "T" 

It has lasted throughout the decades and can really refer to any person, place or thing. 

Mary, did you see Miss thing's Patty Labelle performance last night? She P'd on stage! She was the "T" last night! 

Girlfriend, that party you threw was fabulous, the way you have your new apartment decorated is the deal and that new husband of yours is to die for! You are the T!

It mean what’s the deal! it basically mean what’s up!

It can also refer to one's own personal business and daily dealings. 

Ex.

Q: Hey girl what's T (what's the T)? 

A: No T, girl. I'm just at home answering a question on Wikianswers.”

Source: Answers.com, http://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_what's_the_T_mean

By replacing "T" with "Tea", we hope to reframe the definition to one that can apply to the social justice-based topics in the series.  So, "Tea" represents the social justice awareness, knowledge and cross-cultural communication skills that we're "spilling" like tea into the community - one small group at a time.  To help illuminate this more intentionally through imagery, we're considering re-branding the series next semester. 

Hopefully, this post has been helpful and informative. Please join us on December 3rd as we make a fresh start and continue the series by exploring the topic: Holiday Traditions.  We hope to see you there.  In the meantime, have a safe and restful holiday break.  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM COMMONVISION!

Morgan State University Program in Women’s and Gender Studies Presents the Biennial

Intersections Symposium: Sexuality, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity
2015 Theme: Masculinities
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Baltimore, MD

Keynote speakers: Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of African and African American Studies, Duke University; and Mr. Kylar Broadus, Founder, Trans People of Color Coalition

CALL FOR PAPERS
The program in Women’s and Gender Studies at Morgan State University invites papers on themes related to the intersection of masculinities with sexuality, race, gender, and ethnicity. The fluidity of gender and sexual identity is a critical point of consideration in academic and cultural venues; however, it is even more critical when considered within the context of communities of color. Broadening our definitions and conversations on this fluidity, especially as it relates to Black masculine identities and sexuality, is a primary aim of this year’s Intersections Symposium. The Symposium seeks to engage overlapping and intersecting notions and presentations of masculinities in the contexts of identity politics, social change and queer identities as they disrupt the normative and oppressive status quo.

We invite submissions in a variety of academic disciplines that address the intersections of sexuality, gender, race, and ethnicity. We encourage panel submissions of 4 presenters as well as individual submissions in the following areas:
· Trans Issues
· Female Masculinities
· Communities of Color
· Global Contexts
· Queer Theory

Submission guidelines: Send 250 word abstract for individual papers and panels in Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, Rich Text format, and include the following:
a. A cover page with author’s name, title of submission, institutional affiliation, contact information (email, phone number and mailing address)
b. Area of submission
Send materials by December 12th to:
Intersectionssymposium@gmail.com
Notification of acceptance: January 9, 2015

Following the Symposium, presenters are invited to submit conference proceedings for publication consideration in a special edition of the peer reviewed Journal of Men’s Studies.

National Native American/American Indian Heritage Month: