T.J. JOURIAN, PH.D.
  • Home
  • About
    • Scholar
  • Services
    • THE Scholarly Collaborative
    • Past Work
  • Testimonials & Media
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
    • Scholar
  • Services
    • THE Scholarly Collaborative
    • Past Work
  • Testimonials & Media
  • Contact
Search

Waking up tired - Not your T*oken

Musings, reviews, news, and writings from a complex web of centers and margins

Documenting Our Own Lives: On H. Melt's "The Plural, The Blurring"

9/16/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture of the cover of H. Melt's book
After putting out my post on some books by TGNC writers to check out, I had the pleasure of getting sent another book to read for myself. This was H. Melt's collection of short poems and essays documenting some of Chicago's queer and trans spaces and artists from their perspective. I recommend this quick, but not necessarily easy (as it is chokefull of emotions) read and here I offer some thoughts as to why. Thank you for writing and sending this to me H.

In this small sized book, Melt packed a bit of punch and vulnerability, sharing personal thought and emotion on all things political and artistic that they have experienced mostly since coming to Chicago with homages to home and past, including Vermont, where I had first met H. (I'm not sure H remembers tho). The pieces that spoke to trans oppression and resistance within their arts school was particularly grabbing for me. There's an undeniable humanity in Melt's writing. It would be almost trite to say innocence, and probably inaccurate, but you can't help but hear the author, and not just read their words.

Ultimately, what Melt does with this book, is exactly what they're calling for all of us to do, and that is to document and to document collectively, not necessarily as a unified singular voice, but voices that honor our multiplicities and invites more of us into the fray. One of the ways Melt does this is by documenting not just their own being and life, but that of other artists that they have come to know, love, build with, and mourn. And as Melt themself said,


“No one will do it for us./We must do it. Ourselves./We must do it. Together.”

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Un/de-centered

    It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society - Jiddu Krishnamurti

    Tweets by @tjjourian

    Blogs I Like

    Black Girl Dangerous
    Conditionally
    Accepted
    Crunk Feminist Collective

    D
    ances with Dissonance
    Eric M
    at
    a: Words
    Son of Baldwin

    TransGriot
    Trans* Resilience Blog
    Wilderness Voices

    Archives

    July 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    January 2015

    Categories

    All
    Academic Freedom
    Activism
    Administrative Violence
    Armenian
    BlackLivesMatter
    Brokenness
    Colonialism
    Community
    Corporatization
    Ferguson
    Healing
    Intersectionality
    Latinx
    LGBTQ+
    Love
    Media
    Neoliberalism
    Palestine/BDS
    Personal
    Race/racism
    Self-love
    Solidarity
    Tone Policing
    Tone-policing
    Trans
    Transgender
    #TransLoveNov
    Trauma
    TV
    TW
    TWOC
    Vulnerability

    RSS Feed

© 2015-20 T.J. Jourian. All Rights Reserved.
About that asterisk: This website uses the asterisk (*) as a linguistic disruption of sorts that shifts the meaning of words to intentionally reference from a trans perspective (e.g., trans*form). In most cases, it is not used after the word "trans" as is becoming common in many spaces (see this article for an explanation of the etymology and meaning of trans*), except when directly cited or is part of an already published piece.  This is to honor the ongoing discussions and tensions amongst trans communities regarding the use/misuse of the asterisk. See, the following three articles to learn about some of these discussions and tensions: by Julia Serano, by the Trans Student Educational Resources, and by Practical Androgyny.
  • Home
  • About
    • Scholar
  • Services
    • THE Scholarly Collaborative
    • Past Work
  • Testimonials & Media
  • Contact