Dean Spade (Keynote | Remote)
he/him
Fri May 29 | de Brakke Grond
We are living in harrowing times. The present feels saturated with catastrophe: genocide, ecocide, the slow violence of systems grinding on, and the ambient sense that most of us are spectators to our own undoing. Myths about social change predominate, instructing us to express our fear and rage through sanctioned methods of dissent like voting, donating to NGO's, posting on social media, and perhaps attending demonstrations. We are invited to outsource our agency, to imagine that somewhere, someone with power might be persuaded to intervene. But no one is coming to save us. In this talk, Dean Spade will explore why mutual aid and direct action are needed now, what it takes to turn toward purposeful work to defend our communities, and how we can build new social relations together based in solidarity and autonomy while doing the difficult, but necessary, day-to-day care work that is needed now.
About the speaker
Dean Spade is a writer, educator, and organiser whose work focuses on queer and trans liberation grounded in racial and economic justice. Over the past two decades, he has been engaged in grassroots movements addressing issues such as mutual aid, prison abolition, and systemic inequality. He is a professor at the Seattle University School of Law. Alongside his writing, Spade has produced and contributed to a range of educational and activist media, including the documentary Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back, as well as numerous lectures, workshops, and publications that bridge theory and practice.
