I'm back on my end of I-45 after an amazing few days in Dallas for Creating Change 2020.
In addition to bringing something back to Houston with me to put on my trophy shelf called the Susan J Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement, I brought something else back with me.
The knowledge that we're gonna be alright as a movement because of all our wonderful younglings.
The younglings are not only pushing us elders and yelders to be better, they are also doing the same with their youthful energy to society and our movement as a whole.
They also get the benefit of being part of the intergenerational conversations that happen in the CC20 space
As with any Creating Change, while I always enjoy getting to spend quality time with my cohort of trans activists marveling how far we've come since our days when we were the new kids on the activist block, I get my life and enjoyment from talking to and actively listening to the younger generation.
And yeah, proud of my Houston activist fam. We are always busy at these events, whether we are presenting at panels or strategizing about what we're going to do in the coming year to make Houston, Texas and our TBLGQ community better
There are also those wonderful moments when I get to step away from the convention hustle and bustle and jet for a few hours connect with friends who live in the host city. I was glad that Kyiana Wheeler and I got a chance to make that happen on Wednesday.
One thing I need to do a better job of is checking in with my blood relatives who live in Dallas. Some of them only knew I was in town when they saw me on the local news doing an interview.
In my defense to my Dallas relatives who are reading this post and sucking their teeth, this is a business trip for me. A fun one, but at its most basic level it is a business trip.
I tend to get busy with panel discussions, interviews, and all the other stuff that happens at conference events like CC20, and before I know it, the event is over and I'm headed back home.
I enjoyed just getting to at times sit back in the hospitality suites and listen to them talk about what was happening in their lives. There were times when I was asked to drop some knowledge about what I'd experienced as a 22 year advocate, and time when I just sat back and absorbed it.
TBLGQ intergenerational conversations matter.
There was a moment when Antonia d'Orsay and I were giving a Trans 101 history class to three gender non conforming peeps as they were out in the smoking area. .
There are the meetings happening on and off the #CC20 campus between ED's of the various organizations in attendance in Dallas plotting the next phases of our human rights movement
There were also moments during CC20 when I was the person having those meetings with leaders of various TBLGQ community orgs
There was me walking around at my sixth Creating Change having the younglings stop me in the hall, take photos, and tell me how much they appreciated my work and the blog.
And I needed to hear that. One attendee told me about her professor actually assigning TransGriot blog posts as reading material for her Women and Gender Studies class.
That increased in intensity after I gave the
acceptance speech for the Hyde Award, and I'm not mad about that. Once upon a time (CC99 in Oakland) I was the wide eyed newbie nervously rubbing elbows with the leadership icons of that period.
Now I have become that icon. I want peeps to be aware of the fact that if I'm not busy at a conference, I will always have time (or make time) to talk and listen to you.
It was also nice to get to know the other Black and Latinx trans folks that were able to attend and get to know them better in addition to taking part in that rally Thursday afternoon.
Creating Change 2020 has passed into the TBLGQ community history books. I salute the Dallas organizing team for putting on a great event while pointing out the Houston #CC14 attendance record is STILL intact.
Looking forward to the next time I can be at one, either in Washington DC next year or NOLA in 2022.
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