Sweet. Sugar in the shoes, funny. Queer. What do these terms mean and how do we relate to them as self identified black queers? While "queer" may translate and feel accurate in our peer group we find that with lgbt or straight elders it doesn't and it doesn't have it's own currency among younger kids. As we work to reappropriate language we bear witness to the need for an intergenerational dialog that will help bridge gaps in meaning. The purpose of this session is to demonstrate how language is a queer process of reaching for self and community across generations within and across black communities. Please join us in a qreative exploration of ways we can make ourselves heard, felt and seen across generational divides as we work to uncover a language that liberates and transforms.

Interactive Panel members will include:

Moya Z. Bailey: A 4th year Women's Studies graduate student at Emory University and Co-founder of Quirky Black Girls Social Network.

Alexis Pauline Gumbs: founder of BrokenBeautiful Press (www.brokenbeautiful.wordpress) and PhD candidate in English, Africana and Women's Studies at Duke University.

Julia R. Wallace: founder of Queer Renaissance, MDiv in Theology from Emory University and filmmaker currently in the Film Production Program at Georgia State University.

Bea Sullivan: graduate of Oberlin College and member of the New Jersey 4 Solidarity Committee and INCITE: Women of Color Against Violence.