Made for Flight

We have a new website!

2011-10-09T21:09:00.001-07:00

Please follow us at http://www.madeforflight.com/

Thank you's!

2011-09-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

We would just like to take a moment to thank Ethan St. Pierre for maintaining the Transgender Day of Remembrance website. We use this incredibly valuable resource a lot here at Made for Flight and we couldn't do this project without his work. Thank you, Ethan! Please visit his site at http://www.transgenderdor.org/

We would also like to thank the folks at Transgender Europe who maintain the Trans Murder Monitoring Project. This is another invaluable site. Thank you all! http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/

Workshops!

2011-09-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

Here is where you can find Made for Flight in the next few weeks:

- Tuesday, Sept 20 from 4:30-6:30 at Eon
- Thursday, Sept 22 from 3:30-5:30 at City High/Voices
- Monday, Sept 26 from 2:45-5pm at Rincon High
- Thursday, Sept 29 from 3:30-5:30 at City High/Voices
- Friday, Sept 30 from 3-5 at Tucson High
- Tuesday, Oct 4 from 4:30-6:30 at Eon
- Monday, Oct 10 from 4-6 at UA/Pride Alliance

Would you like to bring Made for Flight to your school or youth group? Please email us at tctolbert74@gmail.com - we would love to bring the workshop to you!

Welcoming our new interns!

2011-09-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

We are incredibly excited to welcome our two Visual Media Interns: Sammy Dominguez, Tucson High yearbook editor and photographer extraordinnaire, and Pedro Sorto, Master's candidate at UA in the Art Department! Sammy will be our photographer and Pedro will be creating a video of the Made for Flight workshop series and events. We are honored to be working with them both!

Seeking Visual Media Intern (paid internship!!)

2011-08-21T22:00:00.001-07:00

Made for Flight is currently accepting applications for our Visual Media Intern. We are looking for an intern with an interest in photography and videography to document the fall 2011 Made for Flight experience! We want YOU to join our team!

Intern will be responsible for photographing several workshops and events, editing the photos, and creating a slideshow of images to be posted on our website by Dec 15. Intern will also be responsible for filming short interviews with participants, filming short segments of workshops, readings, and events, editing footage, and creating a 5 minute video of the project to be posted on our website by Dec 15. EVEN THOUGH YOU WILL BE BEHIND THE CAMERA, YOU ARE STILL GOING TO BE A STAR!

Intern will earn a stipend of $200 for completion of the project. Please send an email with a short letter of interest (including qualifications) to tctolbert74@gmail.com

Requirements:

Basic digital photography experience, access to a digital camera, and access to editing software (school access is acceptable)
Basic videography experience, basic film editing experience (we can supply the video camera)
Reliable transportation (foot, bike, car, bus, etc – all are fine – the key here is reliable! You gotta be where you say you are gonna be! We can supply bus passes if needed, no problem.)
Attendance at two Made for Flight workshops per month from September – November (in other words, you must attend a total of 6 workshops). Workshops are usually held on weekday afternoons.
Attendance at All Souls workday preparation and procession (Sunday, Nov 6)
Attendance at Trans Day of Remembrance events (Nov 19 and 20)

Preferred Qualifications:

knowledge of LGBTQIA identities and issues
1-2 years experience with Photoshop
1-2 years experience with Final Cut Pro (or similar software)

Made for Flight in 2011

2011-08-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Made for Flight is thrilled to announce our recent funding from the Kresge Arts in Tucson grant via the Tucson Pima Arts Council and the Queer Youth Initiative grant from the Alliance Fund! These grant awards are making it possible for Made for Flight to continue and thrive. Thank you to these amazing organizations!

This year we are expanding our workshop series and would love to work with your youth! We can bring Made for Flight to your school or youth group or you can join existing workshops at Casa Libre on 4th Ave. Workshops will be held September 1 thru November 15, 2011. Trangender Day of Remembrance is November 20, 2011. If you are interested in joining or supporting Made for Flight, hosting and/or attending a workshop, walking with Made for Flight in the Dia de los Muertos/ All Souls Procession, and/or joining us for Transgender Day of Remembrance, please contact me at tctolbert74(at)gmail.com. I would love to hear from you!

We Remember Every Day

2010-11-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

Today, Nov 20, is the official Transgender Day of Remembrance. For those of us in Tucson, we will gather at Catalina Park (4th Ave and 2nd St) at 5:30pm and call out the names of those transgender people who were murdered in the last year. This is a day for the living and the dead. This is a day for transgender people and it is a day for those who are not transgender. We cannot, nor should we have to, do this alone. If you are an ally, please join us in remembering. Please stand alongside us. We need you there. Thank you.

Good Press (and a tiny misquote!)

2010-11-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

Check out the interview with TC Tolbert in the Tucson Weekly! And please note that TC said that Chattanooga was the "buckle" of the Bible Belt - not the "butthole"! Oh dear! What a misquote! The rest of the article is true. And a big thank you to A. Greene for conducting the interview and getting it into the Weekly! http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/t-qanda/Content?oid=2333288

Where you can see us fly

2010-10-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

We will be walking in the All Souls' Procession and carrying the kites on Sunday, Nov 7. If you would like to walk with us and/or carry a kite, please meet in the Casa Libre parking lot (228 North 4th Ave) by 4:30pm.

The kites will be displayed on the UA mall on Monday, Nov 15 from 11-1pm. Please join us there for the kickoff event for Transgender Awareness Week. There will be a poetry reading, speakout, and celebration.

The kites will be displayed in the windows of Voices from Nov. 16-19. Voices is located at 48 E. Pennington in downtown Tucson.

We will display the kites and march with them in the Transgender Day of Remembrance final event on Saturday, Nov 20 at 5:30pm in Catalina Park. 900 N 4th Ave.

Hope and context

2010-10-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

First off, thank you for taking the time to look over this blog and be an ally to transfolks and this project. Just your interest and time give me hope that the violence against trans and genderqueer people (to only mention a few of the many oppressed groups we stand with in solidarity) will one day end.

As I sat at the 2009 Transgender Day of Remembrance and listened as over 100 names were read, I looked around and saw transpeople and our fiercest allies re-traumatized. It became clear to me that "tolerance" was not working. And besides, who wants to just be "tolerated" anyway? Transgender and genderqueer people deserve to be supported, celebrated, and valued.

It is my hope that Made for Flight will encourage those of us with privilege (and there are many kinds of privilege in this world - white, straight, passing, male, the list goes on) to use that privilege to speak out, call out, and act out against transphobia and other forms of oppression. We cannot talk about transphobia and ignore the fact that the majority of those we commemorate on Transgender Day of Remembrance are transwomen of color. Racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and transphobia are inherently inter-related and we must work in solidarity with one another to overcome them all.

I created Made for Flight with the goals of building awareness, community, and a sense of the power and history of transgender people despite the many forms of violence and oppression we experience. I wanted to focus on our resiliency, our ability to transform and transcend. I hope that you will join us in this endeavor.

From The Bone People by Keri Hulm:

They were nothing more than people by themselves.
Even paired, any pairing, they were nothing more than people by themselves.
But in a group, they formed the heart and muscle and mind of something
perilous and new. Something strange and growing and great.
Together, all together, they are the instruments of change.

Upcoming Workshops

2010-10-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

We will be holding a workshop at Voices, Inc on Thursday, Oct 7 from 4-6pm.

We will hold a workshop at UA Pride Alliance on Friday, Oct 15 from 3-5pm in the classroom in the Center For Student Involvement and Leadership. It's on the fourth floor of the student union. We will also hold a workshop on Wednesday, Oct 27 from 5-7pm at UA, specific location TBD.

If you are interested in attending one of these workshops or if you would like to host a workshop at your school or community group, please contact me at tigercakes74(at)yahoo(dot)com.

What we do

2010-10-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Made for Flight creates a space specifically for youth voice during the preparation for, and the implementation of, Tucson’s Tenth Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20, 2010), culminating with a public display of hand-made kites that celebrate the lives of murdered Transgender individuals and a youth literary reading at UA.

Workshops are ongoing and open to trans and allied youth. During each workshop we learn a bit of transgender history, share personal stories, learn about our transgender sisters and brothers who have been murdered in the previous year, and build kites to commemorate their lives.