Kai M. Green

Kai is a filmmaker and a spoken word poet who examines through film and poetry questions of gendered and racialized violence. Kai is committed to creating consciousness raising art and scholarship.

His most recent film,  “It Gets Messy in Here,” is a 32-minute short that examines the lives of transgender men and masculine identified women of color and their bathroom experiences.

Kai is a PhD candidate in the department of American Studies and Ethnicity at The University of Southern California. He is currently writing a dissertation that will serve as one historical/ethnographic account of Black LGBT lives in Los Angeles.

To read his Everyday Feminism articles, click here.

Book Kai Now!

To arrange to have Kai speak at your event, please complete this form here and we will be in touch soon.

His presentations include:

• Film Screening and Q&A Session on “It Gets Messy in Here”: “It Gets Messy in Here” is a short documentary film (32 minutes) that explored the racialized and gendered experiences of gender non-conforming lesbians and transgender men of color while navigating the public restroom. Through in-depth interviews you get honesty, humor, self-reflection, and public accountability. This film highlights the intersections of race and gender specifically, expanding conversations around transgender masculinities and race within the context of the United States. Read a film review here and watch the trailer here.

• Spoken Word Performances and Writing Workshops

• Black LGBT History and Knowledge Production

All topics can be adapted to be presentations, keynote speeches, or workshops and can be tailored to the audience.

If you don’t see a topic that quite meets your needs but think we can cover it, just let us know. We are also willing to create a signature talk or workshop for groups.

Past speaking engagements include:

• Step Your Feminist Game Up!: The Importance of Black Transfeminist Week, Panelist on the opening  “Our Art is our Advocacy” plenary. 7^th Annual Transgender Leadership Summit-Building Our Future Together. The University of California, Berkeley. November 2012. Berkeley, CA.

• Our Bodies=Our Liberation, Panelist on the  “Race and Reproductive Justice” panel. Bringing Sexy Back: Choice USA’s Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute. Mills College. October 2012. Oakland, CA.

• Towards a Black Queer Geography: The Struggle Over the Uses of Erotic in a Time of Crisis, Panelist on the “Histories and Archives” panel. Queer of Color Histories and Theories Conference.  The University of California, Los Angeles. October 2012. Los Angeles, CA.

• The in-between: Gender and Race Troubles the Water, Keynote address at the “Crossing Borders” conference. Williams College. October 2012. Williamstown, MA.

• A Series of Aberrations: Looking at Black Masculinity, Panelist at the USC Fisher Museum of Art, “The Image of Masculinity” event. October 2011. Los Angeles, CA.

• The Invisible Butch, Presenter for “Butch Voices Los Angeles Regional Conference.” October 2010. Los Angeles, CA.

• Nobody Knows Her Name: Making Sakia Legible, Keynote address for the “Claiming Williams Day” diversity initiative.  Williams College. February 2009. Williamstown, MA.

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