The Radical Queerness of Black Family Structures

About this episode

The episode explores Black Southern family traditions and the power of intergenerational storytelling through a conversation with Ayan Felix.

In this episode (31) of Season four of In the Telling , co-hosts Miranda and Steven sit down with movement artist, environmental justice advocate, and multi-disciplinary collaborator Ayan Felix to explore Black Southern family traditions and the power of intergenerational storytelling. Ayan shares their journey of discovering a second father in 2018, navigating the positive emotional complexities of identity, and embracing a broader, more fluid understanding of family. From Texas Zydecos to burlesque stages, from voter suppression stories to embodied resistance, this conversation weaves together themes of ancestry, queerness, and the narratives that shape us. Born to the swamps of Beaumont, TX, Ayan moved to Durham for the Duke Dance MFA program, completed in 2021. The land heavily informs their artistic practice which takes root in collaborative process with other cultural organizers, body workers, agitators, and spirits. Their research examines pleasurable terror and Black American markers of social class with a focus on burlesque and cabaret performers. Felix was a NCDF Artist-in-Residence and makes screendance and performances in NC, TX, and NY. Learn more about their work at…

People in this episode

Hosts: Sean Bempong, Christopher Stalling, Tanya M. Beltran

Guest: Ayan Felix

Topics covered

• Black Southern family traditions
• intergenerational storytelling
• queerness
• ancestry
• identity

Keywords

• movement artist
• environmental justice
• burlesque
• cabaret
• social class

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Duke Dance MFA program

Books & works: The Radical Queerness of Black Family Structures, In the Telling, the Full Conversation

Places: Texas, Beaumont, TX, Durham, NC, NY

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