Page 103 - AVN October 2017

Editor’s Desk
(Continued from page 14)
“That was the beginning of the volunteerism and
the advocacy and the activism work that I do,” she
said. “I’m also very passionate about sex workers
because my basis is situational sex work when I was
very, very young—too young to have been doing it—
and also periods of homelessness before I turned 18.
Those are my influencing factors.”
Beasley, an artist, author and educator who
founded the live performance series UrbanErotika,
started out saying, “I forgot there were fellow
survivors of Jehovah.” For him, a defining moment
came when a young person he was working with at
a Planned Parenthood training wrote, “Thank you
for showing me that suicide is not an option.” His
life work, Beasley says, is to “crush imperialism,”
but he’s come to see that “is not revolutionary, that
is evolutionary.” (As he later told a member of the
audience, “If you choose the road of tearing the
system down, please don’t start until you have a
vision of what comes after.”)
Moderator Dennis’ next question dealt with the
elephant in the room (or in this case, the White
House): “Give me one thing you are doing to deal
with our president.”
Beasley, based in New York, talked about efforts
to mobilize voters there in public housing—400,000
strong. “All politics are local. I can’t get to the White
House, but I can get to City Hall.”
Drake said, “One small actionable item is to
depression all the time. That’s been my biggest
challenge: to not let it affect my clients and my
work.” What’s he’s done is to give up some types of
consumption (coffee, clothing) and “put that money
toward my donation fund.” And he gives those dollars
to organizations such as the ACLU.
Dee then asked the group to “share a piece of your
own self-care.”
Beasley didn’t sugar-coat matters: “We who believe
in freedom cannot rest. … It is not going to end in your
lifetime. Imperialism will still be there. ... But make
sure there’s less of it because of us and because of what
we’ve done.”
Drake lightened the mood: “Can somebody get me a
vodka soda from the bar?” After the laughter subsided,
she added, “We need to recognize we have a dark side
and a light side ... sometimes we need to write letters
to our representatives, and sometimes we need to have
a vodka soda, or scream and cry. ... Face masks only go
so far.”
For Rednour-Bruckman, the election was personal
because the outcome “was going to affect my family.
I’m a big queer of Jewish ancestry and my kids are
black. ... I went into war mode. ... Self-care has been
going back to square one. I went back to Women’s
Studies 101, back in the ’80s. ... I have read the fuck out
of James Baldwin lately and it gives me some peace.”
Chaves opined, “The things I have been encouraging
clients to do I have been doing myself.” In addition to
meditation, he said, “I want to reach out to my friends.
... That has meant the world to me.”
WE NEED TO
Rednour-Bruckman joked, “Facebook can be an evil
RECOGNIZE WE
tool used by the Russians, but it can be a way to check
up and check in.”
HAVE A DARK SIDE
For her final question, Dennis asked, “What are some
offensive things that you can do?”
AND A LIGHT SIDE
Beasley said, “The opposition is always proposing
... SOMETIMES WE
some shit. Let’s start proposing the things we want to
change.”
NEED TO WRITE
“I’m offensive when I walk out the door to most
LETTERS TO OUR
people,” Rednour-Bruckman said. But even while trying
“to be disarming and charming—my Canadian mother
REPRESENTATIVES, AND SOMETIMES
comes out,” the Good Vibes VP admits, “I have taken
on some real trolls. I eat trolls for breakfast. … Just
fight the fucking bullies.”
WE NEED TO HAVE
Chaves mused, “We’ve got a predator in chief.
They have the majority in the Legislature. But we still
A VODKA SODA, OR SCREAM
have the courts. I’ve never been so thankful for those
checks and balances. I’ve become a big advocate for the
ACLU.”
AND CRY.
He added, “This is not something I recommend—it’s
probably something that’s contributing to my anxiety,”
—jessica drake
but to get outside of his own bubble, he watches
Fox News. “I want to know what’s going on in their
sign up at DailyAction.org, which will send you a
text message every day.” She also suggested, “Find
an individual or a family who has been negatively
affected” by the administration’s actions, and help
them. And finally, “Just show up.”
Rednour-Bruckman’s advice: “Run for office.” And
get involved in your own community. “Join local
Indivisible chapters. Look at Indivisible.org. ... Start
small and start local. Get on your local NextDoor
app.”
bubble.”
After taking some questions from the crowd, many
more insights were expressed: the emotional session
ended. Among the hopeful notes was this sentiment
from the podium: “You do have a lot of power. You can
influence. You can sway. You can manipulate. … You
don’t have to stick with people who agree with you 100
percent of the time. You can change hearts and minds.”
The next CatalystCon will take place in May 2018.
And as Dennis announced at the end, Chaves and drake
Finally, it was Chaves’ turn to get emotional,
as he confessed, “Ever since November, I’ve had
will offer two scholarships each for the next conference.
For details on the event, visit CatalystCon.com.
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