Historically traditional models of survivor support do not meet our needs. We need support designed and led by and for community, implemented in community. We need forms of support that meet our immediate needs, while creating space for our abundance of brilliance, resilience, and creativity. We need space that addresses the crisis of violence against QTIPOC community members, while simultaneously forging toward our liberation. We grounded ourselves in these truths, and created:
THE QTIPOC SURVIVOR ADVOCATES INSTITUTE
QTIPOC Survivors know exactly what they need, and have been supporting other survivors through community networks since the beginning of time. The skills in survivor support that our community so expertly displays are valuable vocational skills. Perhaps a QTIPOC survivor wants to pursue a career in survivor advocacy, or include community experience on their resume that should always have counted as qualifications for a job. Our community expertise is valuable, skilled, AND deserving of compensation.
The QTIPOC Survivor Advocates Institute is a multifaceted tool. It provides a professional development certification to legitimize the existing expertise and resilience of QTIPOC survivors. It provides white queer and trans allies tools to support QTIPOC survivors in ways that decenter whiteness. It provides history and context for the culture and circumstances that led to and enable systemic and interpersonal violence. It certifies the brilliance that we have always known QTIPOC survivors hold.
What you will receive in this certification:
- QTIPOC survivors can be compensated for their time while learning foundational survivor crisis support skills from other QTIPOC survivors.
- White trans survivors and cisgender queers can build skills in QTIPOC survivor support in ways that center the experiences of our Black and Brown community members.
- White folks, cisgender heterosexual folks, and other folks with closer positionality to privilege can build skills in going beyond allyship to being a co-conspirator for the liberation of QTIPOC folks
Learning objectives include:
- Basic Trans Terminology
- The current and historical state of affairs for trans folk in the South
- Monitoring and understanding the impacts of anti-trans legislation
- Centering vs. Including: Organizing tips and tricks from those that are doing the work
- Recommendations from QTIPOC Experts