Jay Tyler
Pronouns: they/he
Kym McNair
Pronouns: she/her
HVTF Workshop 2 on Friday, January 21st | 1:45-3pm EST
Unpacking the Impact of Violence Against TGNCNB Communities
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Kymberly McNair |
Jay Tyler (they/he) |
Workshop Description: Over the past 5 years there has been an explosion of aggressive, violent, anti-TGNCNB laws and policies sweeping across our country. These laws are creating barriers in education, religion, healthcare, housing, criminal justice, immigration, and housing systems and more. These laws and policies have set in motion an unprecedented pandemic of hate which has reverberated throughout the TGNCNB community. Though organizers and activists have shed light on this violence in recent years, we know the roots of this run deep and are grounded in this country’s history of systemic oppression.
We believe that one of the best ways to support the TGNCNB community in the Hudson Valley and beyond is to examine our history so that we can co-create a more humane future. Join us as we unpack the impact of the systems that have created opportunities for some and decades of hate for others.
Workshop Format: This workshop will draw on historical context and personal experience to create a dynamic conversation around anti-trans violence and its impact on the TGNCNB community
Bios:
Kymberly McNair (she/her) is the Director of Social Transformation at My Sisters’ Place. In her role she develops and facilitates trainings grounded in anti-racist principles for health care professionals, law enforcement, college students, and religious communities to help them recognize and respond to Domestic/Intimate Partner violence in their professional and personal lives.
She has worked with CONNECT Faith in their Safe Church Ending Child Sexual Abuse project, and the Children of Combahee, which mobilized against child sexual abuse in Black churches using Womanist pastoral and theological methods. She is also an anti-racist trainer and organizer with The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, a multigenerational, multiethnic collective based in New Orleans.
Kym is the descendant of formerly enslaved Africans, Jamaican immigrants, community organizers, preachers and teachers and works to address oppressions that are impacting her entire community, but especially the compounding oppressions impacting the lives of Black women. She owes her activism to the example set by her mother, Terri, who safety-planned her way out of Jim Crow Mississippi during the end of the Great Migration, came to New York and worked for decades on behalf of incarcerated women and others marginalized by oppression.
Kym is a fan of afro-futuristic fiction where the protagonists are women of various hues and she dreams of a not-so-distant future where Black women's leadership is respected and their lives are protected. She finds restoration in early morning walks with her rescue dog, Simba, and in tending to her vegetable and flower gardens. Of all of her titles, she is most proud to be called TitiKym by her nieces, Olivia and Lydia.
Jay Tyler (they/he) is a queer trans masculine humanist and a big fan of the Hudson Valley. He is currently the Manager of Youth Education and Prevention at My Sisters’ Place. A recent graduate of the Masters in Professional Studies in Humanistic/Multicultural Education (newly named Social Justice Educational Studies) program at SUNY New Paltz, their personal educational philosophy and approach is focused primarily on making it accessible to everyone.
Previously, Jay dedicated their time to help create spaces for LGBTQ+ middle and high school students in Rockland County. They have experience coordinating workshops, support groups, and conferences both in person and virtually for youth, young adults, youth-serving professionals, parents, and other community members.
Jay is currently a consultant for CANDLE Rockland, where he helps co-facilitate their Trans Youth Group and provides support for their other programs and events. They are also a board member of Hudson Valley AMPS, an organization dedicated to providing arts and activism programming for girls and gender expansive youth located on Mahicans, Wappingers, and Lenni-Lenapes land in the Hudson Valley.
When he is not working, Jay enjoys spending time with his cat, Charlie, and going on hikes with his friends. Jay is also a foodie and is always scoping out and going on adventures to new places to eat. (If you have any recommendations, let them know!)
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