Meet Lee Gordon

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lee Gordon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lee below.

Lee, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?

I have recently started a practice where I go to my mirror and recite Assata Shakur’s Chant every morning before work:

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

I started this routine because of my difficulties in taking up space. I grew tired of carrying the generational burden of being the “respectable representative”. Assata’s words have served as a reminder for me to be purposeful and deindividualized when I enter these rooms. Even if I sit at the table as the sole representative of my community, it is not my duty to save my seat. Other sole representatives struggled before me to ensure I continued their service to the community. When I walk into the room, I intentionally center and lean on the collective knowledge & power of my heritage, instead of relying solely on myself.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a disabled, queer, nonbinary, trans, Black femme Pan-African LGBTQ+ liberation activist-scholar and community organizer. I dream of a liberated, loving, and resourced world for all people. I am also National Head of Justice with Queer Youth Assemble, a Freedom from Fear Fellow with Southerners on New Ground, a National Board Member of Queer Trans Project, and a Steering Committee member of Black Feminist Future’s Political Hive. My research interests include intimate partner violence in Black queer relationships, Critical Race Theory and carceral abolition. I have worked with organizations such as the Black Feminist Collective, GLAAD, and the National Black Women’s Justice Initiative to fight for decolonization and queer of color rights as a focus group facilitator, organizer, and community care practitioner. I am also a co-author of a higher educational anthology on how Black femmes may navigate spaces and secure communal power in academia to pursue their doctorates and engage in the social justice struggle.

Currently, I am really excited to be working with the Queer Unity March as their National Community Demands Lead! We are organizing a nation-wide march for queer & trans liberation, joy, and belonging on October 11th, 2024. In response to Project 2025 and Agenda 47, we are working to come together to fight for change and collective justice.

Join us!: https://www.instagram.com/queerunitymarch/

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I believe that my imagination, reliance on community, and contented dissatisfaction were the most essential assets in my toolset. It is the universal minority experience to be told that your greatest dreams are out-of-reach. I was fortunate to find others who showed me this was not true at an early age. My joy for freedom dreaming and need to find my people allowed me to invest in social justice. However, I think it was also helpful to find contentment in my work without reaching absolute satisfaction. The movement for liberation is intergenerational and therefore eternal. Because of this nature of activism, activists must also evolve alongside the struggle. I often felt pressured to settle into a specific profession or arrive to some arbitrary destination to gain clarity on my organizing. I’ve recently realized that it is possible to find joy in your work without resolving to constrained perspectives.

For those who wish to develop their activist toolset, I would highly encourage you to look for value-aligned organizations hosting remote workshops and teach-ins. There are several groups that do work in climate, racial, LGBTQ+, and abolition justice that curate open townhalls to discuss the current political landscape. Attending these events has allowed me to continue informing my own political beliefs. I have also met so many incredible people from these sessions. They really allow you to witness how beautiful the organizing community can be and how we can sustainably evolve.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

My chronic disability has posed as an obstacle in my pursuit of higher education and work as a community organizer. There have been so many instances along my journey where I’ve had to put my life on pause as I recover from my illnesses. I am now on medical leave from school to heal as I continue my LGBTQ+ activism.

Centering healing and rest practices in my life have been revolutionary as a disabled person. At certain times, I have worked three or four remote jobs and volunteered in community groups from a hospital bed. The conscious departure from the grind mindset and capitalist pressure to overextend have allowed me to do what I love from a fulfilled and replenished place. For me, rest practices look like setting boundaries in all aspects of my life and establishing times of the day I specifically dedicate to rest.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @fuzzylogiclee
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-gordon-4b35a5206/

Image Credits

Fisk OutLoud
Teen Vogue & @blackpowerbarbie
Southern Movement Committee