Interview with Tristan "TK" Morton

An interview with TK Morton is a Black queer trans higher education professional, advocate, and activist based in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time of this interview, ze was the Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Macalester College, where ze worked to support and advocate for queer and trans BIPOC students. Prior to zir work at Macalester, Morton worked as the Coordinator for Sexuality and Gender Diversity at the University of Kansas, and in similar roles with Edgewood College, Eastern Michigan University, and Western Michigan University. In this oral history interview with Macalester College student Oli Tierney, Morton discusses zir upbringing in Kalamazoo, Michigan and experiences of coming out, zir work on the 2009 Kalamazoo nondiscrimination ordinance and how that helped bring zir into a queer and trans activist consciousness, zir racial justice activism at Eastern Michigan University and disillusionment with administration, and zir ongoing work at Macalester on building space and support for queer and trans BIPOC students and faculty. Additionally, ze discusses the importance of academic activism and the issues particular to predominantly white higher education institutions, as well as other structural flaws in institutions, zir vision of a better future, and what brings zir joy.

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View At: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll97:231
Citation: Cite

Item Information:

Identifier: wd375w627
Collection: Oral Histories with People of Color
Institution: Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection, University of Minnesota
Creator(s): Morton, Tristan "TK"
Contributor(s): Billund-Phibbs, Myra
Chamness, Daria
Tierney, Oli
Nava, Rio Osorio
Publisher: University of Minnesota Minneapolis Libraries
Date Created: Dec. 4, 2020
Genre: Oral Histories
Transcriptions
Places: Minnesota > Hennepin County > City of Minneapolis > Minneapolis
Michigan
Minnesota > Ramsey County > City of Saint Paul > Saint Paul
Topic(s): BIPOC
Black transgender people
Coming out
Education, Higher
LGBTQ+ people of color
Queer people
Racial justice in education
Transgender activism
Transgender people
Resource Type: Moving image
Text
Language: English
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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