Spotlight Sundays: Trans Ancestors in History and Creative Practice

Spotlight Sundays: Trans Ancestors in History and Creative Practice

Talk 1–2 pm

Workshops 2–4 pm

During the month of Trans Day of Visibility, join us for a creative exploration of trans ancestors and their indelible legacies of resistance. Community historian Andrea Horne will give a talk about her life’s work unearthing histories of Black trans luminaries. Learn about her groundbreaking research that confronts a limited written record and unveils stories—from the fantastic to the everyday—of how Black trans women changed the world. This talk is open to all, and tickets are required. 

Following the talk, two intimate creative workshops will draw inspiration from the lives and legacies of trans ancestors. Queer Ancestors Project teaching artists Mason J. and Ajuan Mance will facilitate the simultaneous workshops—writing and comix, respectively—guiding participants in exploring stories of trans ancestors central to their personal, collective, and political lineages. Come create with community and deepen connection to shared histories as we cultivate liberatory visions of trans futures. Materials provided. The workshops prioritize trans and genderqueer people, and capacity is limited. Tickets are required and also include admission to the talk. 

Andrea Horne’s work is funded in part by the San Francisco Arts Commission.

About the Facilitators

Andrea Horne is an SF Arts Commission award-winning artist, cultural worker, and community historian whose work bridges the Black arts movement, LGBTQ+ storytelling, and public health advocacy. A beloved Bay Area performer and advocate, Andrea is the creator of The Knowing—a multidisciplinary collective and archival project honoring the lives, legacies, and cultural memory of Black transgender women through performance, oral history, and sacred storytelling. Her praxis weaves movement work and ancestral testimony into a powerful meditation on survival, transformation, and spiritual lineage. For over four decades, Andrea has been a vital presence in San Francisco Bay Area queer and cultural communities, using her voice and art to protect, remember, and liberate.

Mason J. is a Lambda Literary Awarded San Francisco-born Afro-Indigenous Two-Spirit artist, historian, educator, and community archivist exploring memory, ritual, and cultural recovery. Their work weaves public record with holistic care, nightlife, harm reduction, and ritual craft, helping communities trace lineage beyond academia and erasure. Mason serves on the GLBT Historical Society board and has been a Still Here SF co-editor, Show Us Your Spines co-founder, 2016 VONA alum, and 2017–2019 James C. Hormel Center Fellow. Spotlight Sundays with him is part workshop, part time machine: storytelling meets formal and renegade research – creative mapping through art, global ancestry, witnessing, with collaboration and take-home tools.

Ajuan Mance is an Oakland-based artist and writer and a Professor of Illustration at the California College of the Arts. Ajuan is the author and illustrator of 1001 Black Men: Portraits of Masculinity at the Intersections; Living While Black: Portraits of Everyday Resistance; and the children’s picture book What Do Brothas Do All Day? Her comics and illustrations have appeared in a number of publications, including the Women’s Review of Books and Transition Magazine, as well as several anthologies. Gender Studies, Ajuan’s first book of comics, was nominated for the 2024 Ignatz Award for Best Comics Collection. 

Accesibilidad

Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) se compromete a ofrecer programas accesibles, acogedores e inclusivos para nuestra comunidad. Las sillas de ruedas, los dispositivos de inclusión sensorial y los servicios adicionales están disponibles en el mostrador de venta de entradas por orden de llegada. Para solicitar otras adaptaciones, como intérprete de lengua de signos americana (ASL), cantonés, español u otro idioma, envíe un correo electrónico a [email protected] al menos tres semanas antes del acto. Más información sobre nuestras opciones de accesibilidad.