Want to get to know more of our editors? Come to our open meeting on March 24th, where you can introduce your rad self to us in person, talk about how to get involved with the collective, and work with us to brainstorm article ideas! In the meantime, check out our other fabulous editor bios here.
My name is Katherine, but most people call me Kay, K, or K.Ho – I like K the most. I am an introvert, an apple-core eater, a forgetful texter, and will never apologize for double-dipping, especially re: hummus. It has been an incredible experience to write, edit, and procrastinate with this horizontally-structured, badass beautiful collective on The Talon, and I extend lots of love to Urooba Jamal for inviting me on board last summer.
My feminist/political/queer awakening happened a few years ago. It was March 8th, International Women’s Day, and I had decided to attend a keynote address on intersectional feminism by Kim Katrin Crosby (now Milan). By that time, I had already started dipping my toe into feminist politics, but felt intimidated by the language. These days I often forget how intimidating activist spaces can be for people, especially newcomers, and I think our organizing efforts can always work towards being more accessible – whether physically, emotionally, and/or pedagogically. I’m reminded of the incredible piece on “Calling In” by Ngọc Loan Trần – check it out here.
During her speech, Kim blew my mind. She spoke about her experiences as a queer, Black, cash-poor, community-educated, surviving-subversive femme, expressing that her identities overlapped and existed simultaneously – never in isolation from each other. In affirming this, Kim showed me that I, too, could exist beyond mainstream narratives, colourfully and radically so. I now see my intersecting identities as a queer, gender-confused, Chinese-Canadian person of colour as cause for celebration, not shame. Intersectional feminism has given me the language to name my experiences, find my identities, and speak with no apology.
I owe so much of my learning to the words and wisdoms of knowledge-makers like Andrea Smith, Audre Lorde, Black Girl Dangerous, Darkmatter, Glen Coulthard, Harsha Walia, Kai Cheng Thom, Laverne Cox, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Leanne Simpson, Mia Mingus, and so many others who continue to nourish, challenge, and educate me. I am grateful for and indebted to the tireless activisms of communities resisting ongoing colonial violence on Turtle Island, occupied and ancestral Indigenous lands upon which I live and breathe as a settler. I also acknowledge the work/survival/resilience of Indigenous, mixed-race folks/of colour such as Anna Soole, Areej Siddiqui, Arielle Baker, Aya Peloquin, Benita Bunjun, Delia Douglas, Eddy Alexis, Emilee Guevara, Haneen Karajah, Ivan Ching, JP Catungal, Lauren Kimura, Lindsay McKinnon, Mai Okugawa, Sara Romeih, Sarah Ali, and Victoria Pho (and far more people than this space can fill) for sharing so much with me at different points in my political and personal journey.
My name is Kay, and my politics are about amplifying voices in the margins, honouring our complexities, and dismantling the colonial capitalist white supremacist cis-heteropatriarchy with transformative love, warm toques, rage, consent, and poetry on Friday nights… come join me.
