Joshua Palkki
Michigan State University

Dane Figueroa Edidi
Transwomen of Color Collective (TWOCC)

Title:
Transcending keys. Musician, Trans Woman, Advocate: The Musical Life of Lady Dane

Abstract:
Recent years have seen progress toward equal rights for members of the LGBTQ community in the United States. Much of this advancement, however, applies only to the LGB subsets of this community (McCarthy, 2003). It seems that American society may be at a “tipping point” where trans* issues are concerned, as evidenced by recent coverage in the news media (e.g., Bernstein, 2014; Steinmetz, 2014a). Despite this increased prominence, transgender women of color face immense hatred and violence in modern American society (e.g., Beemyn & Rankin, 2011; Johnson, 2013; Singh, 2010). In music education research, scholarship on gay and lesbian issues has become more prevalent, but studies on the experiences of transgender or gender variant students are rare (e.g., Nichols, 2013). The proposed study was guided by an intersectional framework exploring the intersection of multiple layers of subject positions (e.g., gender, race, socioeconomic status). These intersections can be sites of oppression, but not in all situations (Carter, 2014; Smooth, 2013). Transgender people of color in music (education) settings, then, must learn to navigate both their gender and racial identities in settings such as classrooms and rehearsal/performance spaces. Because of the complexity of gender identity and expression, studies profiling diverse participants can help illuminate new perspectives. This co-written and co-presented case study examines the lived experiences and educational journeys of a black transgender woman (part Nigerian, Native American, and Cuban). Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi is a working artist in the mid-Atlantic region. She is a published author, a composer, a cabaret artist, an actor, a social justice advocate, and an educator. In addition to her writing and composing, Dane teaches belly dancing and helped start a theater collective. Her journey is a fascinating, rich story that deserves to be shared. Lady Dane is a public face and a loud voice—a beacon for the transgender women of color who have little or no power in our society.  It is time for the music (education) field to acknowledge the T in LGBT. This study is one small part of doing just that.

Works Cited:
Beemyn, G., & Rankin, S. R. (2011). The lives of transgender people. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Bernstein, J. (2014, March 12). The growing transgender presence in pop culture. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/fashion/the-growing-transgender-presence-in-pop-culture.html

Carter, B. (2014). Intersectionalities: Exploring qualitative research, music education, and diversity. In C. Conway (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of qualitative research in American music education (pp. 538–552). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Johnson, J. R. (2013). Cisgender privilege, intersectionality, and the criminalization of CeCe McDonald: Why intercultural communication needs transgender studies. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 6(2), 135–144. doi:10.1080/17513057.2013.776094

McCarthy, L. (2003). What about the “T”? Is multicultural education ready to address transgender issues? Multicultural Perspectives, 5(4), 46–48. doi:10.1207/S15327892MCP0504_11

Nichols, J. (2013). Rie’s Story, Ryan’s journey: Music in the life of a transgender student. Journal of Research in Music Education, 61(3), 262–279. doi:10.1177/0022429413498259

Singh, A. (2010). “Just getting out of bed is a revolutionary act”: The resilience of transgender people of color who have survived traumatic life events. Traumatology. doi:10.1177/1534765610369261

Smooth, W. G. (2013). Intersectionality from theoretical framework to policy intervention. In A.R. Wilson (Ed.), Situating Intersectionality: Politics, Policy, and Power (pp. 11–41). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Steinmetz, K. (2014, May 29). The transgender tipping point. TIME.com, 183(22). Retrieved from http://time.com/135480/transgender-tipping-point/