99:" and the violence and oppression done to people of color under the guise of queer activism that predominantly benefits white queers. Vaid-Menon describes this phenomenon by saying, "Rather than critiquing state violence the gay rights 'movement' has readily sought to become a part of it." The poets say they were drawn to spoken word and continue to create spoken word art among other forms because of the "long, deep history in black and brown communities in the U.S. as a site of resistance. It is a political form." Their poems bring to light the perpetuation of privilege and oppression within queer communities, exposing how the issues of low-income transgender people of color are being ignored.
79:
Both poets decided to finish school and move to New York, making that the center for their art and activism after their first tour in 2013. As a duo, they ran performances, workshops, and speeches for many different community groups. In 2017, they announced they were "bringing DarkMatter to a close
75:
The duo cite a lack of representation of South Asian poets, especially queer and/or trans South Asian poets, as an impetus for their decision to form DarkMatter and tour independently starting in 2013. Much of their poetry and activism is inspired by the lack of visibility for QTPOC (queer/trans
92:. Vaid-Menon began writing poetry in middle school, focusing largely on their emotional experience and developing into more externally political themes in college; Balasubramanian entered poetry as a freshman when Vaid-Menon brought them to their first poetry slam at Stanford.
107:
In addition to pursuing activism and social justice through poetry, both artists are engaged in various community organizations and projects dedicated to social justice. Vaid-Menon is the
Communications and Grassroots Fundraising coordinator at the
373:
304:
475:
69:
88:
The poets draw inspiration from various sources, including their own emotional journeys, and the perpetuation of privilege and oppression within
465:
161:
218:
470:
485:
354:
166:
24:
312:
188:
480:
95:
They see their performance as inherently political. One main topic that they seek to challenge is the concept of "
245:
133:
450:
418:
274:
392:
138:
109:
65:
68:
in 2009. They later joined the
Stanford Slam Poetry Team and performed in spoken word venues like
20:
96:
61:
34:
223:
459:
335:
80:
as a collaboration in order to dedicate ourselves wholly to our solo art practices."
49:
46:
38:
76:
people of color), The name DarkMatter was chosen to reflect that invisibility.
219:"Artists of DarkMatter: 'Let's Challenge the Standards of Trans Visibility'"
196:
89:
33:
253:
282:
112:, a queer people of color activism organization based in New York.
396:
162:"These Trans Performance Artists Are Here to Say 'It Gets Bitter'"
42:
426:
134:"ASSEMBLAGE: Meet Queer Performance Artists Dark Matter"
355:"DarkMatter: South Asian Queer Activism Through Poetry"
70:
305:"DarkMatter: 'We're Proud of Our Resistance'"
8:
393:"Queer Detainee Empowerment Project: Staff"
127:
125:
132:Nichols, JamesMichael (March 29, 2015).
121:
60:Balasubramanian and Vaid-Menon, both
7:
14:
419:"Audre Lorde Project: Contact Us"
372:Waterton, Crystal (Spring 2017).
72:and other college circuit slams.
217:Lamphier, Jason (May 17, 2016).
334:Jónsson, Ragnar (19 May 2014).
160:Abeni, Cleis (March 11, 2016).
476:American LGBT rights activists
1:
466:American spoken word artists
25:Dark Matter (disambiguation)
336:"Interview with Darkmatter"
502:
275:"New year, new beginnings"
18:
471:Transgender entertainers
332:Vaid-Menon as quoted in
279:www.darkmatterpoetry.com
340:Bluestockings Magazine
374:"Decoding DarkMatter"
64:, met as students at
486:Non-binary activists
19:For other uses, see
16:Artist collaboration
423:Audre Lorde Project
399:on 29 November 2014
378:CUNY Academic Works
359:Brown Girl Magazine
139:The Huffington Post
110:Audre Lorde Project
66:Stanford University
481:Non-binary artists
189:"Background + FAQ"
37:, known for their
353:Bhutani, Saumya.
41:performances and
493:
451:Official Website
438:
437:
435:
434:
425:. Archived from
415:
409:
408:
406:
404:
395:. Archived from
388:
382:
381:
369:
363:
362:
350:
344:
343:
330:
324:
323:
321:
320:
311:. Archived from
300:
294:
293:
291:
290:
281:. Archived from
271:
265:
264:
262:
261:
252:. Archived from
242:
236:
235:
233:
231:
214:
208:
207:
205:
204:
195:. Archived from
185:
179:
178:
176:
174:
157:
151:
150:
148:
146:
129:
21:DarkMatter Group
501:
500:
496:
495:
494:
492:
491:
490:
456:
455:
447:
442:
441:
432:
430:
417:
416:
412:
402:
400:
390:
389:
385:
371:
370:
366:
352:
351:
347:
333:
331:
327:
318:
316:
302:
301:
297:
288:
286:
273:
272:
268:
259:
257:
244:
243:
239:
229:
227:
216:
215:
211:
202:
200:
187:
186:
182:
172:
170:
159:
158:
154:
144:
142:
131:
130:
123:
118:
105:
97:homonationalism
86:
62:Indian American
58:
35:Alok Vaid-Menon
28:
17:
12:
11:
5:
499:
497:
489:
488:
483:
478:
473:
468:
458:
457:
454:
453:
446:
445:External links
443:
440:
439:
410:
383:
364:
345:
325:
303:King, Jamila.
295:
266:
250:darkmatterrage
237:
209:
193:darkmatterrage
180:
152:
120:
119:
117:
114:
104:
103:Political work
101:
85:
82:
57:
54:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
498:
487:
484:
482:
479:
477:
474:
472:
469:
467:
464:
463:
461:
452:
449:
448:
444:
429:on 2008-04-24
428:
424:
420:
414:
411:
398:
394:
387:
384:
379:
375:
368:
365:
360:
356:
349:
346:
341:
337:
329:
326:
315:on 2014-07-09
314:
310:
306:
299:
296:
285:on 2017-10-28
284:
280:
276:
270:
267:
256:on 2013-12-03
255:
251:
247:
241:
238:
226:
225:
220:
213:
210:
199:on 2014-11-29
198:
194:
190:
184:
181:
169:
168:
163:
156:
153:
141:
140:
135:
128:
126:
122:
115:
113:
111:
102:
100:
98:
93:
91:
83:
81:
77:
73:
71:
67:
63:
55:
53:
51:
48:
44:
40:
36:
32:
26:
22:
431:. Retrieved
427:the original
422:
413:
401:. Retrieved
397:the original
386:
377:
367:
358:
348:
339:
328:
317:. Retrieved
313:the original
308:
298:
287:. Retrieved
283:the original
278:
269:
258:. Retrieved
254:the original
249:
240:
228:. Retrieved
222:
212:
201:. Retrieved
197:the original
192:
183:
171:. Retrieved
167:The Advocate
165:
155:
143:. Retrieved
137:
106:
94:
87:
78:
74:
59:
30:
29:
403:21 November
50:South Asian
39:spoken word
460:Categories
433:2014-11-21
319:2014-11-21
309:ColorLines
289:2017-02-09
260:2014-11-21
246:"Bookings"
230:August 20,
203:2014-11-21
173:August 20,
145:August 20,
116:References
56:Background
31:DarkMatter
90:activism
52:themes.
391:QDEP.
84:Poetry
47:trans
43:queer
405:2014
232:2016
175:2016
147:2016
23:and
224:Out
462::
421:.
376:.
357:.
338:.
307:.
277:.
248:.
221:.
191:.
164:.
136:.
124:^
436:.
407:.
380:.
361:.
342:.
322:.
292:.
263:.
234:.
206:.
177:.
149:.
45:/
27:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.