Name: Deaunte Damper
Organizations: King County Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Converge Media
Location: Seattle, WA
When did you start getting involved with being an activist or advocate, and why?
I started to get involved in the areas of activism or advocacy on July 27 at 1:45 in the afternoon, 2013, when I was diagnosed with HIV. It changed my life and made me reflective of the community. The first thing I thought about when I was diagnosed was plastic knives, plastic forks, because I lost community members who had to eat with those because of stigma, and I knew that I didn’t want to be a part of stigma. I knew I needed to be a part of the solution. So from then on, I started advocating for myself. HIV saved my life. It turned me into an advocate for other community folks that are Black and brown—folks that are living with HIV. Being able to walk in my truth, openly and honestly helped me become a part of the community compass.
What are the issues that you focus on?
The issues that I focus on are uplifting our community folks that have been impacted by HIV, substance abuse, mass incarceration, homelessness, and gun violence, with my new position working at the King County Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention. There’s so many different scopes of my work, whether it is my peer work with the Therapy Fund Foundation, as well as on the board. But I will say my bread and butter, the main thing that I love to do, is being the host of “We Live In Color” on Converge Media.
How does your work help build our community bigger and stronger?
When you think about “We Live In Color,” it is the only show in the Northwest that highlights the lives of LGBTQ community and the Black and brown community. I used to try to figure out where I fit. Where is my community? Why don’t I ever see a representation of myself? “We Live In Color” is a time capsule that captures LGBTQ lives not in a performative space, but in an actionary space. There are young kids that are going to grow up here and see that there are women and men and non-binary folks in our community that look like them, and they can be able to live in color too.
What is the greatest achievement you have had in the work you are doing?
I think the greatest achievement that I’ve had would have to be the work that I’m doing with “We Live In Color.” We’re getting ready to embark on our 100th episode. I think that just coming into this milestone, I think about so many people that we have lost through HIV, our community, activists, and artists whose voices have gone unsung. This is a love letter to them. So this right now, Season Four, is my biggest achievement.
What’s the biggest challenge you have faced in doing your work?
Doing this work as a talk show host, it isn’t easy. Funding has gotten cut, and the reality of it is it takes a lot of money to do these episodes, so we’d love to have some community buy-in. Because of the new regime that we’re under, some people don’t feel the need to hear from young queer from queer voices. It would mean a lot for people to be able to donate, so then we could be able to go to Portland, go to Idaho, go to Montana, go all around the country, getting our stories.
How can others help you in the work you are doing?
I think one of the main things that they could do is reach out to me at any time and look at Converge Media. If you know any queer folks that we should interview, reach out to us. We want to know their stories. If you have a call to action, reach out. You want to donate, reach out. But above all else, it is supporting Converge Media. That’s how they can support.
What calls to action would you ask of our community?
I say it every time when I end the show: walk with love. Right now we’re going through some serious scrutiny. They are telling us that we do not belong, but we have to remember to continue to walk with love. People in our community are loved. And in living in color, we have to continue to walk hand in hand with love.
Looking at the current climate, what words of hope do you have for our community and what what should we be most concerned about
When I look at our community, the main thing that we need to be concerned about is uplifting and prioritizing Black trans community folks. I think that so many times in our community, when we look back to the Stonewall riots, the person that threw the first brick was a Black trans woman. And if we can continue to prioritize Black trans women, and we will continue to protect and educate and build the LGBTQIA community.
Who inspires you to keep fighting the good fight?
I have one person: my dear friend, Omari Salisbury. Omari Salisbury reached out to me because he wanted to be able to do it to prioritize queer voices. And he talked about the memory of his brother Hiram, which made us come up with this show together, “We Live In Color.” I dedicate this to the life of Hiram and the Salisbury family.
