He/Him NRG in Current Events

A little suffering is good for the soul. It builds resilience. This is the thought I have before I push myself out of my comfort zone. At the Harm Reduction conference yesterday, I grabbed the microphone and spoke in front of 500 people. That was not on my bingo card for the day.

At the end of a presentation, that my youth director was a part of, a man asked if our organization had any programs for male youth that ran into the evenings. She said no. Fuck my drag. Is all I was thinking. Male youth need those spaces. Said the man after he got his incorrect answer. The host of the presentation said we would get back to that issue. They didn’t so I did. I finally got the mic and plugged my program. My organization does indeed have a program and space for male-identifying youth ages 8-12 that runs in the evenings. I told them who my program was and let them all know that we have 8 spots open. That’s all I had to say. Then someone wanted me to stand up and tell everyone more about my program. People were coming to me for my business card throughout the day. They have a son, a nephew, a student, someone who needs that space. I was feeling some type of way about how dismissive the panel was about male youth when clearly it was a hot topic. The conference seems to be only about that they/them energy.

The next conference is in two years. I am aiming to have a panel for the boys. This year, my program is going to do an event called Our Eldest Brother which is going to be about male indigenous youth. We want to introduce them to positive male role models. The drug, gang, and sex trade industry is being pushed on them. We want to show them another way. We recruited our first speaker, Sean Rayland-Boubar, and my coordinator is working on recruiting our second speaker who is in attendance at this conference, Jonny Meikle. I would love to see them have their own panel next time to talk about how to build up indigenous males.

Today is the last day of the Harm Reduction conference. I can’t exactly call this conference a good time. I can’t remember the last time I carried this level of dread. I do not want to go. Like, I just don’t. The presentations are long and full of terrors. It’s a lot of emotional baggage that people unpack. I didn’t sign up to carry their dense energy. I can see why the spiritual leaders sit outside in the lobby. The ones doing cedar baths are cooked. This day cannot go fast enough. It is a nice break from our regular programming, I have to say.

They should all just die! The world doesn’t need people like them! Said my roommate last night. She was talking about the homeless people on the streets. Someone tossed their crack pipe at her car after she almost hit them. When I say my roommate is unhinged and out of touch, this is what I mean.