At the beginning of a presentation, I asked everyone to take a name tag before sitting down. These are the leftovers. I was interested in the idea of labeling/stereotyping for a few reasons.

One, the ability to decide a label or name tag is the kind of power we all hope to have. Or maybe we hope that we don’t have to have any label. Either way, getting to choose an identity is only something that happens in speculative fiction.

Two, I’m interested in knowing how people felt interacting with people once they had a name tag. Did you reject the label? embrace it? perform it? Ignore it? I know this whole activity is a bit on the nose, and there’s limitations to actually feeling the effect of a veil placed over you in this short amount of time. However, while I’m interested in stereotypes generally, I’m most interested in the intrapersonal impact.

I’m inspired by W.E.B. Du Bios and his theory on double consciousness – seeing oneself through the eyes of your oppressor. How can we live and love, while being trapped in an invisible cone where we are forced to either stay, or dramatically break out? Do we only have two options for existing? To defy or stay put? Does it matter if we defy? Won’t people still see us how they want to see us?

And what to do about the second sight that Dubious writes about? He says that black folk have both the burden and power of viewing the world from our own perspective, and the perspective of dominant culture.  I wanted my viewers to briefly encounter this phenomenon in preparation for my presentation, and to prime them for engaging with my work.