I was present for an electric event last night as the Ryerson community hosted spoken-word artist Carlos Andrés Gómez.

Here’s part of their promo:
An intimate evening with spoken word artist Carlos Andrés Gómez as he comes to Ryerson for a special intimate performance that looks at what it means to be a ‘good man’ in a world where ‘masculinity’ is confined by the narrowest of definitions. It will also be an exploration of the powerful and beautiful things that can define manhood and the permission to be the best versions of what they can be.

The hosting community included The Ryerson White Ribbon Campaign, the Ryerson Hip Hop Union, United Black Students at Ryerson, V-Day at Ryerson, Come Unity, and was one of 20 upcoming events organized by The Ryerson December 6th Memorial Committee.

The evening started off with Jeff Perera telling the story of the December 6th Montreal Massacre, while reminding us that we too are on a University campus that also has engineering classes in a time when violence (in all its forms) against women is still a daily tragedy 20 years later.

After performances from V Tran, Neree Smith, and Boonaa Mohammed, Carlos weaved his room-filling stories and poems with audience conversations. We talked about dignity, beauty, courage, cycles of violence, tears, fathers, Trey Anthony, fighting, Juan Valdez, genocide, and making a difference.  Carlos was comfortable and genuine with all the topics and had a response to the daily tests we have in witnessing our inner and outer violent acts.  Carlos’ response to the question: “can one person make a difference?” was “every person makes a difference – what difference are you making?”

The event was called ‘Behind the Masc’ and here at MASC magazine, I’m proud of the work we’re doing and community we’re building.  Check out the Facebook group Looking Forward with 20/20 Vision: A Future with No Violence against Women for more events including the upcoming A Walk To End Violence Against Women this coming Thursday (October 1).

A big thanks to Carlos and all those who organized and attended this precious event.

*****

Paul is studying to be a high school teacher so that he can continue his work of looking at media and masculinity, while actually getting paid.