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NEWS
‘Orange is the New Black’ star addresses UNCA campus
Photos by Jorja Smith - Photography Co-Editor
Lavern Cox, known for the Netflix original series “Orange is the New Black,” spoke to UNC Asheville on March 4 in Lipinsky Auditorium.
Laverne Cox draws large crowd, answers students ’ questions
Valerie McMurray
vrmcmurr@unca.edu - Staff Writer
Laverne Cox, a performer and
activist who appears on the Netttix
original series “Orange is the New
Black." proudly introduced herself as an
African-American, transgender woman
to a packed Lipinsky Auditorium.
"1 stand before you an actress and an
artist and a daughter and a sister, and
1 believe it’s important to name the
various intersecting components of my
multiple identities because I am not
just one thing and neither are you," said
Cox, who comes from a working class
background and was raised by a single
mother.
Cox spoke in Lipinsky Hall on
March 4, attracting a largely youthful
audience who know her as her character
on “Orange,” Sophia Burset. The
series served as her breakthrough role
to mainstream media, although she
appeared on the reality TV show, “I
Want to Work for Diddy" in 2008 before
producing and starring in her own reality
show. “TRANSform ME,” for VHl.
Cox shared her painful background, a
lifetime of bullying, name-calling and
shaming, for her authentic expression of
womanhood. She is quick to relate her
own struggles to tho.se of LGBTQ people
nationwide, people of color and the
feminist movement of the 20th century,
which she said was transformative for
her during her college years.
Her speech, entitled, “ Ain’t I a Woman:
My Journey to Womanhood,” draws
from the womens’ rights perspectives
that empowered Cox to transform her
physical appearance into the woman she
said she always knew she was.
Cox summarized what she took
from the works of Bell Hooks, Judith
Butler and Simone de Beauvoir as a
college student in NYC years before her
physical transition into a female-bodied
person.
“One is not born a woman, but
becomes one, and the one who becomes
a woman isn’t necessarily female, and
ain’t I a woman? Sojourner Truth spoke
those iconic words, ’Ain’t I a woman,’ at
an entirely womens’ convention in 1861
in the context of the women’s liberation
struggle that suggested that she wasn’t
really a woman because she was black.”
Moreover, she emphasized, those
feminist figures paved the way for the
movement Cox herself joined to fight
for the rights of transgender people,
before she had accumulated the star
power she more recently began to enjoy.
She recounted the stories of transgender
victims of sometimes fatal hate crimes,
as well as their daily fight for safety, job
opportunities, representation and legal
rights.
Brennen Hubbard, a senior
and president of UNC Asheville’s
Underdog Productions, said Cox’s
experience with LGBTQ issues and
intersectional identities motivated her
team to bring Cox to campus, which
involved pooling resources with the
Feminist Collective and Alliance and
pitching offers to Cox’s managers to get
UNCA on their tour roster.
“The great thing about this event is that
it was relevant to all students, not just
LGBTQ-identified people. I think that
it’s important for student organizations
to serve as advocates for all members of
the student body,” Hubbard said.
During an exclusive Q-and-A session
prior to her speech, Cox discussed
her current social justice project, a
documentary called “FREE CECE”
which is currently in fundraising to be
produced; its Indiegogo campaign has
raised more than half of its $55,000 goal
and will continue through March 29.
“FREE CECE” focuses on a
transgender woman who believes she
is wrongly incarcerated for the stabbing
death of a man who attacked her without
provocation in 2011. The film, told
through the voices of Cox and Cece, will
also discuss treatment of transgender
people in the prison system.
Harper Spires, a 20-year-old junior
political science student at UNCA,
said students got a chance to discuss
with Cox how issues of racial diversity
and intersectionality play out at UNCA
at the Q-and-A.
We talked about advocacy and
inclusion on campuses. Intersectionality
is often an issue, because people aren’t
really aware of all the things that go on
in the lives of trans people,” Spires said.
Spires said when thinking about
LGBTQ issues, the “T” often lags
behind, because it’s not discussed
alongside gender orientation, class or
race issues.
“People were saying that the
admissions office could do a better
job of pulling students of color from
Asheville High and Asheville Middle,
which is something we’ve been talking
about during the chancellor search,”
Spires said.
Cox also gave advice to Alliance
leadership about including transgender
voices in their advocacy work.
Cox’s other recent tour dates include
Harvard University, Brown University
and the Facebook Headquarters in San
Francisco, among others. Cox also said
she is in the middle of writing a memoir.
Her appearance at UNCA coincides
with the campus celebration of
Women’s History Month, including
the March 27 performance of the core
ensemble’s rendition of the musical
theater piece also called, “Ain’t I a
Woman.” It includes a diverse selection
of African-American music, from
spirituals to jazz to classical, and pays
tribute to Sojourner Truth, Zora Neale
Hurston, Clementine Hunter and Fannie
Lou Hamer.