02/16/2019
On Monday, January 21, 2019, several members of Brick City Collective (BCC) were featured on Ian Burrowes’ “Our Community Talk” radio show. The Collective connected with Mr. Burrowes and his radio show after meeting him at a local poetry event. After speaking to him about our involvement in and dedication to Newark’s art and activism, his sharing of his mission to create a community talk radio show for Newark-neighbor East Orange, and discussing similar local and national political and social concerns, we agreed to be guests on his show. The show was shared on Mr. Burrowes’ personal and radio talk show Facebook via Facebook Live, and allowed for guest-listener interactions.
During the show, Mr. Burrowes, BCC, and other show guests discussed several issues, including the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - as it was the national honoring of his birthday - classism and the lasting effects of socioeconomic inequities in the Newark, East Orange, and neighboring cities, the racist foundation for this inequality, the recent kidnappings of children at the border by the current administration, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and how we, as a Collective, not only share work that speaks to and reflects Newark, but collaborate with local artist and activists to create a network of change as well. The Collective also had the opportunity to share some of our pieces with the audience, and spotlight any of our upcoming events/publications. At the end of the show, both Mr. Burrowes and Brick City Collective agreed to potentially meet again for another show.
On a recent post in his personal/radio talk show page, Ian Burrowes shared an article from The Telegraph titled “Boys can have periods too, children to be taught in latest victory for transgender campaigners” and added a notably transphobic and trans-erasing caption that spoke to his belief that trans identities are not rooted in science and “truth”, and therefore should not be taught in schools. After one of BCC’s cisgender members responded to this post in attempts to educate Mr. Burrowes from a second-hand perspective, he responded with a justification that this matter was a “political conversation and not a scientific one” - equating it to Trump’s rhetoric about climate change - that “there should be no such thing as transboys or transgirls,” and ultimately declared this was an agree-to-disagree situation that would be better put aside to “unite us.”
While Brick City Collective aligned itself with many of the topics addressed on the radio show on January 21st and with those posted on his personal and radio talk show page regularly, we absolutely denounce these comments made by Ian Burrowes about the trans community. Brick City Collective’s mission is to advocate for all underrepresented and underserved communities through our work and activism. We do not align ourselves with any of Mr. Burrowes’ ideologies on this matter and therefore, will not be working with him any further. We also commit to vetting - even more heavily - the individuals, organizations, and platforms that we collaborate with to best guarantee that they share our mission, ideologies, and commitment to serve.
With love,
Brick City Collective
