Marvellous Grounds: Queer of Colour Formations in Toronto edited by Jin Haritaworn, Ghaida Moussa & Syrus Marcus Ware

Toronto has long been a place that people of colour move to in order to join queer of colour communities. Yet the city’s rich history of activism by queer and trans Black, Indigenous, and racialized people (QTBIPOC) remains largely unwritten and unarchived. While QTBIPOC have a long and visible presence in the city, they always appear as newcomers in queer urban maps and archives in which white queers appear as the only historical subjects imaginable.

The first collection of its kind to feature the art, activism, and writings of QTBIPOC in Toronto, Marvellous Grounds tells the stories that have shaped Toronto’s landscape but are frequently forgotten or erased. Responding to an unmistakable desire in QTBIPOC communities for history and lineage, this rich volume allows us to imagine new ancestors and new futures.

About the Editors

Jin Haritaworn is an Associate Professor at York University, focusing on issues surrounding Gender, Race, and the Environment. Holding a PhD in Sociology from London South Bank University and a master's degree in Gender & Ethnic Studies from Greenwich University, Haritaworn's work intersects queer theory with critical race studies, urban studies, and the intricacies of transnational gender sexuality studies. His research examines the landscapes shaped by racial colonial capitalism, particularly the celebration and pathologization of marginalized communities. Haritaworn has authored and edited several impactful publications, including the books Queer Lovers Hateful and Biopolitics Mixing. A noted scholar in queer color formations, his research highlights collaboration within queer trans Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities. Haritaworn actively supervises graduate students in the Gender, Feminist Women’s Studies, and Social Political Thought programs, fostering critical dialogue on social movements and biopolitics.

Ghaida Moussa is a scholar, educator, and dj, who is passionately drawn to creative articulations of resistance, identity, memory, and space. She holds a bi-disciplinary Master’s degree in International Development and Global Studies, and Women’s Studies from the University of Ottawa. She is currently undertaking her Ph.D. in Social and Political Thought at York University in Toronto, Canada. The past couple of years, she has been devoted to translating anti-colonial notions onto dance floors, thinking through “home” in the cracks between anchored locations and collective memory, and practicing pedagogy from the heart in the classroom and in alternate spaces of education.