Collected Item: “Kirsten White Oral History, 2021/04/08”
Title
Interview with Kirsten White of LILIM
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Kirsten White
Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.
kheintzman@gmail.com
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
#antifa, #art, #artist, #BLM, #Canada, #DougFord #essentialworkers, #feminist, #heavymetal, #houselessness, #meditation, #movies, #music, #musician, #OHIP, #Ontario, #pansexual, #protest, #queer, #Toronto
What is the format of your recording?
Audio
In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*
she/her
What is the age of the interviewee?
35 to 44
How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*
White
Describe the oral history.
Self-description: “I’m a pansexual, white, female, colonizing Toronto. I’m a commercial producer and a psychotherapist in training. I also play hardcore and metal music, and front two bands in that genre. I’m a staunch feminist and a supporter of antifa, and love all living breathing things.”
Some of the things we spoke about included:
Grateful that there is socialized healthcare in Canada, while remaining aware of the inadequacies of OHIP (socialized healthcare as it exists in the province of Ontario): poor mental health coverage and prejudice in the greater medical system
Doug Ford’s provincial management of the pandemic and physicians’ public responses to Ontario policy (https://www.ontariofamilyphysicians.ca/news-features/family-medicine-news/~161-An-Open-Letter-from-the-OCFP-AFHTO-and-NPAO-on-PPE-in-Primary-Care-During-COVID-19)
A pre-pandemic experience of taking care of someone who didn’t have access to post-hospital care
The busyness of pre-pandemic life: long hours and global travel as a producer, night classes in the field of mental health, and playing shows on the weekend
New pandemic norms: spending more time with a dog, taking up meditation
Being partnered with an essential worker in construction: new depths and details of communication about day-to-day activities, getting COVID testing before seeing one another
Distance from family
How habits like washing hands have come to feel more normal, fear of the outside, and desensitization
First learning about COVID through social media
Protesting the Toronto encampment evictions of houseless people and the experience of protesting during a pandemic
Queerwashing and Blackwashing
Releasing an album, Weighted Ghosts, in June 2020 and giving proceeds for donation
Defunding the military/police
That prior experiences of violence impact responses to the pandemic, hypervigilance
Other cultural references include: Outbreak (1995), Contagion (2011), Mazlov’s hierarchy of needs, Settlers of Catan
See also:
https://www.kirstenawhite.com
https://lilimto.bandcamp.com/music
https://exclaim.ca/music/article/lilim_weighted_ghosts_album_review
https://rss.com/podcasts/bandecdotes/319984/
https://prettyboyto.bandcamp.com/music
Some of the things we spoke about included:
Grateful that there is socialized healthcare in Canada, while remaining aware of the inadequacies of OHIP (socialized healthcare as it exists in the province of Ontario): poor mental health coverage and prejudice in the greater medical system
Doug Ford’s provincial management of the pandemic and physicians’ public responses to Ontario policy (https://www.ontariofamilyphysicians.ca/news-features/family-medicine-news/~161-An-Open-Letter-from-the-OCFP-AFHTO-and-NPAO-on-PPE-in-Primary-Care-During-COVID-19)
A pre-pandemic experience of taking care of someone who didn’t have access to post-hospital care
The busyness of pre-pandemic life: long hours and global travel as a producer, night classes in the field of mental health, and playing shows on the weekend
New pandemic norms: spending more time with a dog, taking up meditation
Being partnered with an essential worker in construction: new depths and details of communication about day-to-day activities, getting COVID testing before seeing one another
Distance from family
How habits like washing hands have come to feel more normal, fear of the outside, and desensitization
First learning about COVID through social media
Protesting the Toronto encampment evictions of houseless people and the experience of protesting during a pandemic
Queerwashing and Blackwashing
Releasing an album, Weighted Ghosts, in June 2020 and giving proceeds for donation
Defunding the military/police
That prior experiences of violence impact responses to the pandemic, hypervigilance
Other cultural references include: Outbreak (1995), Contagion (2011), Mazlov’s hierarchy of needs, Settlers of Catan
See also:
https://www.kirstenawhite.com
https://lilimto.bandcamp.com/music
https://exclaim.ca/music/article/lilim_weighted_ghosts_album_review
https://rss.com/podcasts/bandecdotes/319984/
https://prettyboyto.bandcamp.com/music
On what date did you record this oral history?
2021-04-08T17:06