Collected Item: “Zola Zakiya Bruce Oral History, 2022/10/12”
Title
Zola Zakiya Bruce
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Zola Zakiya Bruce
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?
#activist, #artist, #bdsm, #Black, #COVID+, #genderqueer, #healthcare, #meditation, #NewYork, #nonmonogamous, #nonprofit, #partnership, #pleasure, #queer, #sexwork, #socialwork, #unemployment, #vaccination
What is the format of your recording?
Video
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.
USA, New York, New York City
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.*
they/them
What is the age of the interviewee?
45 to 54
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.*
Black Indigenous Trinidadian
Describe the oral history.
Some of the things we discussed include:
The importance of participatory research; sex workers as researchers, rather than the object of research.
Living without shame.
Being an activist; entering the field of bdsm sex work while living in Germany.
Having moved back to the USA from Europe 2 years before the start of the pandemic; itching to leave.
Comparisons between socialized healthcare in Europe and forprofit healthcare in the USA.
Residing in New York City but visiting family in Nashville when the pandemic hit; population density and safety.
Being separated from a partner, who was in the Dominican Republic when the pandemic hit; staying connected long distance.
Teaching self defense before the pandemic.
Teaching about consent.
Collecting unemployment; trying for weeks to get ahold of anyone and waiting on hold for hours.
Changing careers during the pandemic, becoming the Director of Communications for Sex Workers Project.
Financial barriers to education in the USA.
Insurance and “free” covid tests.
Nonmonogamy during a pandemic, safety boundaries.
The continued stigma of associating monkeypox with queer people and sex workers; identity based vaccine access.
Marginalized people being hit the hardest by the pandemic.
Catching COVID, paxlovid.
The overlap of trans* asylum seekers and sex worker populations.
Creating a documentary about sex workers as healers, Sex(ual) Healing (2021).
The pandemic disconnecting people from their bodies.
The difficulties of organizing sex parties as things open up, COVID safety measures.
Looking forward to moving away from the USA, family planning for a future in the Dominican Republic.
Other cultural references: District 9 (2009), Outbreak (1995), George Orwell’s 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror, “Survival of the fittest”, Deepak Chopra, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, adrienne maree brown’s Pleasure Activism (2019), overturning of Roe v. Wade, FOSTA, New Fest, Berlin Porn Festival, Post-porn film festival, New York LGBT festival
See also:
https://swp.urbanjustice.org/2020/09/09/zola-z-bruce-mssw-new-york-ny/
https://oldprosonline.org/zola-z-bruce/
https://swp.urbanjustice.org/sexual-healing/
https://watch.eventive.org/outfestla2022/play/6234e53f7469fb00db59c4b6/6219b5b259cb1c00296ca96a
https://pornfilmfestivalberlin.de/en/film-2022/sex-work-porn-shorts/
The importance of participatory research; sex workers as researchers, rather than the object of research.
Living without shame.
Being an activist; entering the field of bdsm sex work while living in Germany.
Having moved back to the USA from Europe 2 years before the start of the pandemic; itching to leave.
Comparisons between socialized healthcare in Europe and forprofit healthcare in the USA.
Residing in New York City but visiting family in Nashville when the pandemic hit; population density and safety.
Being separated from a partner, who was in the Dominican Republic when the pandemic hit; staying connected long distance.
Teaching self defense before the pandemic.
Teaching about consent.
Collecting unemployment; trying for weeks to get ahold of anyone and waiting on hold for hours.
Changing careers during the pandemic, becoming the Director of Communications for Sex Workers Project.
Financial barriers to education in the USA.
Insurance and “free” covid tests.
Nonmonogamy during a pandemic, safety boundaries.
The continued stigma of associating monkeypox with queer people and sex workers; identity based vaccine access.
Marginalized people being hit the hardest by the pandemic.
Catching COVID, paxlovid.
The overlap of trans* asylum seekers and sex worker populations.
Creating a documentary about sex workers as healers, Sex(ual) Healing (2021).
The pandemic disconnecting people from their bodies.
The difficulties of organizing sex parties as things open up, COVID safety measures.
Looking forward to moving away from the USA, family planning for a future in the Dominican Republic.
Other cultural references: District 9 (2009), Outbreak (1995), George Orwell’s 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror, “Survival of the fittest”, Deepak Chopra, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, adrienne maree brown’s Pleasure Activism (2019), overturning of Roe v. Wade, FOSTA, New Fest, Berlin Porn Festival, Post-porn film festival, New York LGBT festival
See also:
https://swp.urbanjustice.org/2020/09/09/zola-z-bruce-mssw-new-york-ny/
https://oldprosonline.org/zola-z-bruce/
https://swp.urbanjustice.org/sexual-healing/
https://watch.eventive.org/outfestla2022/play/6234e53f7469fb00db59c4b6/6219b5b259cb1c00296ca96a
https://pornfilmfestivalberlin.de/en/film-2022/sex-work-porn-shorts/
On what date did you record this oral history?
2022-10-12T13:34