December 12, 2014
Jonah Thompson
Year of Graduation and Concentration; affiliation with Spectrum Center:
University of Michigan class of 2012. Graduated from the School of Music, Theater and Dance and the College of Engineering with a B.S. degree in Performing Arts Technology, Sound Engineering Concentration.
I’ve been affiliated with the Spectrum Center since transferring to the University in 2008, first as a student organizer and throughout my college days as a student activist. These days I work most closely with SC through the programming we’ve been building to increase community partnerships between local youth communities and college campuses.
What you’re currently doing
I work at The Neutral Zone, which, as our mission states, is a diverse, youth-driven teen center dedicated to promoting personal growth through artistic expression, community leadership and the exchange of ideas.
I serve in multiple capacities in my role here. In one aspect, I’m part of the Music Programs team where I manage our full service music recording studio which is available to both teens and members of the local community. I also manage the sound equipment in our concert venue and teach weekly studio and live sound classes for the youth who frequent our space. They take this time to develop their own skills as audio engineers, emcees, musicians, and producers for other programs like concert booking and promotion, DJing, and our Youth-Run Record Label.
The other aspect of my role is to serve on our community leadership team. It’s hard to quantify exactly what that entails into a single description - the best I’ve been able to wordsmith is “LGBT* Advocacy and Programs Coordinator”
In this role, I’ve been an adult advisor for one of our flagship programs, Riot Youth. Riot Youth is a program that has grown over the years to hold a space for some incredible statewide, youth-driven community organizing and activism, as well as to serve as a space for teens to come and find community and solidarity with their peers. Our goal is to create a living, ever-adapting space where intersectionality and authenticity are more than dialogue topics - they are our lived values. I also consult with schools and other youth-serving organizations across the state both with regards to queer youth advocacy and student-led initiatives on all fronts.
How does your identity play a role in your current activities/work?
I first came into contact with the Neutral Zone as a student at UM. I was trying to start a program that would create opportunities for intergenerational mentorship between college students and high school students. I think I was impressed to do this because when I was 16 years old I met a man who became like a father figure to me. He was the first person I ever met who was queer, black, and had strong ties to both cultural and spiritual communities. Most importantly, he was at peace with who we was. It was the first time I met someone who was like me, or at least like I wanted to be. It might seem silly, but I honestly didn’t think that people like me could ever find peace. I thought that having the identities that I do would inevitably leave me fractured or having to choose between parts of myself. To this day, this man has been a mentor and unfailing friend to me, and in some ways his example has saved my life. I figured that there may be others experiencing what I did, so that’s why I decided to create a space for intentional connections across generations in our community, and that’s how I started working with youth.
Biggest challenge you’ve faced after graduation
Parenting :) My partner and I have a child and it’s incredible how it completely changes your life. It’s like, one day, your life is a certain way, and then you look up a few years later and you realize that the way you think, the way you see the world, everything, is completely different. The things you buy at the grocery store… the things you watch on tv… the number of little league baseball games you go to… the songs that get stuck on your head… and perhaps most importantly the way you view other people and how you need to humble yourself to realize that what works for you may not work for everyone. I think sometimes in our community it can be really easy to think that our personal learning curve and our narrative is paramount, and that we can easily overlook the ways that we can wind up perpetuating the very parts of our environment that have been harmful to us. My family has taught me a lot about suspending assumptions and what it really means to fight for the freedom of myself and others, even when they are different from you.
Advice to current U-M students
One of the most challenging things I faced as a student was accepting that I wasn’t a machine and accepting that I have limitations. It was kind of taken out of my hands in some ways, because the emotional and mental toll of hiding my identity as a transgender man pushed me to the point of needing to take a break from classes and student organizations. I came face to face with the fact that if I didn’t take the time to be healthy and accomplish the deep work that was my personal life, nothing else, not grades or even activism, would be able to sustain me.
Practice resistance, resilience, and reciprocity. Resist oppression and systemic issues that try to silence and remove people like us. Be resilient and stand strong, because self-advocacy is incredibly important, but can also be so draining. Reciprocate, because the only way to continually give of yourself outwardly is to have an equally continual inward flow of whatever gives to you.