Che Gossett

Che Gossett is a trans femme writer, scholar, and archivist. They have written extensively on black and trans visibility, black trans aesthetics,  racial capitalism,  and queer, trans and black radicalism, resistance and abolition.

Early life and education
Gossett grew up in Roxbury, Massachusetts with their twin, Katlin and their sibling, activist and filmmaker Tourmaline. Their mother was a union organizer and their father was a Vietnam War veteran and former member of the Memphis-based activist group, The Invaders.

Gossett attended Rafael Hernandez Elementary School and Nativity Preparatory School as a child, and attended River's Country Day High School before ultimately graduating from New Mission High School. As a teen, Gossett participated in youth conferences and HIV peer education.

After graduating from high school, they attended Morehouse College and graduated with their BA in African American studies in 2003. Gossett also received an MAT from Brown University in 2004, and an MA in History from the University in Pennsylvania in 2010. They received their Doctorate in Women's and Gender Studies from Rutgers University in 2021.

Publications and Lectures
They have published their writing in Trap Door: Trans Cultural Production and the Politics of Visibility, Death and Other Penalties: Continental Philosophers on Prisons and Capital Punishment, Transgender Studies Reader, The Scholar & Feminist Online, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Frieze. Gossett has lectured and performed at The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1, Whitney Museum of American Art, New Museum and A.I.R. Gallery.

From 2014 to 2022, Gossett served as the Community Archivist and Student Coordinator at the Barnard Center for Research on Women.

In 2023, Gossett joined the Pacific Northwest College of Art at Willamette University as a Scholar in Residence and graduate seminar instructor in critical race theory. They also serve as the Associate Director for UPenn's Center for Research in Feminist, Queer, and Transgender Studies.

Fellowships and awards

 * Visiting Scholar, Oxford Centre for Life Writing (2023)
 * Gloria E. Anzaldúa Award from the American Studies Association (2014)
 * Sylvia Rivera Award in Transgender Studies from the Center for Gay and Lesbian Studies at the City University of New York (2014)
 * Martin Duberman Research Scholar Award from the New York Public Library (2014)
 * 2017-2018 Queer Arts Mentor
 * Helena Rubenstein Fellow, Whitney Museum Independent Study Program (2019-2020)
 * Racial Justice Postdoctoral Fellowship, Columbia Law School (2021)
 * Art Journal Award for Distinction, College Art Association (2022)
 * Ruth Stephan Fellow, Beinecke Library, Yale University (2022)
 * Animal Law and Policy Program Fellow, Harvard Law School (2022)