Cooper King
I work for Oxfam and centre my work on ending the injustice of inequality, as well as an archive dedicated to preserving LGBT+ books, newspaper, and more. (They/he pronouns)
Location Edinburgh
Activity
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Cooper King made a comment
This course has been incredibly useful as a learning resource. It was well researched, backed up with solid examples at every point, and had us hearing from great changemakers. My only wish is to have had some face-to-face time, either to discuss with my peers who were working through this course, or the course instructors. As I was reading through our...
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Cooper King made a comment
I am very much in the stages of development and learning. Before I started this course I thought I was ready to lead change. Now I think I need to build more on my skills and knowledge so that I can protect myself and others, and approach in the correct way. It seems odd to me that I'm going away without starting change, but as the previous page said "Change...
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Cooper King made a comment
Time. Time is the biggest challenge right now. I don't want to put it off, but I truly feel I need to until I have a moment to be better prepared. I'm not stuck as much as I'm avoiding breaking things further at the moment, there's already broken glass around us.
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Cooper King made a comment
I plan on contacting people who have in the past been involved in change or have had the ability to and did not before. Regardless of the feelings of caution, something HAS to change for trans people. Bringing about change sometimes demands a move while the mud is still wet and dangerous to navigate, we can't afford to wait to have solid ground, and we can't...
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Cooper King replied to Hannah Hendry
This is such a great point that I have been considering myself! How many people would be our allies but simply don't have the time or accessibility to get there? I like that you've said podcasts, songs, interviews as well as books because I think there is a serious issue of academic gap and people get resistant if they think they are being talked down to or...
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Cooper King made a comment
I have noticed in the fight against transphobia what works is when cisgendered people speak up with trans people. When the people with power do so, when the people who have beliefs similar to those who are hateful but carry pro-trans beliefs.
Leaving it entirely to trans people hasn't worked. Getting angry or trying to show that one is hypocritical has not...
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Cooper King made a comment
I think some of my classmates have touched on a part of this that itches me a bit... I understand men have the power and targeting them is the way to make lasting change and knowing Oxfam I know there is work being done on the other side to actively empower the women in Zambia affected by domestic violence, but it feels a bit lacking on women's perspectives.
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I am ready to strategize!
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Cooper King made a comment
I am always motivated by a 'we' message. How can we work together? How can 'we' I think brings inherent feelings of collaboration. Sometimes though I see 'we' messages pushing colonial ideas, so I would like to work on the messages of we without putting the desires of 'I' and self-actualisation of the viewer too much into the forefront.
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Ah, I haven't seen the term head, hand, and heart in a long time! Ready to begin
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Cooper King made a comment
I saw a very similar chart this last week when I attended some Project Management training! Interesting link because I suppose projects are usually enacting change... just interesting thoughts here
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Cooper King made a comment
Appealing to them. Getting to know them just a little bit personally. Being able to tailor why this change is relevant to them specifically helps immensely because by default we as humans tend to narrow in on our own personal lives. For example, I spoke with a woman who did not believe transgender people have the right to transition. By appealing to her...
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Cooper King made a comment
I believe self-preservation, openness to learn, and empathy/passion are the most important characteristics of changemakers, leaders.
As Nwabueze said before me on this discussion, a leader has to stay alive, has to take care of themselves before they can move forwards and make change. I think I am good at that, but could improve as I gain more experience....
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Cooper King made a comment
I love the quote from Audre Lorde on self-preservation. It's so important to protect each other and ourselves. Another by her comes to mind... ''I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.'' By using these preservation tactics and careful, systematic actions towards change, we can be deliberate and be the changemakers we are hoping to be. I am inspired by my peers,...
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Cooper King replied to Jo D
And the end stages too! I've noticed sometimes we will be consulted in the beginning but then by the time the project goes to conclusion our contributions have been taken out. We can avoid this for our collective work by having a consultant there for the entire process.
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Cooper King made a comment
Everyone should take 'Nothing about us, without us'. For example, with my lived experiences find it makes things more difficult when people think they know about trans people or disabled people without asking us. They make decisions without us and cause us to have to work harder to make change that could have been fixed if we were consulted in the first place,...
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Cooper King made a comment
Working with others is extremely important. One example that came to mind is the entire Unions movement, collective action shared by a group that still benefits us today. We would not have weekends without unions.
I also think about one of my local community Co-operatives... They have bought a building where people can live for cheap, they have a shop that...
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Cooper King made a comment
I think I will work smaller. It's easy to get caught up in going after the huge systems only, and feeling hopeless in return. Making change happen in any of these systems of power for trans and queer people is essential.
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Cooper King made a comment
That's a lot of questions, but I can see that my change goal has a lot of need for all of these forms of power. Power over and Visible power are the legislations, the strong arming and physical threat of harm against trans people. Hidden power, invisible power, are the ideologies that pit trans people against women, that make it a battle 'for children', that...
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Cooper King made a comment
Power with, Power against, Power within, and Power over. This is partially influenced by the previous video but power is influence one has over a person or groups of people. Power with or together builds on how people can act and observe power as a group. Power against is how you have power to stand up against another power. Power within is the power you have...
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I love the point of a time to cry to balance out your own power, power is massive and I find sometimes after a good cry the world seems clearer and I'm ready to re-centre and work once more.
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Cooper King replied to Cooper King
@ThomasDunmoreRodriguez Of course! Patience and empathy I think go with the education aspect. There are a lot of people who do not think about transgender issues in their day to day, meaning some of the community (outside of the transgender community) will need patience and understanding in order to catch up.
Patience I think also is a good thing to keep...
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Cooper King made a comment
I'm playing a bit of catch up, but can't wait to see what's next!
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Reduce the impact against Trans people worldwide. Poverty, oppression, bodily danger. (Change goal)
Look into the mindsets that pit minorities against each other. Break down narratives like 'Women VS Trans' instead build on why those beliefs were formed and dig into them. --- Take these to the policies worldwide, see what can be done and what is already...
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Cooper King made a comment
I want to bring education and change to the narrative on transgender rights across the world. I want to build in the worldwide contexts of people in the community and help change the minds of those who find us abhorrent/campaign against us.
I plan to come from a simple, not too complex, global mindset. I want to incorporate each and every belief (from...
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I couldn't agree more! I was going to write something similar, but you have said it perfectly.
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Cooper King made a comment
I was particularly struck by two of the stories on love (or 'love' in heavy quotes in the case of domestic violence). One on same-sex marriage campaigns and the other on jealousy as a warning sign for control over another and domestic violence. I find it interesting how many problems in the world stem from romantic relationships or how the world views them....
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Bring it on!!
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Cooper King made a comment
Fear is a big motivator against change. Stories like these help, but I worry about the silenced stories of those trying to make change who find themselves killed and hurt... How do we protect each other while making change?
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Cooper King made a comment
I think a lot of my fellow classmates have articulated the difficulty in this exercise. We all see so much change we want to happen, but the way I'm going to think about it is what I can do now, what opportunities I have now.
I want to change the systems of injustices that are causing so many of these issues. Racism, Homophobia and transphobia, Misogyny,...
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@ThomasDunmoreRodriguez This is amazing, will check this out!
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Cooper King made a comment
'What's at stake' 'Our right to take risks and our safety is not our responsibility' 'This is not just about me alone' Wow. Powerful. I loved hearing the different points of view.. stories like these are important because the sometimes stakes are low for others who need to come on board. Communication and words are powerful tools to make change happen.
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Cooper King made a comment
What made me stop acting up was the threat it brought to my person (as a trans person) to do so... I saw a friend get doxxed for being trans. Would love to consider the ways as a group we can act up again.
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Cooper King made a comment
Change defines our lives-- Throughout life you are constantly changing as the world does around you... sometimes it is out of our control and sometimes it just appears that way because the concept is so large or time is limited. Like Climate Change... I think it intimidates people to hear that in many ways it is 'too late'... but some change has to be done or...
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Cooper King made a comment
I think by recognising the biases within myself I will be a better leader in change. I have had a lot of privilege, I am white, was raised middle class, American. But I've found people still see me as young and inexperienced, I'm struggling with migration and catching up from the nationalist American-centric teachings I grew up with, and I struggle to raise my...
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Cooper King made a comment
I have been a part of many different types of orgs: I volunteered at a food bank, I worked in a program that empowers women in music, I worked with local animal charities, raised money when I was a child after the earthquakes in Haiti.... I am a trans person navigating the world every day and I try to make change happen just one person at a time.
I want to...
