Practising Care Without Permission: Ballroom, Kiki, and Collective Survival

A part of Black History Month 2026, a public lecture exploring how people learn to take care of one another when support is uneven or unreliable will take place at The Guild on February 15 from 7–9 pm.

Drawing on doctoral research with Black queer and trans communities, Vincent Mousseau focuses on care as something practised over time through relationship, attention, and shared responsibility.

The lecture centres ballroom culture as one place where these practices have been developed and passed on. In these spaces, care is learned by showing up, staying through difficulty, and responding to what others need in the moment. Introducing the idea of speculative care, the lecture invites listeners to notice how care already circulates in their own lives and communities, often quietly and without formal recognition.

Presented by the PEI Transgender Network, BIPOC USHR, The BlacQ Collective, PEERS Alliance, Pride PEI, and the Black Cultural Society.