Eppchez Yes (ey/em/eir) served as a QVS Fellow from 2014-2015 at Philadelphia FIGHT’s Institute for Community Justice. Eppchez, who grew up in New England Yearly Meeting, has remained in Philly since eir QVS year to follow leadings as an artist and organizer.
One of Eppchez’ projects as a playwright and performer, Publik Private, is available in film form to stream for free through the end of June. This bilingual feature length work tells the stories of two historical gender-nonconforming people La Monja Alferéz (the lieutenant nun: a violent conquistador) and The Publik Universal Friend (a quaker-born self-proclaimed prophet of the second great awakening). Through Clowning and puppets Eppchez’s character of the Darb reflects on queerness and whiteness in the Americas at these distinct locations in time and place. If you watch the film be sure to poke around all the various other goodies on the website.

Eppchez’s work centered on gender justice also includes eir ongoing project for gender-affirming wearable art, Darb Garb. Darb Garb currently provides services such as extending tiny pockets in pants labeled as women’s, adding pockets, shoulder modifications, general mending and whimsical packers. Ey is working on developing more comfortable alternatives to chest binders. And experiments with sustainable materials like upcycling plastic bags and kombucha leather. Darb garb also takes commissions and does consultations with gender expansive people needing to be held in their journey. 

Eppchez is especially eager to share about a new organizing effort ey’re embarking on under the leadership of Black Visioning Group working for housing reparations in Philly. The patreon ey run to support rent for The Earlings, combines a transformative fundraising model and wealth distribution for the Black activist-artists living communally with Eppchez. Ey is creating a supportive community of white and/or wealthy people committed to reparations for black and indigenous communities. These folks will help to hold each other accountable to anti-rascist goals and actions they commit to and develop creative strategies for mobilizing themselves and their networks.

 

What else is on the horizon for Eppchez?

Eppchez continues to write and make theater and music. Ey is steady in eir work with Friend’s General Conference (FGC), pushing the organization to stay accountable to their stated priority of becoming “an actively anti racist faith community.” In the near future Eppchez plans to pursue training as a spiritual companion in order to better serve as a doula for people on the journey of gender transition and people seeking to step more fully into anti-racist/racially reparative action in their lives.

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