Liberating Masculinity

Join facilitators Matthew Johnson Harris, Jorge Fontanez, and Rev. Benjamin Perry for a dedicated cohort of men and masc folks who want to explore masculinity together. Each month, we’ll cultivate vulnerable and tender space where we can be honest and support one another in love. Through collective investigation, we hope to help participants deconstruct the kinds of toxic masculinity so many of us inherited, birth healthier masculinities, and hold each other accountable to doing what we can to dismantle patriarchy.

This group is open to anyone who identifies masculine-of-center, and is informed by queer theory in the ways we understand and talk about gender. But we are also intentional about holding space for cisgender men.

The focus of each month’s gathering will be decided in community, to best serve the group.

Click here to register and receive Zoom information!

Facilitators:

Matthew Johnson Harris is a performer, director, and choreographer in New York City. He rovided choreography for Tituss Burgess’ “Take Me To The World – A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim” at Carnegie Hall, and is currently in rehearsals for a Soul Train musical! He is also the creator and director of the Mosaic Concert Series at Middle Collegiate Church. The concert series raises funds and awareness for different non-profits or organizations that represent the marginalized. Past performers have included cast members from the Broadway’s Kinky Boots, Frozen, Wicked, The Color Purple, Beautiful, Carousel, Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, and many more. He also serves as a core instructor at The Alvin Ailey Extension where he teaches Theatre Dance and Hip Hop.

Jorge Fontanez is CEO of B Lab U.S. & Canada, part of a global network focused on realizing stakeholder capitalism and whose global mission is to create an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative future benefitting all people and the planet. Jorge’s career has been in pursuit of achieving racial equity through economic equity. In 2015 he founded Marca Studio, an independent strategic marketing consultancy serving entrepreneur founders of color in their early-stage ventures, as well as purpose-driven brands, nonprofits, and foundations. Jorge designed a course on Stakeholders & Marketing and lectures at the Bard MBA in Sustainability Program. He also serves as an advisor to the NYU Center for Sustainable Business and Pacific Community Ventures, and since 2014 he has been a First Mover Fellow of the Aspen Institute Business & Society Program.

Rev. Benjamin Perry is Minister of Outreach and Media Strategy at Middle Church. An award-winning writer, his work focuses on the intersection of religion and politics. His writing can be found in outlets like The Washington Post, Slate, The Huffington Post, Sojourners, Bustle and Motherboard and he has appeared on MSNBC, Al Jazeera, and NY1. He is the author of Cry, Baby: Why Our Tears Matter, which will be published by Broadleaf Books in May, 2023. He holds a degree in psychology from SUNY Geneseo and a Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. He is the editor of the Queer Faith photojournalism series, and helped curate an art exhibit by the same name. He is a passionate advocate for building Church that lives into God’s blessed queerness. His two proudest achievements are skydiving with his grandmother and winning first prize in his seminary drag show.