Who is Gabe Minson?
Gabe Minson (they/them) is an artist, thinker, fighter, occasional writer- and, elementally, an Akronite. Those most significant pieces are the cornerstone to 21 year old Gabe’s life, where they daylight as an administrative assistant (and artist behind the desk). Outside of work, their time is spent having a lot of conversations, serving food at distros, working on community projects, playing overwatch, doing yoga, and creating.
They live aspiring towards only one, non-professional, title: being a lifelong learner. Everything else comes from there.
Where to find Gabe:
*Gabe’s TEDxAkron Talk will be shared here and online once ready for the public. But if you want to be there to see it live on Saturday, September 13th at 2pm at the Knight Stage, get tickets now!
TEDxAkron Q&A with Gabe:
Q: What do you love most about working/living in Akron?
Everything. My favorite part of Akron, period, is how it’s a microcosm of Everything. It’s a real functioning small-sized city, but with segments of suburbia, and rolling fields of rurality. It’s BEAUTIFUL in a way that truly can’t be understated; city views and gorgeous architecture spanning so many generations, but also insane topography, wildlife, even our Akronite’s own gardens…Our parks & protected lands (MetroPark shoutout) are just one of our amazing offerings; there’s also the crazy amount of library branches, a wide spanning selection of great education options at every level, the access to city clubs and close-by beaches, and more than anything else: we have our communities. Our people. Really bright things grow & thrive wherever they can in Akron. That’s how we have so much that blooms- we find a spot that works for us and dig our roots in. If you look deeply in Akron, you can find anything.
Q: What do you think you’re most known for, and what might surprise people the most about you?
Most Akronites my age know me for doing art, since I graduated from Firestone CLC’s Akron School of the Arts (℅ 2022). But as I’ve stepped more into the city community and out of just my peer group, I’ve found I’m also known by my last name- not Gabe, but Minson… descendant of Art Minson; aka Mr. East Akron. My great-grandfather, memorialized in mural form on S. Arlington St, was a community servant who lived a storied life in our beautiful city, and did a lot in his time to support it (especially its black community). I’m lucky to have his legacy. Many of my peers may not know of his history, or that I’m a 4th generation Akron resident. And only my closest friends know I love astrology (and I’m a Scorpio, born from two other Scorpios :3).
Q: Where are places in your life (especially in Akron) where you feel like you're always "shaking the rules" a little bit?
I invariably shake rules in who I am- and it’s contrast to my presentation. Being true to myself comes with a lot of contradictions that I would never be willing to give up. I live extremely femininely presenting, even female-passing, with a male name and a male voice. I’m non-binary, trans, and queer, black and white - seen as a black woman on sight, but with my being in so many worlds… None of them truly distills me down. Who I am is entirely removed from the binary our world is shackled to. I will never fit those rules. Never want to, either.
Q: What's your favorite quote or mantra and why?
I’ve never had a particular favorite, and this question didn’t help me pick- too many are a favorite, words touch too many parts of the heart. But a quote that rings hard in my chest lately: “You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time” - Angela Davis.
A reminder that hope keeps the goodness in good work…because good work IS hard work- just for a good cause. But hope eases the harshness of even the hardest to bear, and I keep it close to me in the worst of times.
Q: What is the one thing you’re looking forward to the most as a future TEDx speaker?
I haven’t looked forward to much more than the TEDx event itself ! The only thing more exhilarating than the fact that I get to do this, is the fact that years removed from it, I will always have it to look back on. This event is something special to me. I am so excited to have this opportunity to be daring. I am so grateful I’ve been given this chance to practice saying yes to huge things, then growing to meet the challenge. This is the coolest thing I’ve gotten to do in life so far- and I just can’t wait to see it in hindsight.