قمر יוחנן (Qamar Yochanan/they/them) is Black, transgender, Jewish, a NYU-TSOA Drama alum, a Marsha P. Johnson Institute recognized organizer, and an emerging transDisciplinary Torah artist. After 20+ years in interpretative arts, they debuted as a creator in March 2021 with Q-Stage: New Works Series. They specialize in taking ancient Jewish texts and re-embodying them in their Black trans origins. You can view their current work IMMERSION: a multimedia performance art collection on their transition from Islam to Judaism on Kofi. This year, Yochanan was awarded a Creative Impact grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. They are also an Audie 2022 finalist for their voice acting work on their first audio book Kacen Callender's SUNSET SPRINGS, a Black queer-trans romance. Other finalists include Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
Yochanan is a former member of the Minneapolis Transgender Equity Council and the Minneapolis Arts Commission, appointed by the US’s first out Black trans electeds Phillipe Cunningham and Andrea Jenkins. In March 2020, they spearheaded a fundraiser that awarded almost $3K each to ten Twin Cities Black trans and/or Native 2S artists. Yochanan is studying Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic at the Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages in their year-long inaugural programme and will be attending the Middlebury Hebrew Immersion in summer 2022.
Yochanan is a former member of the Minneapolis Transgender Equity Council and the Minneapolis Arts Commission, appointed by the US’s first out Black trans electeds Phillipe Cunningham and Andrea Jenkins. In March 2020, they spearheaded a fundraiser that awarded almost $3K each to ten Twin Cities Black trans and/or Native 2S artists. Yochanan is studying Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic at the Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages in their year-long inaugural programme and will be attending the Middlebury Hebrew Immersion in summer 2022.