The Death of Our Spirits with Ry Sword Avola

For Little Death's first guest interview, I sit down with my friend and fellow disruptor Ry Sword Avola to talk about the ways they are grappling with death and grief in this moment - from the context of their own familial history, as well as their queer and trans chosen community. They share about the evolution of their spirituality and the curious connections that are made possible across time and space with their loved ones as they transition. We discuss the grief that comes in witnessing gruesome and violent images on social media and how digital spaces can create opportunities for both activation and social harm.

Ry Sword Avola (they/he) is an artist, facilitator, and organizer that helps develop and deliver social justice, emotional literacy, and healthy relationship education. Living on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations, Ry is a descendant of Scottish, English and Sicilian settlers. They currently work as a supervisor of a YWCA program called, Dating Safe, that provides healthy relationship and violence prevention classes to secondary school students. Ry also co-facilitates with an initiative called, Real Talk, that holds conversational spaces about dating and relationships for adults with cognitive disabilities. They have a BA in Social Justice and Peace Studies and an MA in Globalization and the Human Condition.