I am E.N. West, but my friends call me E and y’all can too. My pronouns are they/them and/or my name, E. I really believe that “we are uninhibited when we know our power” and I’m committed to working in community to ensure as many people as possible recognize the power they have and then direct that power toward collective liberation. I’m often accused of doing the most, which is true, I definitely do (working on doing less!), but at the heart of all the things I do, is community organizing.
I am originally from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, specifically Alexandria, Virginia (and have deep love for my hometown!) but I started calling the other Washington home four years ago when I moved to Seattle. I moved to Seattle because I really deeply believe that everyone should move away from their hometown (if they’re able), and I originally thought it would be a cute pit stop before I went to graduate school elsewhere, but…despite getting into graduate school in 2018, I ultimately decided to stay in Seattle and give up going to grad school, because the work I was looking to learn how to do in grad school was manifesting before my eyes right where I was.
Outside of my community work (I am a co-director at a reproductive justice organization, and an organizer working with faith communities on equitable land stewardship), I enjoy getting in my body through boxing, biking, running (currently training for a 10k race), and practicing calisthenics. Much like everyone else in the Pacific Northwest, I also really love the outdoors (despite being allergic to everything outside, in my case), and enjoy hiking, shooting, lounging at the (preferably, nude) beach, and more recently, backpacking as well.
1. What do you think the world will be like in twenty years?
– I think the world will certainly still be a floating rock hurtling through space. That thought is grounding to me.
– I think human beings within the world will have become increasingly more tribal, with varied results. For some, this will be a return to truly communal living, while for others, it will be a retreat into fear and scarcity (or perceived scarcity) induced hyper-individualism.
– Read the Parable series by Octavia Butler. I think the world, and I can only speak for the Western world I know, will resemble the events foretold in those texts. I’d highly encourage everyone who’d like some direction for life moving forward to study those texts religiously.
2. You’re given $20,000, how would you spend it?
So, because I am a practical visionary for my own life (read: planner) I would put $5k into savings, and $5k into investments. A good amount would also go into the fund I am slowly growing toward buying land in the woods and building a tiny house on it, which is one of my dreams. The rest would go back into the community. I currently try to give 10% of my income each month between charities and GoFundMe’s or random asks for help that come from community, so in keeping with that percentage, I would donate $2k back to community.
Now for the less virtuous spending: Because I am a Taurus and can be extremely indulgent when I have the resources, a good chunk of it would go into buying “toys” (like an electric bike or a foldable kayak) and another chunk would go into sustaining bougie habits, like getting hair cuts more often than once a month, and expensive facials.
3. What’s something you know now that you wish you’d known when you were 12?
As my college freshman year roommate put it, “gay is OK.” (Yes, that is literally how she said it to me. That statement changed my life).
4. Scroll back through your phone and describe the 5th last image to us.
E.N. West is a Black person with brown skin that is glowing in the sun and curly, coily hair. They are standing in front of an outdoor chalkboard and speaking to an audience. They are wearing a black and light blue shirt that reads, “Think Outside My Box” and holding a white and blue megaphone that they are speaking into. They wear a gold cross necklace around their neck.
5. Where do you hope to be ten years from now?
In 10 years I will be 36. I anxiously await my 30’s because I think they will be excellent. With this optimistic perspective in mind, I hope to be on the aforementioned land in the woods in my completed tiny house by then. I love a big wraparound porch, so I hope to be seated on my porch, ideally in a rocking chair, because I also love rocking chairs (I have spent a lot of time in the American south, it has a big influence on my taste!) I hope to either be surrounded by lots of people I love, having a grand ol’ time, drinking our favorite bevvies with fireflies or some other cute bug flitting about, or if it is a more lowkey evening, kicking it with someone I love, who I envision right now as my current romantic partner. I imagine the night being alive with the hum of nature around us, but super quiet compared to the city. I imagine feeling very content in the moment and being very happy overall.
6. Who are the two people most important to you?
This is a really hard question. Because I am at my childhood home right now visiting my parents for the week, I will choose the safe, cop-out answer and say, my parents.
We have gone through many hard times in our relationship with each other, as a family unit, and between myself and each respective parent (and there are certainly more hard times and conversations to come), but I literally would not be here without them (though, if given the chance to go back to the moment of my conception, I would urge the egg to choose a different sperm and save my spirit the toil of earthly living).
Anyway, I digress. I do believe my parents have done their best by me and I am a good fruit of their tireless labor. They also gave me more solid genes than not solid genes (great eyebrows? Thanks parents! History of heart disease? Boooo) so overall I think I’ve got a good shot to hit 69 years old, which is my ideal age to live to at this point. I could go on, but for tonight, they will get the “Most Important People” award.
7. What is one thing that you’re really proud of?
I am proud to have successfully completed the campaign for gender-inclusive housing at my undergrad. I did not do that alone, so I want to shout out the decade of queer and trans-led student organizing that preceded the efforts of me and my comrades, but to this day, I still glow with pride at being a part of that effort. Even though I have been involved with other campaigns and efforts since, I would characterize that one as my first win, and maybe that is why it is the sweetest.
8. What’s the queer / dyke scene like where you live and what’s one thing you’d change about it if you could?
I will be honest, with the pandemic raging on, it is hard for me to say I have a finger completely on the pulse of the queer/dyke scene in Seattle. It feels weird to speak to it without things at a place I would consider normal (though, I probably should release the idea of any kind of normal at this point).
That said, a general thing I would change about the scene which applies to the larger culture of Seattle, is this: I would completely erase white entitlement to Black, Indigenous, and people of color spaces. That is an issue I have witnessed and grapple with in Seattle, that I have never seen or experienced in any other place I’ve lived in or frequented. Folks of color in Seattle really have to spend a lot of energy ensuring that white people do not attempt to be in our spaces, when we should just be able to create our spaces and rest well, knowing that white folks will mind their business and not try to be in our space. I think it’s the very white demographics of Seattle that make this a thing, but it needs to end because it really is big colonizer energy. Not everything is for everybody – and that is okay!
9. What does the butch identity mean to you? And how did you come to align with it?
I wrote about what butch identity means to me in my feature for the print edition of Butch Is Not A Dirty Word (also available digitally! Buy it now!) But recently I have been thinking about the aesthetics of butchness and how I have always gravitated toward them. When I think about the aesthetics of butchness, here are a few examples: White tank tops and t-shirts with black pants. Black leather jackets. A solidly constructed boot. A well-worn and loved denim jacket, often with patches. Chinos. Letterman jackets. Fisherman beanies. A dusty shadow across the upper lip. Visible tattoos. Motorbikes or trucks. Ring of keys, obviously.
This is a non-exhaustive list, but it describes many baseline aesthetics of butch identity that I love. I came to align with them over time – the black leather jacket I got for Christmas at age 13 remains one of my prized possessions 13 years later, while I have only begun to 100% lean into my natural hairiness and cultivate a butch-stache of my own in the last year (with a little help – shout out Minoxidil).
All this to say, the more I take up space to fully be me – and give absolutely zero fucks in the process – the more I align with being butch. I would have it no other way.
