Yes Virginia there are Queer African Americans....
So, on Monday I went to this town hall meeting on the Southside about the concerns of the Black Queer community. One of my co-workers told me about it, it was co-hosted by HRC and I guess it was a follow-up to one that was held about a month ago. Now for me to get to the South Side is quite a hike, and I don't know where the hell I am (like that part is any different from when I'm on the Northside right?), but I had to go. I mean if I am going to meet other Black people who want to be OUT and talk about that and having a visible presence in the wider community, then hell yeah, I have to go to that.
So we go and talk about these different areas, political activism, community service, youth service, and violence AND everyone has come to the same conclusion...to CHANGE things, people have to know you are there. Guess what sweeties, no-one knows that we are here. The mayor's LGBT guy said something that was very true about this whole situation "He said something can be common knowledge without being public knowledge." People know that there are Black LGBT people, but since so few of us are out and in the public, it's not like that is the image that is in the public mind for someone who self-identifies as gay or queer.
Just to be around other people like me, it was reminiscent of the conference. It felt like a way to sustain the things a learned and felt there on a regular basis. SO, I would like to keep going to these meetings and to get involved in this, for me...not just through my job, which is how I get connected to a lot of things.
So we go and talk about these different areas, political activism, community service, youth service, and violence AND everyone has come to the same conclusion...to CHANGE things, people have to know you are there. Guess what sweeties, no-one knows that we are here. The mayor's LGBT guy said something that was very true about this whole situation "He said something can be common knowledge without being public knowledge." People know that there are Black LGBT people, but since so few of us are out and in the public, it's not like that is the image that is in the public mind for someone who self-identifies as gay or queer.
Just to be around other people like me, it was reminiscent of the conference. It felt like a way to sustain the things a learned and felt there on a regular basis. SO, I would like to keep going to these meetings and to get involved in this, for me...not just through my job, which is how I get connected to a lot of things.