Essays
Speech presented at the 9th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on 11/20/09
by Brooke Adams
Good evening. It is deeply humbling to have been asked to speak here tonight. When Kick was asked to join in the planning of this year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, without hesitation I volunteered to attend the meeting. Kick is the agency for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender African-Americans and we have had discussion regarding how to be more inclusive and reach out to the transgender community. Needless to say, the invitation to join in the planning was right on time.
Change
by John Malone, Ed.D.
On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected as the 44th president of the United States. The next day, I found myself really excited about the possibilities of change (Obama’s central campaign premise and platform) and a better way of living for all people regardless of age, sex/gender, race/ethnicity, faith tradition, language, class or socioeconomic status. After only an hour at work, we were called into an emergency meeting with the Founder/CEO of the agency.
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Why Are So Many Mid-Life Gay Men Getting HIV? Another Perspective in Layman Terms
by Anthony Howard
Although we, in society, should respect those that have been taught to researc h and study the mind and actions, cause and reactions of human beings; we also should challenge the thought as well to make sure that Doctors are not preparing a way to introduce a new drug therapy for the pharmaceuticals. Let me explain. What is rampant in gay culture? Obsession with beauty, the need and desire to fit in, random expressions of sex and sex partners, and not becoming old.
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Stitching Together the Red, Black, Green and Rainbow Flags
by Kimya Afi Ayodele, BSSW, LMSW, ACSW
Now, make no mistake about it; I am also a short, fat (yes, I said it, because I embrace the wonderfully bold truth of the word), dark skinned, wide nosed, nappy headed (I said that, too), mother, daughter, sister, and aunt and African Lesbian who loves and lives in America. I have been told that I have what is now being “nicely” termed “multiple identities” or “not-so-nicely” termed, “triple jeopardy.” I am equally proud of all these attributes, characteristics and roles and, thankfully, I am not alone.
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If Life Springs from Birth, Healing is the Single Mother of Progress
by Terry Howcott
I take the mission of engaging our delicate Black Same Gender Loving predicament with profound seriousness. My pores and mind are open and affection-ready. My initial brainstorm is to wrap the reasoning of my text around a host of issues. My thought-tentacles travel along the fissures of my memory of good times and generational excellence.
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Nobody but us: Saving our own lives from black homophobia
by Todd Shaw, PhD
About a year and half ago, when the prospect of same-gender marriage in America seemed like a possibility, there were many in the L-G-B-T community who were encouraged. Well, what a difference an election makes, huh? Derrick Bell, who is a courageous, black, law professor at Harvard University, and gay ally, once wrote a book entitled Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. To be sure, there are many of us in African-American L-G-B-T communities who feel that this past November’s presidential election confirmed that both institutionalized homophobia and racism are here to stay given President George Bush’s reselection upon a rising tide of anti-gay loathing.
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