Feature: Prisoner in Paradise - An Interview with Assata Shakur

Assata Shakur

On May 2nd, the FBI added JoAnne Chesimard, aka Assata Shakur, to its Most Wanted Terrorist List - the first woman to be so disignated - with a $2 million reward for her capture. Following is a 2005 interview with Shakur by journalist Evelyn C. White.
- Editor.

Assata Shakur writes in her poetic 1987 memoir, "Assata: An Autobiography," her name means "she who struggles" and the "the thankful."

Although she has been exiled in Cuba for nearly two decades, the former JoAnne Chesimard continues to fight by speaking out against inequality and oppression.


Read the interview
By Evelyn C. White


The Color of Sex: Queer People of Color on Film

Black Film

Despite the quantum leap that Queer film making has taken over the last decade, there are still some subjects which have proven difficult, if not impossible, for Queer filmmakers to address adequately.

Read the article
by Karl Bruce Knapper


FEATURE: ALICE WALKER
ON COMING OUT

Alice Walker

"I feel very strongly that as soon as you find something new and wonderful about yourself, you should just tell your people.

To the people that we love, I think the greatest gift we can give is to be who we are, as we find out who we are, right or wrong.

That is the greatest gift
."

Read the article


HOLY HATE

Holy Hate

Why is sexuality and sexual conformity the focus of so much attention by fundamentalist forces?

A possible answer is that people making individual choice appears as a challenge: autonomy, especially for women, is seen as a threat.

Read the article
by Anissa Helie


Waiting to Exhale

Palm treeHopping on a plane, that's partly what it takes to live a full Lesbian life that does not include little talk boxes on PC screens, and late night phone sex with some drippy chatroom queen.

But don't get me wrong, there are lots of Lesbians here in Jamaica.

Read the article by Andreena


BLACK CUBA

Black Cuba

PHOTOS
BY RICK GERHARTER


A Talk With Sean Reynolds

"I would "hope" to be like Walter Mosley. He crafts a novel very well. My writing is more like Chester Himes. He was very funny given he was such an angry man. I certainly have my edge of anger."

Read the article


Lesbian Stepmoms

This article is a salute to those moms. The ones who have no legal rights but have given their time, their money and their love to help raise our kids.

Read the article
by Ta'Shia Asanti


THE GOLDEN GATE JUMP

GOLDEN GATE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The Golden Gate Bridge celebrates its 75th Anniversary this year and from the start people have used it to committ suicide.

Here's one story.


ADVERTISMENTS

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African-American film industry from Negro Leagues Baseball Museum RareWire~~In honor of All-Star week, buy the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum app at a special price of $1.99 and help support the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's goal of honoring the All Stars and everyday players of the Negro Leagues
the beginning of cinema to the time when Hollywood became truly

Dark Trilogy: Dominion RAF MultiMedia *African American Sci-fi thriller that will keep the reader on the edge of his seat as the genre of non-linear fiction is manipulated to provide a roller-coaster ride of racial tension, emotional overload, and terrorist and socio-political agendas


High Times and Medicine

Dennis Peron 

An interview with Dennis Peron and Mary Rathbun: the Godparents of Medical Marijuana.


Is The Black Gay man Ready for Marriage?

Recent news accounts pertaining to same-sex marriage would seem to indicate that our nation's leadership appears nervously restless during this holiday season.

However, one question will remain constantly in my thoughts: Is the Black, Gay man really ready for marriage?


Read the article by
K. Godfrey Easte
r


In Style: 1982

Fashion

Illustrations and text by Michael Busby


The Politics of Assimilation: Blacks in San Francisco

Randy Miller

"Black leaders here have spent their energy around assimilating," says Randy Miller, a Washington, D.C. native who moved to San Francisco in 1989.

"The question that Black Gay men and Lesbians are grappling with is, 'Does having a White lover call into question your commitment to Black Gays, working on a Black Gay agenda, and participating in the Black community?"

Read the article


 

FEATURE: HOW DEEP
IS THIS OCEAN?

Frank Ocean

Up until fairly recently, few Gay men outside those into hip hop knew who Frank Ocean was.

That changed in July when the 24-year-old posted an open letter about being in love with a man and for many young Black Gay men Frank Ocean became their hero and role model.

But is he ready for that role?

Read the article


Hip Hop Homie-sexuals

Rainbo Flava

Read the article by
Steven G. Fullwood


Feature: June Jordan
"What about that?"

June Jordan

In 1997 poet and author June Jordan was a featured speaker at the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum's 10th Annual Conference in Long Beach, California.

During her speech Jordan spoke of one of her early Lesbian experiences and how she met the woman she fell in love with.

Read the article


FEATURE
POMO AFRO HOMOS

Pomu Afro

An interview with the original members of the ground breaking group.


Rethinking Sexual Roles

Sex Roles

Perhaps this subject is not readily discussed or written about-at least I've not seen or heard it mentioned with any real intellectual or psychological insight--but I am currently exploring the possibility of a relationship with someone whose sexual preference conflicts with my own.

Read the article
by Eric Nicholson


Straighttrippin'

DDC

lifting masks off the faces/since way back in the days
when hip hop was about poplocking, samples and storytellin'
my belly is swelling no respect for resurrecting introductory lessons
verses as discriminatory as standardized test-es-es
but never the best-es-es
...

Read the poem by Deep/dickcollective


To Be Gay In Cuba: An Interview with Tomas Fernandas Robaino

Tomas Fernandez RobainaCuban machismo requires that men play traditional male roles in sexual, social and political environments. Particularly in the sexual role, the man must be "active" role. If he's thought to be "passive," then he will not be considered a "real" man- by popular opinion.

Read the article
by Steven G. Fullwood


FEATURE
Chicago After Dark:
Dunkin Donuts

Dunkin donuts

In the heart of downtown Chicago sits one business with two identities. The Dunkin' Donuts on State and Lake streets is a place where workers in the Loop, the city's business district, and tourists stop to grab a quick snack.

However, when the sun goes down Dunkin' Donuts becomes a mecca for the city's Black Gay teenagers.

Read the article
by Ryan Lee


Black Lesbians In The Corporate World

Corporate lesbians

Who will catch me when I fall?

As one advances in education and financial status, it seems that the things that made you feel secure in the past change. You and your homegirls aren't as tight as you once were.

Read the article
by Hadiyah Malaika


Blacks in Cuba

Orisha

The Babalao priest escorted me through an open courtyard to a back room, where he used shells, rocks, and coins to chant softly and speak to the Orishas.

Which one was guiding my life, he asked them in an indecipherable language. Was it Shango, Elegula, Oshun?

Read the article
by James McKissic


SF Pride Festivals

SF Pride Weekend

2012 Transgender March & The 2012 Dyke March

2011 DYKE March

2010 Trangender March

2010 Dyke March


2009 Transgender March


2009 Dyke March


2008 Dyke Marc
h

2008 Transgender March


2008 Soul of Pride


The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Celebrate 30


Feature:
Doing it on the DL

The DL

There aren't many spaces where we can be ourselves and bring all that we are to the table - even with one another. Men on the DL are no different.



Read the article
by Quentin Johnson


Living For Today

Diamond Starr

My birth name is Danny Lynn Green. I was born September 14, 1964 in Grenada, Mississippi and as far back as I can remember I was always a girl.

I realized I was different around the age of three when I tried to cut off my penis because none of the other little girls had one.

Read the artice
by Diamond Starr


 

Harlem

Harlem was the Black Metropolis and during the 1920's, the home of the "New Negro". The "new" Black man and woman exploded on the scene stressing the importance of ethnic identity, heralding a new day when Blacks would have and wield power.

Read the article by Garth Tate.


James Baldwin Comes Out

James BaldwinFor the first time in his career, novelist James Baldwin openly identified with the Gay community by addressing more than 200 persons at a forum sponsored by The New York Chapter of Black and White Men Together (BWMT-NY).

Read the article by James S Tinney


Investing in African American Art

Romare BeardenIt's critical that we begin to control more actively the market for works by African American artists.

A strategy for achieving this requires that we talk about it, support it with our presence at Art openings and buy it.

A strategy for achieving this requires that we talk about it,

Read the artice by Thurlow Evans-Tibbs


Alston Visit one of the great collections of African American art:


 

 

 

A strategy for achieving this requires that we talk about it,

Fpenly identified with the Gay community by addressing
The Evans-Tibbs Collection
more than 200


Birthright: To Dance

BirthrightMen dancing with each other was not new to me, but in America only a certain segment of the male population did so. This was something different, something new, and I was not aware of my place in the scheme of it until the Nigerian student who had invited me asked me to dance.

Read the article by g.r. Adams


BGMTerrance Mitchell
Damballah
Burton Clarke

Max Smith
Mark Haile
Issac Julien
Kobena Mercer
Rupert Kinnard
Bob Williams
Miles K. Bell
Lee Wharton
Dodger Freeman
Brandy Moore

Perhaps this subject is not readily discussed or


Homocide

Essex HemphillGrief is not apparel.
Not like a dress, a wig
or my sister's high-heeled shoes.
It is darker than the man I love

Read the poem by Essex Hemphill


yeah baby

Adrian Stanfordi've been approached, followed, waited for, hung onto, and groped by all those staid white queens that don't like colored boys



Read the poem by Adrian Stanford

Ready for you

PassionMy body
is ready to love with yours
with all the strength, energy, and
versatility I need.
And you ask if I am ready for you?

Read the poem by Andre Ramseur


BABY, YOU'RE A S.T.A.R.

S.T.A.R.

In the early 1970s a radical group of Drag Queens formed in the aftermath of Stonewall and called themselves STAR: Street Transvestite Action Revolutionary.

Their chant was: Go Left! Go Gay! Go Pick Up The Gun!

The photo by Ron Simmons shows STAR members at one of the first Gay conferences ever held: Gay Pride 1971 - in Albany, New York

STAR members (l-r) unidentified, Miss Pixie and the original Black diva: Marsha Johnson. Marsha was a founding member of STAR:

photo copyright Ron Simmons


Bisexuality

BisexualsMany of us have heard people describe themselves as "Bisexual" rather than "Gay" or straight. What does that description imply and how do bisexual people explain their "middle-of-the-road position?

A strategy for achieving this requires that we talk about it,

Read the article by David Richardson


Nigger for the 80s

Ben VereenMr. Vereen, his face blacker than usual, and his lips painted thick and "plantation white," let everyone know just what he thought Black America's role in the 1980s should be. Under the pretext of paying homage to Bert Williams, Mr. Vereen "shucked and jived" until surely Martin Luther King spun in his grave.

Read the article by Adrian Stanford.


Interracial Intentions

I think most Gay people have a hard time understanding interracial contact because they are skeptical about the intentions of those involved. I don't pretend to speak for all Gay White men but I have thought a lot about my interracial intentions and I'll share some of these thoughts with you.

Read the article by Chasen Gaver


Cliques

BlacklightFor some, the clique is the only means of escape from a life of boredom, frustration and loneliness. Many people do not possess the physical, social or economic attributes which would permit them to exist on their own among Washington's Black Gay community, for the name of the game is acceptance.
For some, the clique is the only means of escape from a life of boredom, frustration
Read the article by Don Cotter


A history of the Gay movement in Washington, D.C.

Melvin BoozerThe early years of Gay activism in Washington must be traced back to at least the founding the Mattachine Society by Franklin Kameny, who was fired from his job with the federal government in 1957 because he was homosexual.

After fighting his case unsuccessfully to the Supreme Court, he became interested in founding a group in Washington with the encouragement of the Mattachine Society of New York.

Read the article by Melvin Boozer


An Interview with Melvin Boozer

It is not good to be Black, Gay and closeted. That person becomes a zombie, not part of the living. As long as we are hiding, we give up energy, integrity and strength. It appears to be the second-best solution. I feel it is imperative to be visibly Gay.

Read the interview by Sidney Brinkley


Under Grace's Hat

Grace's Hat Hello again, dear friends. Grace knows it's Summer, but were you ready for Spring!? Well, the men were O-U-T.

Goodness! Have you seen what's been hiding under those big, bulky, winter coats? Well, Miss Spring brought them out! Off came the coats, gloves, sweaters, and Devil only knows what else, and out came-the men!

Read the article by Grace


An interview with Andrew Young

Andrew YoungAndrew Young is not just another Black politician, and his election was more than just another milestone on the road to the "new" South. Young has been a voice of conscience not only in the civil rights struggle, but in the creation of a new national vision.
He spoke against the loss of life in war overseas, and the waste of life in caside. And while he Read the article by Larry Bush.


Homophilia Semantics

There is semantical irony in a title for an organization bearing the phrase "Black Gay." This irony is intelligible only when we look at the political etiology of the two words in the phrase.

"Black" rose out of the Black Power/Black Muslim movement. The Black Power Movement, with its machismotic Carmichaels and Cleavers locked homosexuals into closets. But that treatment was generous compared to that of the Black Muslims.

Read the article by Dr. Charles Drake-Lon
g


Terror in Atlanta

Atlanta childrenThe terror in Atlanta caused by the murder of 20 Black children since July 1979 has spread at a cancerous pace, striking the families and friends of the victims, threatening an entire generation.

But perhaps the real terror is the fact that it took over one year from the time the first body was discovered before Atlanta police and city officials would admit they had ignored the early warning signs of a mass killer.


Read the article by Deborah Art


The Other Side of Love:
Planning for the breakup

other side of love“You may not want to think about the possibility of your relationship ending at a time when it is beginning, that thought would be a wise precaution. The fact is, the failure rate among Gay couples is even higher than among straight couples...”



a time when it is beginning, that thought would be a wise Read the article by Donald Bush


Asian/Pacific Islander Gays & Lesbians in SF:
"Politicizing Our Identity"

Dino Duazo"In the Philippines certain aspects of Gay culture are more tolerated," said Dino Duazo whose family came to America when he was a young child.

"The stereotyped effeminate Gay man is a part of society. However, a butch Gay doesn't make any sense. They don't equate that with the Gays they see. They think its a passing thing."

Read the article


For The Love Of You

Orville DouglasI always knew that my father was suspicious of me since, compared to my older brother, I was never the "good son."

I never dated or talked about girls. I didn't watch sports or engage in athletics.

I was a loner and isolated myself from my family whenever I returned home from school.


Read the article
by Orville Douglas.