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
For 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
It'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
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 Collectionmore than 200
Birthright: To Dance
Men 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
Terrance 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
Grief 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
i'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
My 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.
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
Many 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
Mr. 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
For 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.
The 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
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 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-Long
Terror in Atlanta
The 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
“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"
"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
I 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.