Black Gay And Lesbian Heroes Are Very Important

One of the reasons I started writing this blog is because I want to provide an alternative perspective to the Eurocentric mainstream gay culture. I definitely am not a spokesperson for black gay people so please don’t think that I am. I am simply one gay black man, providing my perspective and views about the world. I am no leader or expert. I am a controversial, assertive, and outspoken man.

I used to visit mainstream gay blogs only feeling empty, very bored, restless, and yearning for more. I decided I had to start my own blog to claim my space and let my voice be heard. I don’t subscribe to just going with the flow I am an independent thinker. I also wasn’t impressed with the pernicious racism on some of the mainstream gay blogs. I decided instead of just complaining about life,I’m going to take action. I want to make a difference in my own way. I know I cannot save the world but I can provide my perspective and arguments on my own blog.

On my blog ,I have the control nobody can censor me. I was thinking to myself the other day who are my heroes? The black gay and lesbians that inspire me are too many. I decided today I am going to salute a few of the incredible black gays and lesbians that have made a difference in this world.

I remember during my undergraduate days one very important course I learned a lot from was introduction to Women’s Studies. I love Introduction to Women’s Studies because I learned about different forms of feminism. Feminism is not against men. In fact, feminism is i against homophobia, class privilege, racism, health care racism, and institutionalized discrimination and many more.

I recall reading about the black lesbian feminist group the Combahee River Collective and and intrigued with their work. One of the founding members of the Combahee River Collective was Barbara Smith. The Combahee River Collective is a very important black lesbian feminist organization. Barbara Smith is also one of the editors of the groundbreaking book “All The Women Are White All The Blacks Are Men But Some Of Us Are Brave”.

“All The Women Are White All The Blacks Are Men But Some Of Us Are Brave” was published in the year 1982, this book is still very relevant. Recent racist comments by white heterosexual mainstream feminists such as Geraldine Ferraro and Gloria Steinem highlight the racial and cultural divide. The Combahee River Collective state black women cannot divorce themselves from the black race and just think about gender. Barbara Smith, Gloria T Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and other black feminists state race, gender, class, sexual orientation are inextricably linked.

I think the book “All The Women Are White All The Blacks Are Men But Some Of Us Are Brave” is such an important book especially right now. The media refuses to engage in a dialogue with the public about the racial and cultural divide in the feminist movement.If you read the book you will know the reasons why it does exist.

For example, Naomi Wolf is a mainstream pop culture feminist she’s just a businesswoman. I have read Naomi Wolf’s work in the beginning of her career the “Beauty Myth” is an important book. However, I began to read more of Wolf’s work and realized she is an elitist. Wolf may receive mainstream approval from Oprah but when I listen to Wolf I cringe she is less relevant to feminism these days. Naomi Wolf doesn’t care about black women or about people of colour. I prefer to read the works of bell books, Patricia Hill Collins, and Barbara Smith because their work puts theory into context.

Some white feminists focus only on gender and ignore race and class. Some white feminists refuse to acknowledge their role in discriminating against people of colour, their white skin privilege, and benefiting from the marriage market to powerful white heterosexual men.

Essex Hemphill is very important to me. I recall during my undergraduate days I read his incisive and incendiary book “Ceremonies”. Hemphill opened my eyes to the hidden oppression black gay men endure in North America. Although I am not African American I am a black gay man.

I was able to feel Hemphill’s pain when he discussed the hypocrisy of the black heterosexual community about homophobia. Hemphill also discussed a very important issue the ways in which black gay men are treated as sex objects by a hostile and very racist white gay male community. Television shows such as Queer As Folk are a perfect example of this bigotry. On Queer As Folk, the only time black men are on the program is during an intense sex scene. Black gay men are depicted as bodies and not as three dimensional and complex people. Queer As Folk is such a disservice but I am not surprised by the deleterious racism and sexism against black men on that program.

Audre Lorde is another black lesbian activist I love! Lorde’s book “Sister Outsider” is a black feminist classic. Lorde highlights the issue of the “Mythical Norm” which is the white, thin, Christian, heterosexual male. “The Mythical Norm” has the ultimate power in society and the white Republican party and the white Christian right are perfect examples of this. Lorde also wrote about the fallacy of the “Global Sisterhood” in feminism. Lorde says that feminism needs to be real about racism within the movement.

Patrik Ian Polk may be young but his incredible television show “Noah’s Arc” is so important to me. Ian Polk took the initiative and transformed pop culture. Thank goodness for Noah’s Arc and thank goodness black gay men we are no longer on the sidelines or in the back row we are in the front row! The issues that are important to black gay culture emerge and thank goodness for that! Black gay men we are no longer in the shadows in pop culture. Patrik Ian Polk has a huge role in demonstrating black gay men we fall in love, we have friends, jobs, careers, families, difficulties, just like everyone else.

Finally, I was able to see people that looked like me that are black and gay fall in love. Black gay love is so important and Noah’s Arc is a groundbreaking television program. I wish Noah’s Arc was able to reach a larger black heterosexual audience though. Why isn’t Noah’s Arc on BET or MTV? Viacom is the parent company for BET and MTV so I don’t see why Noah’s Arc can’t be returned to television. For a very long time I have yearned to see black gay men in love with each other.

Patrik Ian Polk’s television show Noah’s Arc, shatters a lot of cultural, racial, and social barriers. The program does not ignore gay racism which is rampant in the North American gay communities. Black gay men we are presented as comfortable with our sexual orientation and our racial identity. We are not depicted as licentious sex objects but as real people. On Noah’s Arc, the black gay men are cognizant of the black issues. Some black straight people think just because black gay men we are gay we lose our blackness and that is false. Noah’s Arc also explored issues important to the black gay community. I can’t wait for the Noah’s Arc movie to come out this year!!!

Langston Hughes is also a gay black hero but he was reticent about his homosexuality due to the pernicious homophobia of the black heterosexual community. Hughes poetry has dealt with homoerotic themes. The poems such as joy, desire, cafe 3am, waterfront streets, tell me, young sailor all deal with homoeroticism. The writer Faith Berry also wrote a biography on Hughes and discusses the fact Hughes loved black men and he had a Jamaican lover. Arnold Rampersad also wrote two memoirs about Langston Hughes and he admits Hughes was indeed a homosexual. Hughes is a major inspiration to me because he was a black gay male writer he also believed in black activism and human rights.

Lorraine Hansberry is a black lesbian icon and she was an amazing playwright. The heterosexual black media always discuss Hansberry’s play “A Raisin In The Sun”, refusing to acknowledge Hansberry was also a black lesbian. Hansberry also concealed her lesbianism during her lifetime she encountered multiple layers of oppression. Black women encounter racism, sexism, and also homophobia. Hansberry wrote for the lesbian publication “The Ladder” in the 1950s. Hansberry is known for her electrifying play “A Raisin In the Sun” yet the public doesn’t know she was also a black lesbian.