Black Nations Queer Nations?

“Black Nations/Queer Nations? will create
an environment for collective discussions
across our diverse communities.
BNQN celebrates our commitment to the
Struggle and empowerment of gay, lesbian,

bisexual, and transgender people

of African descent.

lesbian and gay
sexualities
in
the
African

diaspora

CLAGS
THE GRADUATE CENTER OF
THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

MARCH 9 - 11, 1995




ay /bisexual / transgender people will only enrich

the victory all the sweeter.

— Elias Farajaje-Jones



CONTENTS

Letter from BNQN Planning Committee
Statement of the Conference

Letter from CLAGS

Sponsors

General Information

Cultural Opening

Conference Events Day I

Conference Events Day II

Plenaries

Workshops

Cultural Events Listing

Plenary Participants Biographies

BNQN Committee, Credits, Thank you’s

Resource Directory

10> SISO oe f&

12
13
15
16
26
30
35
39


Dear BNQN Conference Participants,

Welcome to Black Nations/ Queer Nations?- Lesbian and Gay Sexualities in the African Diaspora—a
working conference. We are excited about your participation in and contribution to this exceptional
endeavor For the next two days, you will be part of a gathering that will shape debates around race,
gender, sexuality, and sexual practice well into the next century. We hope we have created the con-
ditions for a “working conference.” We encourage you to make the most of your time with the orga-
nizers, workers, students, artists, intellectuals, scholars, and everyone else committed to the strug-
gles of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer people of African descent. Through plenaries,
roundtables, work sessions, and cultural expressions, we hope to situate the struggles and achieve-
ments of lesbian and gay communities throughout the African Diaspora; to interrogate what the
emergence of lesbian and gay sexualities means historically and contemporaneously; to contest any
unitary narratives of “Black” or African, diasporic identities.

We hope our work over the next two days will lead to concrete organization and action. We invite
and urge you to attend and participate in as many conference activities as possible. BNQN Planning
Committee members will be available to you throughout the conference. Approach any of us with

questions, suggestions or concerns.

On Saturday at 6:00 p.m , after the final roundtable, join all conference participants, speakers, and
session leaders for the Wrap-Up Session to help outline plans for the future.

We wish you a productive and constructive conference.

BNQN Planning Committee



STATEMENT OF THE CONFERENCE FROM BNQN ORGANIZING COMMITTE

The fact that we are here is an attempt to break silence and bridge some of the
differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence.
And there are so many silences to be broken.

Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider

LACK NATIONS/ QUEER NATIONS? is a working conference. Our work is to analyze the political,

economic and social situations of lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgendered people of African

descent. This conference comes at a crucial historical moment. Over the last decade the visibility of
our cultural work has blossomed, we have worked to build and solidify our own grassroots organizations, we
have organized against oppressions of many different kinds, we have fought for the right and dignity to live,
work and love. Not withstanding these gains we are still threatened by daunting challenges. homophobia, sex-
ism, racism, poverty, physical violence, unemployment and exploitative working conditions, moreover our
communities are being disproportionately ravaged by HIV/AIDS, cancer, and the inaccessibility of health care.
These threats are made more horrific by the growing power of the (not so) New Right, globally and in the
United States, xenophobia, and ethnocentrism,as well as the resurgence of many reactionary forms of national-
ism Given those realities we must challenge those forces which restrict our lives and threaten the survival of
our many communities.

The conference will function through a combination of roundtable discussions, workshops and video
screenings. Plenaries and roundtables will work to provide larger analytic and political frameworks, while
workshop sessions will allow for more focused discussions among conference participants.

In the opening plenary session we will explore the political significance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgen-
der or queer sexualities in the African Diaspora at this moment in history What does it mean to call ourselves
Black, and, or queer, or place ourselves within a ‘nation’ when we have always been seen as suspect, or when
nations are constantly being redrawn to exclude us. What are the tensions, limits and possibilities of this nam-
ing? What kind of ground does it provide for political organizing and political mobilization within and across
our communities? Workshop sessions which follow this plenary will probe these questions more deeply

In the second plenary we will focus specifically on the ways in which ‘queer’ identities evolve and present
themselves in aesthetic and cultural work. We will also examine the conditions under which we do cultural
work, the links between art and politics and the struggle for representation against oppressive images and
mythologies generated from the outside. What do race, gender, class and sexuality have to do with our imagina-
tion and the works we produce?

In the final plenary we will discuss the strategies for linking anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-colonialist and
anti-homophobic strategies in national and global liberation movements. How do we work through differences
in nationality as we build these global movements. How do we do global analyses while remaining grounded in
struggle where we are? Again, the workshop sessions will delve more deeply into these larger questions. We
will end the day with a discussion about how we mobilize beyond the conference, a discussion we have called,
“Which Way Forward?”

On the whole the conference is intended to provoke, stimulate, question and engage us all We view
BNQN as a place where we challenge ourselves and each other to break those silences of which Audre Lorde
speaks. We are using different modes of discussion papers, informal discussions, video screenings and caucuses
that will all move us in the direction of fulfilling the goals of the conference. First, we hope to facilitate neces-
sary conversations within and across different Black ‘queer’ communities in the African Diaspora and all com-
munities and peoples committed to social justice Second, we want to develop and solidify networks among
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people of African descent. Our third goal is to build a regional/nation-
al political structure that will allow activists from across the country to communicate and work together around
national and international issues, while at the same time providing regional coordination and solidarity around
more local issues.

There is a lot of work to be done during these two days. We know that we are up to the challenge.


Dear BNQN Conference Participants,

As the Director of CLAGS, The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, I want to welcome you to this path-
breaking conference, Black Nations/Queer Nations. Lesbian and Gay Sexualities in the African Diaspora. We
are excited to see such a wide range of scholars, activists, and artists come together to discuss strategies for

resistance and community-building as well as the challenges facing lesbian and gay people of African descent.

The history and culture of lesbians and gay men and their impact on society has long been ignored and
suppressed. Only recently have pioneering scholars, both inside and outside of universities, forged a critical
new field of inquiry- Lesbian and Gay Studies. Their work has forced disciplines ranging from anthropology to
literature, biology to art history, to reassess their theoretical and political groundings from the perspective of
sexual diversity. This, in turn, not only has impact on the way society thinks and responds to us, but also helps

us understand ourselves better

But oppression operates on many axes, and so it is vital to social change that we examine the interconnec-
tions of race, class, and sexuality in the systems that bind us. Committed to the principles of gender parity and
ethnic and racial diversity, CLAGS welcomes with much enthusiasm all of you who have gathered here this

weekend. We hope this conference proves stimulating, and we wish you well in your future work,

Martin Duberman

Executive Director



THIS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE FOLLOWING

Sponsors
Black Nations/ Queer Nations Organizing Committee
The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS)

Co-Sponsors

Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD)/from the Assoto Saint Fund
M O.C.A Men of Color Aids Prevention Unit NYS Department of Health

Donors
Astraea Foundation
The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS)
Conditions
Eileen and Peter Norton and The Norton Family Foundation
H_ van Ameringer Foundation
Office of Tom Duane
The Bohen Foundation
The Ford Foundation for the BNQN Documentation Project
The Funding Exchange

Conference Documentation

BLACK NATION/QUEER NATIONS? - the video project
Directed and produced by Cheryl Dunye and Shari Frilot

The Black Nations / Queer Nations? video project will be an experimental documentary of the three-day confer-
ence, highlighting the performances, panels, workshops, and discussions among conference participants. The
videotape, and an accompanying pamphlet, will be ready for distribution June 1995 to community organiza-
tions around the world. The Black Nations / Queer Nations? video project has been made possible by a generous
grant from the Ford Foundation

For more information about the Black Nations / Queer Nations? video project, please contact the BNQN
information line at 212 642 2923


en...mouth off about gays and women and I said
Not this afternoon. The longer I sit silently in my

ing, I condone the ingnorance and its by-products

— Essex Hemphill, “In An Afternoon Light,” Ceremonies Prose and Poetry



GENERAL INFORMATION

Exhibition space
See your registration packet regarding placement of exhibitions.

Meals

The Graduate Center/CUNY cafeteria located on the 18th floor is open for meals on Friday but closed
on Saturday

Please note that eating is not allowed in the conference designated rooms.

Please refer to the information listing in your registration packets about restaurants in the area.

Transportation

MTA Bus & Subway Information. 718-330-1234

NJ Transit Information. 201-762-5100

Grand Central Station 42nd Street & Park/ Vanderbilt Avenue - take the S or 7 trains from Times Square
(42nd & Broadway)

Metro North Commuter Railroad Information. 212-532-4900

Path Station 33rd St. & 6th Avenue [train go to Hoboken, or Journal Square, Jersey City]- take the N or
R trains from Times Square (42nd & Broadway)

Path Information. 800-234-7284

Penn Station 34th St. Between 7th & 8th Avenues - take the M10 Bus down 7th Ave., or the 1, 2, 3, or 9
trains from Times Square (42nd & Broadway)

LIRR Information. 718-217-5477

Amtrak Information. 212-582-6875

Port Authority: 42nd St. & 8th Avenue - take the S, N, or R train from Times Square (42nd & Broadway)
Port Authority Bus Information. 212-564-8484

Smoking/ Allergies
Smoking in conference areas is strictly prohibited. Please also refrain from using scented products in
deference to those participants who may suffer from allergies.

Accessibility / ASL/ Childcare
All arrangements for child care, for ASL, and accessibility can be made in the registration information
area.

First Aid
A rest area and a medical person will be available during the conference.

Emergency Procedures

An insert on these procedures will be available in your registration packet.

Specific Constituencies
Please be respectful of those spaces/caucuses/ workshops which are designated for specific constituen-

cies. Thank you BNQN organizing committee.


inity in black studio films . . . has made it diffi-

ess in popular cinema.

— Isaac Julien, “Black Is, Black Ain’t”
Black Popular Culture



DAILY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Thursday, March 9
4:00 - 6:30 Registration

7:00 - 9-30 OPENING NIGHT CULTURAL EVENT

To kick off this historic conference, we are pleased to present a show which speaks to the diversity of communi-
ty This variety spectacular features a host of musicians, poets, performance artists, drag queens, and a selec-
tion of short films and videos from the queer African Diaspora.
A detailed schedule will be available in your registration packet

Doors open at 6:30 LIMITED SEATING - Performance begins at 7-00p.m sharp

FEATURED MEDIA MAKERS INCLUDE...

Thomas Allen Harris
Charles Lofton
RuPaul

Dawn Suggs

Yvonne Welbon

FEATURED ARTISTS INCLUDE...

Chery] Clarke
Chris & Wayson
Brian Freeman
Lavender Light
Toshi Reagon
Sapphire

Please note -- the building must be vacated by 10-00 p.m

I am “a mannish dyke, muff diver, bulldager, butch, feminist, femme,” and PROUD.

- Cheryl Clarke, “Living the Texts Out,”
Theorizing Black Feminisms

11


DAILY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday, March 10

10-00 a.m Registration

12 30p.m Welcome

1:00 - 3-00 Opening Roundtable Plenary

Moderators: Cathy Cohen and Colin Robinson

Participants: Barbara Smith, Urvashi Vaid, Raul Ferrera-Balanquet, Elias Farajaje-Jones, K Anthony Appiah,
Zackie Achmat

3 30-5 30 Workshop Sessions

5 30 - 6.30 Dinner (on your own)

6:30 - 8 30 BLACK IS —_ BLACK AIN’T -Private screening and discussion

8 30 - 9:30 Conference Reception

Please note -- the building must be vacated by 10-00 p.m

I see myself as a cartographer who is constantly moving between new, as well as old spaces. This
is like la guerra de guerrilla tactics used by liberation movements in Latin America, for the
guerrilla, in order to keep the movement alive, had to be constantly shifting points, shifting
positions.

Raul Ferrera-Balanquet

12



DAILY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Saturday, March 11

9:00 a.m Registration
9:00 - 9:30 Welcome and Announcements

9-30-1130 Roundtable Plenary

Moderator: Cheryl Clarke

Participants: Coco Fusco, Michelle Parkerson, Essex Hemphill, Kobena Mercer, Samuel R. Delany,
Wahneema Lubiano

11 30-12 30 Lunch (on your own) Caucuses & Community meetings

12 30-230 Workshop Sessions

3-00 - 5:00 Closing Roundtable Plenary

Moderator: Kendall Thomas
Participants. Angela Davis, Simon Nkoli, Mab Segrest, Jacqui Alexander, Don Murphy, Isaac Julien

5:00 - 6 00 Dinner (on your own)

6:00 - 8-00 Mobilization Discussion. Which Way Forward?
Discussion Leaders. Cathy Cohen, Jacqui Alexander

8:00- 10:00 ALITANY FOR SURVIVAL. THE LIFEAND WORK OF AUDRE LORDE

Please note -- the building must be vacated by 10-00 p.m

11-00 p.m Conference Party--Off Site

What are we to make of African Americans’ insistence on seeing [Clarence] Thomas simply as a
black person being attacked by white people?

-Wahneema Lubiano, “Black Ladies, Welfare Queens, and State Minstrels.”
Race-ing Justice, Engendering Power (ed. Morrison)

13


in the United States don’t primarily need more

nal, as powerful as the militancy and anti-assimila-
tionist stances of Black nationalism and Queer Nation have been We need a socialism that is by
necessity anti-racist, feminist, anti-homophobic and democratic; a politic that unites various

peoples in the broadest possible movement for the deepest political and social transformation.

— Mab Segrest

Peat Ft) oes Le



PLENARIES

QUESTIONS

Opening Roundtable Plenary - |

Why have lesbian and gay sexualities emerged as a focus of political activity in the African Diaspora?

What political, historical, and ideological commitments or ideas are reflected in the expression and assertion of
distinctively Black/African lesbian and gay identities?

Roundtable Plenary - Il

How do “queer” identities evolve and present themselves in ascetic and cultural work?
What do race, gender, class and sexuality have to do with our imagination and the works we produce?
In intellectual discourse?

How do the political, economic, social and cultural conditions shape our work and daily life?

Closing Roundtable Plenary - III

What is the relationship between anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-colonialist, and anti-heterosexist political struggles?

Is a global political movement among lesbians and gay men in the African Diaspora possible or desirable?


WORKSHOPS
Before Paris Burned: Examinations of (gay) Harlem. 1920-1940

The panel explores pre-Stonewall expressions of black gay identity in and around Harlem Panelists will discuss
those artists and works which either neglected, challenged, or re-detined the seemingly familiar categories of
race and sexuality Questions will include, how did white patronage impact the creation of black and black gay
images in Harlem? What kinds of identities are possible for black gays and lesbians once certain racial and sexu-
al categories are dismissed as oppressive?

“Philosophy and Gay Identity: Alain Leroy Locke andValue Theory” Leonard Harris, Purdue University

“Fetish and Fantasy in Some Photos by CarllanVecten” James Smalls, Rutgers University

“He Knew the Beauty of the Narrow Blue: Richard Bruce Nugent and the Performance of Black Bohemian Epistemology”
Seth Clark Silberman, University of Maryland, College Park

Following the Gaze of Langston Hughes. Homoeroticism and the Feminine in The Big Sea” Lindon Barrett, University of

California, Irvine
Uncovering the Sacred: Sexuality, Spirituality and The African Diaspora

Spirituality and religion have been incredibly significant within black anti racist struggles, yet how spirituality is
to be practiced remains open This session discusses different spiritual practices and religious belief systems
throughout the African Diaspora. The panel will assess the unique spiritual and religious contributions that our
communities have offered to various black societies. In addition, it will address the ways in which spirituality
and religion inform our efforts to strengthen emotional, cultural, and political support for black lesbian and
gay peoples.
“Hearing With Ears What Cannot Be Heard and Seeing with the Eyes of the Serpent”

Vincent Woodard, University of Texas
“Christianity and the Redefinition of Sexuality in the Great Lakes Region of Africa”

Timothy Longman, Drake University
“Black Lesbian and Gay Spirituality: Something Inside So Strong” Deborah Williams-Muhammad, New York State

Division of Human Rights and The National Black Women’s Health Project

16


Skin Deep: A Latina/ Latino Workshop on “Race”

“Blackness” in the United States is synonomous with African American identity just like “whiteness” is consid-
ered European American. Latinos and Latinas occupy interesting position in this polar universe as a predomi-
nately mestizo people. A debate about “blackness,” “ whiteness,” and sexualitites from a Latino perspective is in
order This panel of gay and lesbian Latinas and Latinos will explore questions of color privilege, class priv-

iledge and how skin color affects the Latino community’s dealings with the African American community.

FACILITATOR. Robert Vazquez -Pacheco, LLEGO, The National Latino/a Lesbian and Gay Organization
George Ayala, The Hetrick Martin Institute.

A Sense of Self: Interpreting Black Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay “Identity”

This panel presents a critical overview of the roles of racial ethnicity and sexual orientation in the making of an
over all human “identity” Based on their experiences and their professional research, panelists examine our
relationship with ourselves, with one another, and with society What psychological and emotional issues con-
front black les-bi-gay people as we negotiate the minefields of racism and homophobia. The panelists will turn
the microscope on themselves to critique how medicine, psychology, and research methodology/ literature con-
tinue to disservice our communities. Certain panelists will discuss the contributions of therapeutic interven-
tions to movement work.
“Establishing a Paradigm for Understanding Black Lesbian and Gay Identity”
- Myron Beasley, Clark Atlanta University & Shirlene Holmes, Georgia State University
Psychoanalitcal Theory and the Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay (TBLG) Movement”
- Sacha Vington, New York University Medical Center - Bellevue Hospital Center
“Psychological Issues of African American Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals”
- Majorie J Hill, Ph.D. & Billy Jones, M.S., M.D.

“Intersection and Confluence: Blackness, Queerness, and Research” - Laylie Phillips, The University of Georgia
Critical Autobiography: A Workshop

This workshop will explore the topic of autobiography and queer space in the context of black families -- with
participants, we will discuss how black queer folks can critically reclaim and interrogate the narratives that our
respective families have constructed. Thomas Allen Harris will present and discuss All In The Family, an experi-
mental documentary that looks at three black families through the eyes of black queer siblings (including
Thomas and Lyle) Lyle Ashton Harris will present a slide lecture on The Good Life, a recent photographic pro-
ject about his family

FACILITATORS. Thomas Allen Harris, University of San Diego

Lyle Ashton Harris, Otis College of Art and Design


Revis(ion ing Prevention: An HIV/AIDS Workshop

Many traditional strategies for HIV/AIDS prevention were developed for (affluent) white, urban, gay men.
Once African Americans became increasingly infected, health educators simply put old curricula into black face.
The goal of this workshop is to provide health educators and activists with a forum for discussing how to funda-
mentally revise and revision current HIV/AIDS prevention strategies, to effectively target gay black men.

Facilitator. H T. Reginald Miller, Minority Task Force on AIDS
Media Training 101: A Practical Workshop

The recent explosion in media coverage of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and drag/transgender communities pro-
vides us with an unprecedented opportunity for focusing media attention on our accomplishments and strug-
gles. But to better utilize the media, we must better understand it. The movement must promote fair, accu-
rate, and inclusive media representations of all our communities. This workshop is designed to train individuals
and organizations with little experience in dealing with the media to construct and utilize effective media and
communications strategies.

FACILITATOR: Donald Suggs, Director of Public Affairs, The Gay and Lesbian Anti-Defamation League (NY, NY)
Transexuality from an African American Perspective

This workshop will discuss the hate directed at transgendered persons from the “majority” straight society and
from gays and lesbians as well. The need for articulate transgendered people to come forward and define them-
selves -- rather than be defined by an exploitative and sensationalist media culture -- will be emphasized. This
workshop seeks to give tongue to a transgendered “identity” and “politics,” from a transgendered perspective.

FACILITATOR. D’ Andra Van Heusen, independent
Fighting the Right/ Moving the Movement

This session will begin with an examination of how the Right is attempting to control political thinking in black
communities by manipulating the media. Other conservative organizational tactics such as the use of the legal
system will also be examined. The Rights’s increasing success at attracting grass root support in black commu-
nities raises questionstions about how we -- as black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people--must do
political work in our own home communities and elsewhere. What is the ultimate purpose of their efforts, and
what resources must we rely upon, what strategies must we forge, to counter the Rights organizational tactics?
Being Bamboozled: Black Gay Rights, and the Media -- Eva Marie George, The University of Maryland, College Park
Endangered, Determined, Fed Up and Fighting Back: Stopping the War Against Black Women

- Mattie Richardson, Kitchen Table Women of Color Press
Contemporary Culture War -Kim P Kirkley, independent


Police(d) Academy: “Queer” and “Colored” in the Ivory Tower

How does the ivory tower regulate people and ideas? How are scholars required to police aspects of their iden-
tity in order to fully participate professionally in an often hostile “liberal” academy. Panelist will share their
experiences at academic institutions and_will discuss how their own scholarly interests inspire them to think
about contemporary political and intellectual concerns. Student issues will also be addressed. Additionally, this
session will investigate viable political and pedagogical responses to racism, sexism, and homophobia in the

academy.

Staging Homoerotic and Multicultural Creative Projects in an Heterosexual and Eurocentric Academic Environment
- Keith Grant, Cornell University
Remaining Visible?- (Queer) Baldwin in the Composition Classroom
- Steven Amarnick, LaGuardia Community College,C.U.N Y
Coalitions in the African American and Homosexual Student Movements: Recent Developments
-Roderick K. Linzie, Georgia State University
Lesbian of Color Film and Video Visibility: Questions of Scholarship and Curating
- Margaret R Daniel, U.C. Santa Cruz/California Newsreel

Consuming The Pop Icon

Popular culture has exploited many aspects of Black culture today, especially hip-hop, r & b, pop music, and
black (African-American) comedy. Given that it also attempts to appropriate queer culture, an examination of
racism and homophobia in pop culture is imperative. This workshop interrogates the many meanings that race
and (homo)sexuality assume in entertainment--in books, television, movies, the music scene--and how these
black/ queer sensibilities do, or do not, show their faces. The panel maps out the representations of race and
homoeroticism which circulate in popular culture and the public imagination as part of a larger understanding
of the racial and sexual politics at play in the United States.
Envisioning Lives: Homosexuality and Black Popular Literature - Craig Allen Seymour II, University of Maryland
Restructuring the Lens: Drag Queen Divas, Butch Fantasies, and S&M Play: A Reading of In Living Single

- Lisa Marie Coleman, NYU (Fall ‘95)
Cool and Queer - Cynthia J Fuchs, George Mason University
Michael Jackson’s Closets - John Nguyet Erni, University of New Hampshire

Safer Sex Workshop

As the H.1.V virus continues to disproportionately impact men of color, new practices should be embraced to
protect our communities. Engaging participants hands on, this workshop teaches about safer sex practices.

FACILITATOR. James Credle, Rutgers University, Newark


White Privilege: An Interactive Workshop

Real social change in the United States will require genuine and consistent coalition work. Racism in the les-
bian, gay and bisexual communities, like homophobia in communities of color, helps the organized Right to
shatter coalitions, fragment social movements, and keep us all from freedom This interactive workshop is
designed for white people who are ready to go beyond “sensitivity” training and come to terms with their privi-
lege. How do we, as white people, benefit from the cultural, personal, and institutional forms of racism in the
U.S.? How do we collude with the cycle of racism that oppresses people of color? How do we break that cycle
and learn to spend our privilege with integrity to dismantle racism in our personal lives, our institutions and
organizations, in our nation?

(This workshop is for European American only )

FACILITATOR. Jona olsson, Cultural Bridges
Organizing Beyond Mere Visibility: A Caribbean Lesbian and Gay Workshop

This multi-faceted workshop will affirm the connectedness of (queer) folks in the African Diaspora. The work-
shop will address the relationship between African Americans and Afro-Caribbean’s: our similarities, our mis-
understandings, our solidarity, and our struggles. The workshop will confront a series of issues that affect the
Lesbian and Gay Caribbean people, such as friction amongst island groups, immigrant, AIDS and economic
equality The workshop seeks to develop a local and global political agenda to organize in our communities
beyond mere visibility.

FACILITATOR. The Caribbean-identified Lesbian and Gay Alliance (CiLGA) (New York City)

The Birth of an Organization: A Workshop

This workshop focuses on how to start and manage a women and children’s organization. It also focuses on the
clarifying ofa vision in building organizations and on the power and influence of spirituality in that process.
FACILITATORS. Santa L. Molina and Vanessa M. Marshall, Founders, Rising Spirits Healing and

Learning Center, Inc. (New York, New York)

Close Encounters of An Other Kind: Images of Race and Sexuality in Film

Film - as art form, political statement, and cultural bellwether - will be the topic of discussion. Black gay and
lesbian film-makers/scholars explore tensions and unity between blackness and gayness in film Analysis of cin-
ematic history, techniques, and artistry provide insights into the historical and material bases for representation
of black queer bodies. The works of Marlon Riggs and other acclaimed film-makers raise important political
questions, including “how desirable or useful is it to dress up our nation(alism)s into pink triangles?”

Constructing Us: Examining Identities of Black Queerness in Film -David Moore, lowas State University



(Re) Constituting the State and Dressing Up the Nation: Listening to Marlon Riggs’ Anthem

- Richard C. Green III, New York University
Is it Ethnographic or is it “Real?- Scientism, Performance and The Construction of Paris is Burning

- Bill Stanford Pincheon, Indiana University

Black Queers in Film. - Helsa Jones
Exploring Lesbian Erotics

This is a workshop about having sex. Exploring sexual practices, forms, and styles. Topics to include: non-
monogamy, cross-racial relationships, S&M, and sexual play. There will possibly be some hands on demonstra-
tions. ‘

Lesbian Sexual Practice -Karen Jordan, National Lesbian and Gay Task Force Policy Institute
Unleashing the Queen Within

Brian Freeman, a performer, writer, and director, who founded the award-winning black gay male performance
ensemble Pomo Afro Homos, will present this workshop. Pomo Afro Homos dramatizes the complicated and
funny experiences lived by many “post-modern” gay African-American men. Here, Freeman shares with partic-
ipants the art of his crafts, instructing how to write and perform one’s own work. Participants will learn about
developing and producing original material which explores conflicting identities--and basically, how to unleash
the queen/ goddess within.

FACILITATOR. Brian Freeman, Pomo Afro Homo
In Love and Trouble: Crossing Borders Along Racial Lines

Crossing racial boundaries in personal and political relationships will be the focus here. The panelists testi-
monies serve as a springboard to illuminate and/or deconstruct the myths, stereotypes, and political realities
circulating around interracial relationships. Questions of love, race privilege, class privilege, personal freedom,

family, and political identity will be central.

Contested Borders: Reflections of a White, Mixed-Class Lesbian - Lisa Mitchell, U. of Michigan, Flint
Dare - Melanie Hope, poet (New York City)

Inter-racial Relationships and Black Gay Men - James Credle, former organizer, Gay Men of All Colors Together



Defining Ourselves for Ourselves: Developing Community

The challenges of overturning oppressive images and mythologies involves both an examination of what we have
internalized as well as working against racism and homophobia on the outside. How are we complicit in per-
petuating different forms of domination, inside and outside our communities? How can we achieve clarity
about the cultural, spiritual, and political divisions among us? What do we have to offer one another?
Black Lesbian Beauty Idealized: Pressing Combs, Bodacious Hips, and Black, Black Cherries: Uncovering Our Sexual and
Cultural Desires -- Danielle Tillman, Ohio State University
Internalized Racism in Black Gay Males - Jafari Allen, activist
Relationship Building: A cornerstone of Liberation -Philip Blake Spivey, clinical psychologist, New York City
Knowing and Embracing Ourselves in a Sexually Diverse African Community
- Cleo Manago, AMMASI Institute, Black Men’s Xchange
- Gijai Coleman, Black Men and Women’s Xchange, National Office

Good Housekeeping: Black Nationalism, Homosexuality, and the Politics of Purity

The belief that “homosexuals” threaten the black Nation, black national identity, or security is not uncommon
historically, nor in contemporary black nationalist discourse. This panel investigates the place of lesbians and gay
men within black nationalist history, literature, culture, political mobilizations, and ideology. What does it
mean to be suspect within a “nation/family” that seeks to overthrow its own oppressors? What are the institu-
tional, cultural, psychic, and pedagogic barriers for coalition building between the two movements? Are such
coalitions feasible or desirable?
Birthplace of the Nation. Lesbian and Gay Politics at the Black Panthers’ Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention,
1970 - Marc Stein, University of Pennsylvania
Skeletons in the Closet: Tahar Djaout, Threat to National Security -Jarrod Hayes, C.U.N Y
We are Family: The Mythos of Miscegenation and the Black Queer Cultural Imagination

-Amy Ongiri, Cornell University

Framing Identity Through the Otherness of Black Nationalism - Raymond L. Scott, Whittier College
Breaking Ground: Serving the Needs of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgendered Youth

This session is designed for friends, parents, social workers, teachers, and anybody who administers to the
needs of les/bi/gay/trans youth of color This panel is organized around, but not limited to, the following
youth issues: education, HIV prevention, religion, family, emotional well-being, teen relationships, and social
entertainment
FACILITATORS: Deacon Lawrence Abrahms, Unity Fellowship Church

John Wright, Center for Children and Families

George Ayala, Hetrick Martin Institute

Youth, Hetrick Martin Institute



Putting Our Faces Where They “Don't” Belong:
Out-Performing the Dragging Categories of Race and Sex

This panel explores the estrangement of black gays and lesbians from both their African-American communities
and gay communities. But the notions of “community” and “self” should not be stable or absolute. Panelists will
closely scrutinize (shifting) constructions and conflicts of identity, or “dragging categories.” Panelists explore how
queer people of African descent can politically and culturally engineer new spaces for ourselves beyond the sti-
fling, often hostile configurations of the (straight) black community and the (white) gay community.
United Colors?: Reflections on Jazz Age Harlem, Queer Nation/San Francisco, and Black Gay Men

-Kevin J. Mumford, University of Minnesota
Can't Touch This: A Black Gay Aesthetics in Relation to Identity Politics - Anthony Meyers, Independent
Affirming Ourselves -S.F Ma-Hee, Silver Fingers Productions



way to look at expressions of Black nationalism
. As my own political consciousness evolved in
tional stance to what some of us then called

needed to say “Black is Beautiful” as much as

—Angela Davis, “Black Nationalism: The Sixties and the Nineties,” Black Popular Culture (ed., Dent)

ALT RR WIR



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Queer Nations?
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The National Latino/a Lesbian and Gay Organization,

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National LLEGO strives to provide a forum for awareness,
understanding and recognition of a broader People of Color
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CULTURAL EVENTS

Media

BLACK IS... BLACK AIN’T,
a video by Marlon Riggs
PRIVATE SCREENING AND DISCUSSION

We are very proud to present, in association with California Newsreel, a special preview screening of Black Is . . .
Black Ain't, the last film by the late award-winning filmmaker, Marlon Riggs. Through documentary, perfor-
mance, music, personal stories and history, Riggs asks the question: What has “blackness” meant to African-
Americans? When Riggs was hospitalized for AIDS-related complications in November 1993, Black Is . . . Black
Ain’t took on even more of a personal tone. No longer able to come to the editing room, Riggs became instead
an on-screen character in his own film - as seen from his hospital bed. Black Is... Black Ain't was completed
posthumously by his long-time production colleagues Nicole Atkinson and Chritiane Badgley from the footage
and notes he left behind.

African-Americans of all regions, ages and walks of life join cultural critics and artists Angela Davis, Essex
Hemphill, bell hooks Bill T. Jones Barbara Smith, Michele Wallace and Cornel West to share ideas and to address
the sexism, cultural nationalism and other ingrained beliefs which limit and divide black people. With charac-
teristic boldness, Riggs prominently features the perspectives of those who have been silenced within the race
because their complexion, class, sexuality, gender, or speech have rendered them “not black enough,” or con-
versely, “too black.”

Afterwards, Colin Robinson and film participant Barbara Smith will facilitate a discussion of the implica-
tions the film has in the process of building a more inclusive African-American community.

For more information about Black Is . . . Black Ain't, please contact Margret Daniel at California Newsreel,
Phone: 415.621.6196, Fax: 415.621.6522

A LITANY FOR SURVIVAL: THE LIFE AND WORK OF
AUDRE LORDE,
a film by Ada Gay Griffin and Michelle Parkerson

PRIVATE SCREENING
We are very proud to present, in association with Third World Newsreel, a special preview screening of A Litany
_for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde. This film is an epic portrait of the eloquent, award-winning Black,

lesbian, poet, mother, and warrior Audre Lorde, whose writing — spanning five decades — articulated some of

the most important social and political visions of this century.

Weaving poetry, archival footage, music, and interviews, A Litany for Survival tells the story of Lorde’s

ss


childhood roots in New York City’s Harlem, her artistic and political development, her battle against cancer and
her activism. The narrative core, based on interviews with Audre Lorde spanning the last years of her life, is
augmented by interviews with colleagues, family members, and other artists including Sonia Sanchez, Sapphire,
Essex Hemphill, and Adrienne Rich. At the heart of this provocative documentary is Lorde’s own challenge “to
envision what has not yet been and work with every fiber of who we are to make the reality and pursuit of that
vision irresistible.” :

For more information about A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde, please contact Veena Cabreros-Sud at Third
world Newsreel, 212.947.9277

Exhibits
TRANSCENDING SILENCE: THE LIFE AND POETIC LEGACY OF AUDRE LORDE

This condensed version of the photodocumentary exhibition, organized by the Caribbean Cultural Center in

1994, reveals the early influences and global impact of the late feminist poet and human rights activist.

BROTHERHOOD CROSSROADS & ETC., 1994, photograph, triptych, 60 x 48 each image.

Lyle Ashton Harris in collaboration with Thomas Allen Harris, courtesy Jack Tilton Gallery.

Photographer Lyle Ashton Harris has exhibited internationally, including the ICA (London), the Whitney
Museum of American Art, NY, and the Jack Tilton Gallery, NY.

Thomas Allen Harris is a media artist whose groundbreaking exploration of the Black family is the subject of his
new feature film All in the Family which will be released in the summer of 1995. Thomas is an assistant professor

of Visual Arts at the University of California, San Diego.

Selected photographs by Ajamu, a Black gay photographer based in London.

27


performance artists is the will to break

ck body and the conservative silence

— Coco Fusco, “The Bodies That Were Not Ours: Black Performers, Black Performance”



Lesbians... giving to ourselves.

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As a research study documenting
HIV risk behaviors among gay men in New York
to prepare for future HIV vaccine trials, Wah,
The Lesbian, Gay, Two Spirit and Bisexual
Project ACHIEVE welcomes this working conference People Of Color Magazine
dedicated to the lives of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals Congratulates
of African descent
Black Nations / Queer Nations?
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* _. In Community and Struggle . . ."



CONFERENCE ROUNDTABLE PLENARY PARTICIPANTS

Zackie Achmat has been a youth and community activist in Cape Town since 1976, and is a founder-member
of the Association of Bisexual, Gays and Lesbians (ABIGALE). He is a documentary film maker whose work
includes Gay Life is Best and Die Duiwel Maak My Hart So Seer, broadcast on SABC in June 1993. Achmat was one
of the organizers of the first National Gay and Lesbian Conference in South Africa. He has just been elected
convener of South Africa’s first national gay political lobby, the National Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Equality
(NCLGE), which has been set up to specifically ensure that gay equality entrenched in South Africa’s interim
constitution makes it into the final constitution which is presently being drafted. In addition to his organizing,
Achmat has also written on anti-apartheid, lesbian and gay, and HIV/AIDS politics. He is currently working for
the AIDS Law Project and completing a Masters’ degree that deals with homosexuality in colonial South Africa.

M. Jacqui Alexander teaches courses that are grounded in feminist critiques of imperialism, colonization
and heterosexuality at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Her research on the historical
construction of sexuality in the Caribbean has resulted in two essays, “Redrafting Morality: The Post-Colonial
State and the Sexual Offenses Bill of Trinidad and Tobago,” and the more recently published “Not Just (Any) Body
can be a Citizen: The Politics of Law and Post-Coloniality in Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas.” A co-edited
collection of essays entitled The Third Wave is forthcoming from Kitchen Table, Women of Color Press. Alexander
has been active in the feminist movement in the Caribbean as well as the feminist and lesbian and gay movement
in the United States.

Kwame Anthony Appiah is a professor of Afro-American Studies and Philosophy at Harvard University. He
has written widely and his books include Assertion and Conditionals, For Truth in Semantics, Necessary Questions, the
novel Avenging Angel. His most recent theoretical work, In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosopy of Culture has
garnered wide acclaim.

Raul Ferrera-Balanquet is an Afro-Arab Latino multi-media artist, writer and curator born in Cuba. His
writings have appeared in Art Papers, The Cinematograph, Felix, and The Radical Teacher, among others. His

work and performances have been exhibited in several venues on the American continent. Among them are
the: Whitney Museum; Museum of American Art; Museum of Image and Sound in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Video in
Vancouver, Canada; Museum de Arte Actual in Bogota, Columbia; Galeria Fort in Barcelona, Espana; Randolph
Street Gallery and Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. He has curated video exhibits for Mix Brazil,
Video In, Chicago Latino Cinema and Randolph Street Gallery. He is currently teaching at Columbia College
and the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.

Angela Y. Davis now teaches in the History of Consciousness Program at the Universtity of California, Santa
Cruz. Known most notably for her work in the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements in the United States,
Ms. Davis has continued her political work most recently by struggling against prison expansion. One of her
current research projects involves an ideological critique of the processes of criminalization and the specific
implications of women’s imprisonment in the United States. While she has published widely, her most signifi-
cant work includes If They Come in the Morning, Angela Davis: An Auto biography, Women, Race and Class, and a forth-
coming book entitled, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday: Black Women ’s Music and Social Consciousness.

Samuel R. Delany a well-known science fiction writer, is the author of Babel-17, The Einstein Intersection (both
Nebula Award Winners), Dhalgren, and Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand. While Delany has written numerous
other novels and short fiction, many know him from his memoir, The Motion of Light in Water. He currently lives


in New York and teaches at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Coco Fusco is a New York-based writer, curator, and media artist. Her articles have appeared in many publi-
cations, including The Village Voice, The Nation, and. Third Text. She has lectured widely and curated numerous
international media exhibitions, including International Exiles: New Films and Videos from Chile and The Hubrid State
Film Series. Co-producer of the video documentary, Havana Post-modern, she has collaborated with Guillermo
Gomez-Pena on two interdisciplinary arts projects: Norte: Sur and The Year of the White Bear.

Essex Hemphill, writer, poet and cultural activist, is well- known through his participation in the Black gay
films Looking for Langston and Tongues Untied, which aired on PBS in the summer of 1991, Hemphill also partici-
pated in Out of the Shadows narrating the Black Gay AIDS documentary. He is also the editor of Brother to Brother:
New Writings by Black Gay Men and the author of three books of poetry and prose: Earth Life, Conditions, and
Ceremonies. Hemphill has received a number of fellowships in literature, including one from the D.C.
Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. His work has been anthologized in numer-

ous publications, including Art Against Apartheid, Men and Intimacy, and The Poet Upstairs. His essays have
appeared in High performance, Gay Community News, Out/Week, and The Advocate,

Dr. Elias Farajaje-Jones (aka manuel kalidas kongo) a Spanish-speaking afrikan native-american, is an
anarchist guerrilla theologian/ AIDS terrorist/writer/cultural critic/ performance artist/ritual technician. A
two-spirit /queer-identified bisexual man, he now lives and agitates in the colonial territory known as the dis-
trict of columbia. He is the author of In Search of Zion: A Study of the Significance of Afrika for Three Black Religious
Movements and co-editor of African Creative Expressions of the Divine: African Religions in Diaspora.

Isaac Julien is a Black British filmmaker whose 1989 film, Looking for Langston, won seven awards, in places as
far apart as Copenhagen and Columbus, Ohio. His feature film Young Soul Rebels won the 1991 Prix de la
Critique at Cannes. His most recently completed projects are The Attendant, a meditation on psychic fantasy, and
The Darker Side of Black, a provocative documentary on Black popular culture in the Diaspora. Originally from
London, he is currently sojourning in New York City.

Wahneema Lubiano teaches in the English Department and the Program in Afro-American Studies at
Princeton University. She has been examining the ideological and material impact of Black literature and the
relationship between the state and Black nationalism. Her published work has appeared in numerous journals
such as Cultural Critique and Z Magazine Z Papers. She is co-editing a collection of essays with Michael Dyson
on Malcom X entitled Rethinking Malcolm X and is completing a book on Black American fiction.

Kobena Mercer was a member of the Gay Black Group in London in the early 1980s. He has written and
lectured widely on the issues of race, sexuality, and representation. His essays have appeared in Screen, 10-8,

New Formations, and the edited volume Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men. Mercer has worked at
the British Film Institute as well as served as an assistant professor in Art History at the University of California
at Santa Cruz.

Don Murphy, school teacher for seven years, co-editor of School Voices newspaper and member of the
steering committee of People About Changing Education (PACE). He helped bring concerned parents, teach-
ers and education advocates together to address issues of racism, classism, and sexism in the New York City pub-
lic school system. Out of this Murphy co-authored the first teachers guide entitled_Malcolm X.In Context _He
also recently helped spearhead a citywide campaign for an Inclusive Multicultural Education to support the
Children of the Rainbow Teacher’s Guide, a curriculum that first grade teachers can use to address issues of cul-
tural sensitivity, awareness, and respect for different family structures, including lesbian and gay families, in


their classrooms.

(Tseko) Simon Nkoli, a noted openly gay Black South African activist, gained international prominence as
one of the twenty-two defendants in the notorious Delmas Treason trial in South Africa. Nkoli and the other
defendants were arrested on spurious charges following revolts in the townships surrounding Johannesburg to
protest rent hikes imposed by local councilors. During violent protest, five councilors were killed. Nkoli spent
over four years in detention. He, along with ten others, were acquitted of all charges in November 1988.
Nkoli’s struggles for a non-racist, non-sexist, non-heterosexist and non-homophobic society in South Africa
began at an early age, when he recognized the role he could play as a leader in several youth groups by strategiz-
ing around how to contribute to the non-violent struggle against apartheid in his country.

Michelle Parkerson, literary and intellectual agent provocateur, is a woman with a mission. She has devoted
her life and creative energies to breaking down barriers that constrict and restrict. Her films make you think.
Her poems rap you in the heart. Her films and videos include: But Then, She’s Betty Carter, Gotta Make this
Journey, Storme: The Lady of the Jewel Box. Her works have been published in Callaloo, Black Film Review,
Essence and The New York Native, among other publications. She is also the author of two books of poetry and
fiction, Waiting Rooms and Public Love. She has taught at The University of Delaware, Temple University, and

Howard University. She has recently completed a documentary film with Ada G. Griffin entitled A Litany for
Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde.

Mab Segrest is a writer and activist whose work addresses the intersections of feminism and lesbian and gay
anti-racist organizing. She currently coordinates the U.S. Urban-Rural Mission of the World Council of
Churches which involves working with communities of color and white communities in the United States.
Prior to that, she worked for six years as the co-coordinator of North Carolinians Against Racist and Religious
Violence, an organization that became the major vehicle for anti-Klan organizing in the South. Segrest was a
co-founder of Feminary: A Lesbian Feminist Journal for the South, She is the author of My Mama’s Dead Squirrel:
Lesbian Essays on Southern Culture and the more recently published Memoir of a Race Traitor.

Barbara Smith is a Black feminist, lesbian writer, publisher and activist. Known for her social activism, she
has worked politically on a range of issues including reproductive rights, sterilization abuse, violence against
women and racism in the women’s movement and the lesbian and gay movement. She is the co-editor of
Conditions: Five, The Black Women’s Issue; All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black
Women’s Studies and editor of Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. Her writings have appeared in numerous
publications including The New Republic, Sinister Wisdom, Callaloo, Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies,
The Village Voice, and This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. Smith is one of the
founders and current publisher of Kitchen Table, Women of Color Press. She is now working on a book entitled
The History of African American Lesbians and Gays.

_ Urvashi Vaid is a community organizer whose involvement in the gay/ lesbian and feminist movements spans
more than 15 years. She served as executive director and director of public information for the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) from 1986-1992. Vaid has lectured extensively on all aspects of the gay and
lesbian civil rights movement and the challenges it faces. She is also the author of a critique of queer politics
entitled Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (forthcoming from Anchor Books in
October 1995).


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BLACK NATIONS QUEER NATIONS SUB-COMMITTEES

ACCESSIBILITY
Sheila Mabry

Rosina Riley

CHILDCARE

Virginia Chalmers

CORE

Jacqui Alexander
Cheryl Clarke
Cathy Cohen
Shari Frilot
Kendall Thomas

CULTURAL EVENTS
Jacquie Bishop

Mora Byrd

Christopher Leo Daniels
Cheryl Dunye

Shari Frilot

Jocelyn Taylor

FACILITIES
Cathy Cohen
Andrea Kincannon
Ivy Young

FUND-RAISING

Martin Duberman
Evelynn Hammonds
David Maurasse
Betty Jean Powell
Kendall Thomas
John Wright

PROGRAM BOOK
Cheryl Clarke

Franciene Forte
Nsomeka Gomes

Shakira Washington
Charmaine Welch

PUBLICITY & POLITICAL MOBILIZATION

Jacqui Alexander
Davine Del Valle
Lewanda Hernandez
Kagendo Murungi
Jocelyn Sargent
REGISTRATION
Linda Carty

Papusa Molina

Jocelyn Sargent

VOLUNTEER
Tamara Jones
Ntanya Lee
Anthony Williams

Jacqueline Woodson

WORKSHOP
George Ayala

Richard Benjamin
Annand Commissiong
Frank Guzman
Anthony Meyers
Sheila Stowell

CONFERENCE STAFF
David Maurasse
Jocelyn Sargent

Assistant to Conference Staff: Papusa Molina

CREDITS

Program Book:

Cover Design by Brian Mulligan

Text Design by Glen Edelstein

Cover Printing and materials by Coral Graphics
Text Printing by Westprint Inc

Copy Editing by Kathy Antrim
Registration Form:

Pamela Jennings, Mind Field Productions
Logo design concept:

Annand Commissiong

Poster Composition:

Charmaine Welch & Franciene Forte
Advertising Solitation:

Nsomeka Gomes

ahs


BLACK NATIONS QUEER NATIONS SUB-COMMITTEES

SPECIAL THANKS TO.

INDIVIDUALS:
Larry Abrahms

Katherine Acey
Maimouna Alexander
Victor Bascara
Sheila Biddle

Jay Blotcher
Marcellus Blount
Linda Carty

Veena Cabreros-Sud
Cheryl Clarke
James Credle

Lisa Duggan

Sarita Echavezcene
Michaelle Gabrielle
EI Gates
Jackie Goldsby
Kathy Gomez
Leonard Green

Ada Gay Griffin
Edgardo Guerrero-Vega
Thomas Allen Harris
Jim Hubbard
Pamela Jennings
Isaac Julien

Stephen Kent-Jusick
Bruce Kohan

Peter Kwan

Lilliane Landor

Gail Lewis

Glen Ligon

Charles Lofton
Michella Lopez
Wahneema Lubiano
Reginald Miller
Cornilius Moore
Jose Munoz

Charles Nero
Michelle Parkerson
Jairo Pedraza

Hiran Perez
Chandan Reddy

Robert Reid-Pharr
Colin Robinson
Matt Rottnek
Lorna Simpson
Emory Smith

Ed Stein
Michelle Stevens
Douglas Stewart
Jan Strout
Donald Suggs
Kelley Tice
Ayana Udongo
Dellon Wilson
Lisa Winters
Amos White
John Wright

Ivy Young

ORGANIZATIONS:

Astraea Foundation
California Newsreel
Third World Newsreel
The National Latino/a
Lesbian and Gay Organization LLEGO
Mind Field Productions
MIX: The NY Lesbian and Gay Experimental
Film/ Video Festival
Safe Space
Tommy Boy Records, Inc.


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rics, and the fact that sometimes we plain do not
estion is whether we will let these differences kill

yet! fervently hope that for us it will not come

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—Barbara Smith, Homegirls

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RESOURCE DIRECTORY

African-American G/L Cultural Arts
1625 N. Hudson Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90029

African-American Gay and Lesbian Studies Centre, Inc
P.O.Box 56202
Los Angeles,CA 90056-0202

African Ancestral Lesbians United

for Societal Change (AALUSC)
Las Buenas Amigas: Lesbianas Latinas en Nueva York
Latinos and Latinas de Ambiente /NY
Project Connect
Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE)
Visually Impaired in a Lesbian

& Gay Environment (VILAGE)
C/O Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center
208 West 13th Street
New York, NY 10011

Afrolez Productions
1618 Pine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

AIDS Action Council
2038 M. Street NW, #108
Washington DC 20036

AIDS Project of NJ Lesbian & Gay Coalition
P.O. Box 1431

211 Livingston Avenue

New Brunswick, NJ 08903

Alianza Dominicana AIDS Education Project for Youth
2340 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10033

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Lesbian and Gay Rights Project

132 West 43rd Street

New York, NY 10036

American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR)
733 Third Avenue, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10017

At The Crossroads (Journal for Women
Artists of African Descent)

P.O. Box 317

Station P

Toronto, Ontario M5S 288

Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance
P.O. Box 5502
Atlanta, GA 30307

AYA (For Black Gay and Bisexual Men)
P.O. Box 1185

Station F

Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2T8

AYA: Queen African Nation Institute
P.O. Box 1205

Murray Hill Nation

New York, NY 10156-1205

Baltimore Coalition of Black Lesbians & Gays
618 W. Franklin Street, #6
Baltimore, MD 21201

Bay Area Lesbians of Color
C/O The Women’s Building
3543 18th Street

San Francisco, CA 94110

Bisexual, Gay & Lesbian Youth of New York (BIGLYNY)
208 West 13th Street
New York, NY 10011

BLAGH: Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay Haitians
P.O. Box 1302
New York, NY 10159-1302

Black Berry (Support Group for Black Lesbians)
19 Claremont Street
Toronto, Ontario M6J 2M7

Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention

597 Parliament Street, Suite 103
Toronto, Ontario M4X 1W3

59


RESOURCE DIRECTORY

Black Coalition on AIDS
726 Broderick St.
San Francisco, CA 94117

Black Gay & Lesbian Leadership Forum
P.O. Box 29812
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Black Gay Archives
P.O. Box 30024
Philadelphia PA 19103

Black Gay Community Center
P.O. Box 10429
Baltimore, MD 21203

Black Gays & Lesbians Against AIDS
2739 Milwaukee Street
Denver, CO 80205

Black Gay Men’s Coalition for Human Rights
9001 Keith Avenue
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Black Gay Men’s Rap Group
5149 Jefferson Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90016

Black Lesbians Support Group
10017 N. La Cienega Boulevard, #110
West Hollywood, CA 90089

Black Leather . . . In Color Quarterly
874 Broadway, Suite 808
New York, NY 10003

Bronx Lesbians United in Sisterhood
P.O. Box 1738
Bronx, NY 10451

Black Positive (Peer Support Group for
Black Men Living with HIV)

155 Sherbourne Street, Suite 310

Toronto, Ontario MSA 3W2

BLK
Box 83912
Los Angeles, CA 90083-0912

Caribbean-Identified Lesbian and Gay Alliance
P.O. Box 2474, Church Street Station
New York, NY 10008

Chicago Lesbians Emerging Against Racism
3712 North Broadway, #202
Chicago, IL 60613

COLOR Life! The Lesbian, Gay, Two Spirit
and Bisexual People of Color Magazine

The Cairos Project

301 Cathedral Parkway, P.O. Box 287

New York, NY 10026

D.C. Coalition of Black Lesbian & Gay Men
Box 21543
Washington, DC 20009

Delaware Lesbian/ Gay Health Advocates
800 West Street
Wilmington, DE 19801

De Poonani Posse (Journal for Black Lesbians)
P.O. Box 156

Station P

Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S7

Education in a Disabled Gay Environment (EDGE)
P.O. Box 305, Village Station
New York, NY 10014

Empire Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf

117 Christopher Street, #12
New York, NY 10014

The Gay African Americans of Westchester
[Use ‘G.A.A.W. for Mailings]

c/o 508 Warburton Avenue, #2

Yonkers, NY 10701



RESOURCE DIRECTORY

Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project
647 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014

Gay, Bisexual, Lesbians of Color, Cornell University
535 Willard Straight Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853

Gay Fathers Coalition/DC
P.O. Box 50360
Washington DC 20004

Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Colorado
P.O. Drawer E.
Denver, CO 80218

Gay & Lesbian Switchboard
648 Broadway, Suite 402
NewYork, NY 10012

Gay/Lesbian / Bisexual Youth
4620 South Findlay
Seattle, WA 98138

Gay Men of African Descent
666 Broadway, Suite 520
New York, NY 10012

Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)

Deaf AIDS Project (DAP)

Immigrants Fighting AIDS (Legal Services Department)
Immigrants with HIV Project of Gay Men’s Health Crisis
Lesbian AIDS Project (LAP)

People of Color AIDS Prevention Program of Gay Men’s
Health Crisis/Education Dept.

129 West 20th Street

New York, NY 10011

Gay Men of the Bronx
P.O. Box 511
Bronx, NY 10451

Hetrick-Martin Institute for the
Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth
401 West Street

New York, NY 10014

Homovisiones/Producciones Homovision
POBox 1995
New York, NY 10009

Isis Film and Video Productions
172 Glenholme Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M6E 3C4

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
Lambda Project Oasis

666 Broadway, | 2th Floor

NewYork, NY 10012

Latino Gay Men of New York
P.O. Box 1103, Cathedral Station
NewYork, NY 10025

Latino Midwest Video Collective
P.O. Box 47343
Chicago, IL 60647

Lesbian and Gay People of Color
Steering Committee, The

C/O Lidell Jackson

210 Riverside Drive, #11-H

NewYork, NY 10025

Lesbians & Gays of Color
317 Westport Road, Phoenix Books
Kansas City MO 64111

Lesbians & Gays of African Descent
P.O. Box 620448
San Diego, CA 92162

Lesbians of Color, Yale Women’s Center
198 Elm Street
New Haven, CT 06520

Men of All Colors Together/NY

Box 1515, Ansonia Station

New York, NY 10023

Men of Color AIDS Prevention

125 Worth Street, #601, P.O.Box 67
New York, NY 10013


RESOURCE DIRECTORY

Metropolitan Community Church, Philadelphia
2121 Chestnut St., P.O. Box 8174
Philadelphia, PA 19101

The Minority Task Force on Aids

Education Department and Administrative Center
505 Eighth Avenue, 16th floor

NewYork, NY 10018

Client Services

127 West 127th Street, Room 630

New York, NY 10027

Housing Services

567 West 183rd Street

New York, NY 10033

MIX: The NewYork Lesbian & Gay
Experimental Film/ Video Festival

341 Lafayette Street, #169

New York, NY 10012

Multicultural AIDS Coalition
801 Tremont Street, #B
Boston, MA 02118

National Association of People with AIDS
1413 K Street N.W.
Washington D.C. 20005

National Black Gay & Lesbian Conference
3929 W. Sunset Boulevard, #1
Los Angeles, CA 90029

National Coalition for Black Lesbians & Gays
P.O. Box 19248
Washington D.C. 20026

National Gay Alliance for Young Adults
P.O. Box 190426
Dallas, TX 75219

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
1517 U Street NW
Washington, DC 20009

National Latino/a
Lesbian & Gay Organization (LLEGO)
P.O. Box 44483

Washington D.C. 20026

National Lesbian & Gay Health Foundation
1407 S Street, NW
Washington D.C. 20009

National Minority AIDS Council
300 I Street NE, #400
Washington D.C. 20012

New Jersey Women & AIDS Network
5 Elm Row
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Other Countries: Black Gay Expressions
P.O. Box 3142
New York, NY 10008

Philadelphia AIDS Task Force and Resource Library
1216 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Racism & Homophobia in the Media Project
30 Gardenside, #6
San Francisco, CA 94131

Radical Women
32 Union Square East, Room 207
New York, NY 10003

Safe Space

The Center for Children and Families
133 West 46th Street

New York, NY 10036

Sankofa

Unit K 32-34
Gordon House Road
London, NW5 1LP

Sistervision Press

P.O. Box 217

Station E

Toronto, Ontario M6H 4E2

St. Marks Women’s Health Collective
P.O. Box 711

New York, NY 10163


RESOURCE DIRECTORY

Society for Senior Gay & Lesbian Citizens
255 S. Hill Street, #410
Los Angeles CA 90012

ULOAH United Lesbians of African Heritage
1626 N. Wilcox Avenue, #190
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Unity Fellowship Church
5149 W. Jefferson Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90016

Unity Fellowship Church of Christ, New York City
230 Classon Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205

Women of Color Group of
Brooklyn Women’s Martial Arts

421 Fifth Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11215

Women of Color Resource Center
2288 Fulton Street, Suite 103
Berkely, CA 94704


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--Audre Lorde

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ement ... 1 am not talking about right

adopt an internationalist political prac-

e effects of the global in our daily lives, at
the same time that we struggle where we are. This is one of the real challenges of building last-

ing solidarity movements at this moment. mag
—Jacqui Alexander