Arts Archive

Dear readers, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the words of one of my close friends, who’s an attorney and graduate from NYU Law School. She is a senior counsel at a major corporation and is openly out. She’s happily married to a beautiful and amazing woman who is an activist at a  non-profit here in NYC. They have two super cool kids and make up what I call the family of the 21st century. They are both black professionals from top schools, and are in the world making a difference. My friend, who’s very outspoken and excellent at making her points, passionately wrote this to me via email. I have asked her if I could share her words with you.

This is a topic that needs to be addressed. How can black church leaders, who themselves have fought for civil rights, now advocate to deny those of the LGBT community and families such as that of my friend? It is quite unfair and it deserves attention.

There is a project being set up to shed a light on this hypocritical failure and share with the world the unfairness. Take a look at my friend’s email, her words, her compelling case, and click on the link below to learn more about this awareness project.

Excerpt from my friend’s email:

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This is great oppty to help raise awareness in the black community.

I’ve been totally disgusted by how some black churches have taken up the anti-same sex marriage crusade. It is reprehensible under any circumstances, but when the black community is in the midst of such a crisis, with unemployment, inadequate access to health care, failing schools, teen violence, teen pregnancy and high drop out rates, it’s damn near criminal.

We have black kids bouncing around from one foster care home to another, addiction rates are high, incarceration rates have sky rocketed and you have black ministers wasting time fighting same sex marriage.

I would like to understand how that helps the African-American community. If their failure to try to deal with the real challenges facing the African American community doesn’t destroy their credibility, I don’t know what will. Teens are dying in the street from gang violence and these weak-willed ministers are fighting gay marriage. What is wrong with these people?

If they truly want to walk with God, they need to fight for social justice. They don’t have to take up the pro-LGBT fight, but they certainly should not waste precious time and resources fighting against civil rights for the LGBT community. It’s easy to go out and denounce a group one deems small and powerless.

If these anti-same-sex marriage African American ministers want to save the black family, they can start with providing mentors to black boys and teens. Teach them skills that will make them employable. Teach them that love and commitment will make them strong. Teach them that the measure of a man is, as Sydney Portier (sp?) says, “how well he takes care of his family.”

Impregnating a bunch of women and in many cases young teen girls and then failing to care for the children, either financially or emotionally, does not make them men. It does not or at least should earn them the respected title of father. It makes them sperm donors.

Teach these youngsters how to resolve conflict without violence, and teach teen girls to value themselves and their bodies. Teach these young women not to sublimate their ambitions to make a man feel strong.

Our community needs strong, productive individuals of both genders.

Condemn the dysfunction that rap music perpetuates and show youngsters a better way.

When these anti-same-sex-marriage ministers turn 100 percent of their attention toward trying to solve some of the long standing problems in the African-American community, then they’ll be doing God’s work. Opposing equal protection under the law for the LGBT community is not worthy of the black church.

Progressive African American leaders both in and outside of the church need to step up and speak out about this issue.

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See below a note from Thomas Allen Harris, introducing this important project:

I am working on a new documentary project about Same Sex marriage from an African American perspective entitled Marriage Equality: Byron Rushing and the Fight for Fairness.

The film was commissioned by Tribeca All Access Program and the Nelson Mandela Foundation in South Africa to highlight individuals who embody the principals of Nelson Mandela. We chose to focus on Massachusetts State Representative and Civil Rights Movement veteran Byron Rushing, who together with a group of progressive Black leaders, successfully confronted African American clergy to win hearts, minds and votes on the emotionally divisive issue of same sex marriage, which is now legal in Massachusetts. Byron, who is straight, is perhaps an unlikely gay hero.

We are currently fundraising through United States Artist’s new social media website. The only hitch is that we have to raise our goal of $10k in order to access any of the funds. Please consider making a donation through the site:  http://projectsite.unitedstatesartists.org/notification/4236

Our goal is to complete the film in September and embark on a large outreach effort to gain support for and dialogue around the connection between Marriage Equality and the Civil Rights Movement within African American secular and religious communities across the country.

No donation is too small. Also, please spread the word to all parties who might be interested in supporting this important project.

Peace & blessings,

Thomas

Marriage Equality: Byron Rushing And The Fight For Fairness

By Thomas Allen Harris

A short documentary that connects the Black civil rights movement with the Lesbian and Gay marriage equality

Photo credits, and for more information on this important issue, visit the links below:
http://renwl.org/news/lgbt-rights/how-we-love-to-play-that-single-issue-blues-the-great-black-gay-cop-out
http://thebigotbasher.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/its-all-quite-simple-really/
http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=965

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