Just a guy, striving to be a good person and an even better bottom
With the unavoidable amount of coverage of issues around immigration and deportation in the U.S., there’s one prevailing narrative among a portion of Black people. There’s an argument that Black activists, organizers and others in our communities need not put our time and efforts into addressing immigration because “that’s not our issue.”
This is an entirely nonsensical (albeit very much typical) stance for several reasons: [Read more…]
No need for a fancy lead-in. Let’s just pick up where we left off from part 3.
Black cishet men, in particular, draw the most ire from me. Not only are they a primary source of direct violence towards Black LGBTQ people, but the so-called “woke allies” of that demographic refuse to step up and say anything. There’s no real social clout to be gained from affirming Black LGBTQ identities…and, in fact, there’s more to lose. As I’ve said in previous work, in this colonized idea of Black masculinity, “Gay” is considered the worst thing a man can be. Therefore, men are deathly afraid of any proximity to it. So, if cishet men were to stand up and affirm us (like their performative politic would clam that they do), then they stand to be deemed “Gay,” which leads to the risk of being ostracized. And since most cishet men are spineless trash and lack the fortitude required to actually stand up as an individual, they’re unwilling to risk the potential backlash that comes with centering Black Gay men, Trans women and other Black LGBTQ identities in their day-to-day work.
Now, cishet men are the absolute worst offenders, but I think we also have to be honest in acknowledging that some cishet Black Feminists/Womanists are also often terribly inadequate in putting their “intersectional” theory into actual practice. They’ll spout the theory all day (again, for retweets and follows…some of these folks depend on their “platforms,” as well), but will turn around and be as silent as their cishet male counterparts in the times when it really counts.
That awkward moment when your idea of “intersectionality” stops at (cishet) Black women. [Read more…]
So, at the time of this being published, we’re 2 weeks from National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. I think this is as good of a time as any to finally do a piece tackling the subject of HIV/AIDS among Black men who sleep with men (or MSM in scientific terms). I was motivated to write about this after coming across this documentary on the epidemic levels of HIV among Black, Gay men in Jackson, MS. This started as a thread on Twitter, but I felt this topic was more than due the attention of a full post.
Plus, I just recently passed my 3-year “Poz-aversary” (yes…I just made that up), so I’ll always be heavily invested.
Thanks to follower Taji for sending me this great documentary
When we talk about the HIV/AIDS epidemic among Gay men, in general, there’s often an air of (homophobia-driven) judgement and condescension, dripping with implications that any of us who contract the virus “deserve it” for our “immoral” behavior. And when you add in the racism of addressing Black, Gay men, that attitude only grows…even from other Gay men.
Now, for argument’s sake, let’s entertain that this idea of HIV being an issue of “immorality” among us, might actually have some merit, and isn’t complete and total bullshit. Even if we wanted to go along with that idea, that perhaps, Black Gay men see higher rates of HIV/AIDS due to “immorality,” well…maybe so…but it’s not immorality on our part. [Read more…]
In case you’re unaware, there’s been a lot of talk around the human compost heap that we call Kim Burrell, thanks to a recent “sermon” she gave, laced with homophobia.
Kim Burrell: “If you, as a man, open your mouth and take a man’s penis in your face…YOU ARE PERVERTED!!!”
Me: pic.twitter.com/C5saZe8LxG
— Bishop C.D’z. Cakez? (@angryblackhoemo) December 31, 2016
And her timing was fascinating, considering she’s apparently supposed to be appearing on Ellen DeGeneres’s show in a few days. So because of that, many people have been expressing their anticipation of what Ellen will have to say in addressing Kim’s homophobic comments. Many essentially want Ellen to drag Kim to hell and back. And, well…first, just so we’re perfectly clear: Kim Burrell is trash…fuck her, fuck her life and fuck this warped version of a “god” that she claims to speak for. In fact I’d love to start out this new year with Kim, and all other homophobes like her, finally downing that pint of Clorox. But here’s the deal… [Read more…]
(This post is formerly titled “If You Don’t Vote, You Can’t Complain”…well, actually…)
Another election season is upon us and the stakes are sky-high (…well…that’s what people keep insisting). However, despite this, the overall enthusiasm around this year’s most “viable” candidates is as low as I can recall there ever being for an election.
Now, I have absolutely no idea why people wouldn’t be excited about candidates like Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, but excitement is low, nonetheless — evidenced by the fact some of the most popular hashtags around these two are #NeverTrump and (my fav) #GirlIGuessImWithHer. So, as a result, some of the expected election season rhetoric is coming back up to “encourage” (hint: guilt & shame) people to get out to the polls come November. One of my long-time favorite tactics is the classic phrase, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”
