9 minute read
The Future is Black Celebrating Our Blackness
Big Queer Convo Getting Personal About the Equality Act’s Potential Impacts on the Black LGBTQ Community
Advertisement
• SHARON-FRANKLIN BROWN
Sharon-Franklin Brown, the Center’s chief human resources officer, was once fired from a job because she’s transgender.
It’s one of the reasons why passage of the Equality Act, which would add sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is deeply personal to her.
“Everyone deserves the right to live as their authentic self,” Brown said during the Center’s Big Queer Convo about the Equality Act and its impacts on the Black LGBTQ community. “This particular act would actually send a clear message to everyone that our lives matter and that we should have the same rights and liberties that are afforded to everyone and equal protection under the law.”
Brown was joined by Tyrone Hanley, senior policy counsel for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, for the February 24 virtual conversation moderated by the Center’s Director of Advocacy and Mobilization Joey Hernández as part of the Center’s The Future is Black series held during Black History Month.
Some version of the Equality Act has been put forth in Congress every year since the 1970s. But this year is seen as its best chance yet at finally becoming law. It would provide national, consistent non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people regarding employment, housing, credit, education, federally funded programs, public spaces, and jury service. Anti-LGBTQ discrimination is currently legal in 29 states.
“It will provide some great relief for people across the country who don’t have those protections under state and local law,” explained Hanley. “People [currently] have to make these decisions of ‘Do I want to be open about my sexuality or my gender identity and potentially expose myself to discrimination if it means I can’t access basic things that I need to survive?’ That is very scary, and people should not have to make those decisions about their lives.”
Brown and Hanley shared how their life experiences have shaped their advocacy and made them keenly aware of the importance of LGBTQ protections on a federal level.
“I try not to get emotional when I talk about where we’ve come as Black folks,” Brown said at one point. “But it’s hard to not get emotional given I grew up poor in the cotton fields of the Deep South in Louisiana, and there were constant barriers put in place simply because I was Black. And then when you add gender identity on top of that—that intersectionality—it just adds more.”
Hanley also grew up impoverished and was raised by a single lesbian mother.
“I know very intimately how much Black, low-income LGBTQ people are at the mercy of the powerful and the privileged that can make life and death decisions about their lives,” he said. “Particularly when you are living in poverty, you constantly are put in these situations where people discriminate against you. You could potentially not get access to the things that you need in order to survive.”
If the Equality Act becomes law, Brown points out that it “doesn’t necessarily remove the cloak of discrimination.”
“That has to happen within the hearts and minds of each individual,” she said. “But it sends a message that you have some recourse if you are discriminated against for some reason. The dream is this: one day, regardless of who you are, you have the opportunity to live your authentic life free of harassment and discrimination—and there’s equal protection under the law if you need it.”
• TYRONE HANLEY
Watch the full conversation at
lalgbtcenter.org/BQC
dream is one day, The regardless of who you are, you have the opportunity authentic life to live your
—and there's equal protection under the law if you need it. - Sharon-Franklin Brown
Program Spotlight Center’s Social Group for Black Seniors Provides Perspective During Black History Month and Beyond
• CLARENCE R. WILLIAMS
The first meeting of Ebony Sage Circle to take place after the killing of George Floyd last May had to be virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the devastation and rage among the participants was palpable on the computer screens.
“There was a lot of emotion—heavy emotion,” recalls Clarence R. Williams, one of the co-founders of this Center Senior Services social group. “For once, this modern-day lynching of a Black man before the world just brought up everything—with participants saying, ‘No more! This needs to change, and change right now, because we cannot step into the rest of this century with all of this lingering from 50 or 60 years ago. We have to fix this now.’”
Open to all Black–identified participants, Ebony Sage Circle aims to promote self-awareness, quality of life, learning, and unity of the Black voice in the LGBT community. The group’s programming combines social, educational, and instructional elements.
“Many of us grew up in the 1960s and 70s. Some of us participated in the early protests and marches for gay and lesbian rights,” Williams says of his fellow Ebony Sage Circle participants. “This group is even more important now. We want to keep the space open because people need the reason to connect because of isolation and personal needs—even if it’s just a good conversation and an opportunity to cry and commiserate.”
The group normally meets in person each month and enjoys activities such as visits to the California African-American Museum, dance parties, and annual trips to the Pan-African Film Festival. In 2019 the group was presented with the inaugural Freedom Riders Award at the Center’s The Future is Black celebration held during Black History Month. The award is given to an organization or group that strives to do outstanding and impactful work in the Black community.
Williams, who spent years working for the Congressional Black Caucus, accepted the award for the group on that day.
“There’s an African proverb that says: ‘Until the lion gets to tell his story, the hunters will always tell theirs,’” he told the audience. “Through our lens, we are hoping to make a difference here at the Center and actually create more of our living history with millennials here and to continue our stories.”
Ebony Sage Circle started four years ago by a group of seniors who had been part of the Center’s Black History Month planning committee.
“You become a certain age, and the clubbing thing becomes something that you no longer care about. But, you still want to meet people, you still want to have social intercourse in a meaningful way,” Williams explains. “With expansion of the Center, we have so many youth here—a lot of Black youth—and it’s really important right now for us to start doing more intergenerational work.”
Once it is safe to do so, Williams hopes the group can resume recording oral histories in the form of conversations with Black youth.
“There’s a learning that takes place in that,” he says. “Many of our older folk have an incredible, rich history that never gets told, that never gets shared, and that has value especially to a younger person. They can be supported and be inspired and know they can reach higher, they can be more, they can be great.”
The Center’s Senior Services also included an array of special activities scheduled during Black History Month, including movie screenings, a book club, and workshops.
“In order to move the country forward, we all need to be part of a movement for racial justice and equity,” Senior Services Director Kiera Pollock wrote as part of the February issue of the Center’s senior newsletter. “This means listening, reading, learning, and engaging with each other, especially when it’s hard. Senior Services will continue to offer programming and opportunities for this growth and activism—not just during Black History Month but every month.”
To learn more about the Center’s Senior Services, including upcoming activities and workshops, visit lalgbtcenter.org/seniors
how to write,
every story will glorify the hunter.
• JASMINE DAVIS
In Conversation Cast Members from The Chi Discuss Impact, Importance of LGBTQ Visibility
• MIRIAM A. HYMAN AKA ROBYN HOOD
"Don't ask the world
While in Chicago preparing to shoot another season of Showtime’s The Chi, Jasmine Davis and Miriam A. Hyman aka Robyn Hood took time out to help the Center celebrate Black History Month with a captivating virtual conversation.
They opened up about LGBTQ representation on their own show and television overall, and shared some powerful words of wisdom during the Center's The Future is Black event on February 25.
The Chi, created by Center supporter Lena Waithe, focuses on life in a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. Davis plays Imani, the show’s first transgender character.
“I love what Showtime and The Chi are doing. We’re opening people’s eyes to life, co-existing with others,” Davis said. “That’s our job to educate and entertain, to inspire. When you see this on TV, when your child goes out into the world or when you go out to a workplace, you’re not that ignorant, you’re not that fearful because we are depicting them in a human way.”
Hyman portrays Dre, a high school guidance counselor who happens to be a lesbian with two stepchildren. Hyman, also a songwriter and hip-hop lyricist who records music under the name Robyn Hood, applauded the show’s diversity and its impact on society.
“Because of the fact that Black people have been sort of shoved to the side, it’s really important for us to amplify our voices, to be heard, and to be listened to because we have some really powerful messages.” Hyman said. “What I really admire [about The Chi] is this level of diversity. I love the fact that there are a lot of people tuning in who might not normally tune in because they are seeing their likeness.”
The conversation between Davis and Hyman got personal when they discussed what words of hard-earned wisdom they wanted to share with younger people who might be struggling.
Hyman recommended always being “honest, open, and truthful.”
“It’s that idea of being true to who you are, being true to the things that you want, your dreams, your aspirations,” she said. “It’s not letting anybody, anything, hold you back whether it’s a close family member, mother, father, sister, brother, whatever. Putting that all to the side. Selflove is so important.”
For Davis, it’s also about self-love and about finding your truth.
“Don’t ask the world to love you,” she advised. “Love yourself and you will not depend on anybody else’s love. Do whatever you want to do. It’s your life. No one can tell you how to live it regardless of what they say. Whoever you want to date, whoever you want to love, whatever career choice, do you. The only person who can make you happy is you.”
Watch the full conversation at
