Sponsor-Whale and Ale
|
|
| |
Search by Artist or Event Name |
|
Our Suggestions:
|
 |
Archive
-
November, 2011
-
October, 2011
-
September, 2011
-
August, 2011
-
July, 2011
-
June, 2011
-
May, 2011
-
April, 2011
-
March, 2011
-
February, 2011
-
January, 2011
-
December, 2010
-
November, 2010
-
October, 2010
-
September, 2010
-
August, 2010
-
July, 2010
-
June, 2010
-
May, 2010
-
April, 2010
-
March, 2010
-
February, 2010
-
January, 2010
-
December, 2009
-
November, 2009
-
October, 2009
-
September, 2009
-
August, 2009
-
July, 2009
-
June, 2009
-
May, 2009
-
April, 2009
-
March, 2009
-
February, 2009
-
January, 2009
-
December, 2008
-
November, 2008
-
October, 2008
-
September, 2008
-
August, 2008
-
July, 2008
-
June, 2008
-
May, 2008
-
April, 2008
-
March, 2008
-
February, 2008
-
January, 2008
-
December, 2007
-
November, 2007
-
October, 2007
Home  Community Voices Black & Blue––Battered But Not Broken
|
|
Black & Blue––Battered But Not Broken |
PDF
|
| Print |
|
E-mail
|
|
Written by Nii-Quartelai Quartey
|
|
Friday, 22 May 2009 |
Black people support social justice, not privilege.
Simply put: Like many communities of color, blacks don’t understand and/or believe marriage equality is an extension of the social justice movement working to improve the conditions of their communities and overall quality of life.
Black supporters of Proposition 8 largely view marriage equality as an overreaching effort of white privilege that furthers complicates their faith and families. The black clergy, Catholic Church, and conservative groups have successfully held people of color emotionally and spiritually hostage on this wedge issue and will continue to do so unless trust and equitable relationship building begin to take place by and among people of color and people of faith. I am the son of a brave African American mother who was raised during the height of segregation in the South. In fact, Mom’s sophomore year in high school would mark the beginning of a tumultuous high school experience seared with heart-wrenching memories of integration. She was bussed from a predominantly black community to a neighboring white community as a means to get the education that would become her ticket away to college and later an equitable life in the great state of California.
Memories of white only signs and rocks landing on her friends heads from white hands and classmates as they marched courageously through white mobs yelling expletives not fit to be utteredbor written to ones sworn enemy.
The LGBT community does not have to and has never had to negotiate its humanity when confronted with LGBT-only water fountains, lunch counters, and a second-class status in every facet of life in the same way that African Americans have had to confront historically. Still, today in the great state of California the LGBT community does not have the equal rights that were intended for all.
The great state of California is not equitable and their courage of people like my mother need not be in vain anywhere in this nation. Lead by faith in the justice they had never seen, the vision of equal rights for all people is why my mother and her classmates courageously integrated Manatee High School in Bradenton, Florida, when they were not welcomed or wanted.
Still lead by her Christian faith and tested belief in equality for all, she voted no on Proposition 8 in part because of her objection to those that feel the need to externalize their personal beliefs and interpretation of religious doctrine. A year before his death in 1987, Bayard Rustin, an openly gay unsung civil rights hero, chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, and key advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said:
“Twenty-five, thirty years ago, the barometer of human rights in the United States were black people. That is no longer true. The barometer for judging the character of people in regard to human rights is now those who consider themselves gay, homosexual, or lesbian.” The fight for civil rights was an all-encompassing fight that understood that racial, economic, environmental justice were not exclusive fights but rather an extension of the need for equal rights and full equity under the law, period.
Ironically LGBT justice was not included as a part of the public discourse, similar to the ways in which bisexual and transgender issues are often left out of current discourse on issues related to LGBT rights.
The Courage Campaign, a progressive grassroots/net roots organization fighting for a more equitable California, continues to learn these lessons and has been working hard to integrate these messages into an all-inclusive community engagement strategy aimed at changing hearts and minds with special attention to communities of color. Working in partnership with Robin McGhee, a local Central Valley LGBT activist, and alongside a broad and diverse grassroots army of marriage equality activist, the Courage Campaign will mark the beginning of a new direction and historic era in progressive politics at the Meet in the Middle for Equality march and rally.
Caravans of cars and buses from Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles will descend upon Fresno for the Meet in the Middle for Equality event on the Saturday following the fast approaching California Supreme Court decision. Even organizers as far away as Oregon, Illinois, and Washington D.C. cannot seem to ignore this historic all-inclusive event in the making.
The 2010 California ballot initiative or not, the Courage Campaign and its 700 trained local organizers are committed to engaging constituents in rural and suburban areas across this state by listening to the fears of voters and sharing their own, in an effort to make the case for full marriage equality.
The success of efforts like Meet in the Middle for Equality are rooted in the willingness of the LGBT community and its community partners to show up and move on issues that have a direct impact on the quality of life for communities of color at large without a perceived direct benefit to a narrowly focused agenda.
Still, this will only be a down payment on the trust and commitment to an all-inclusive social justice agenda that many believe to be severely strained. Famed transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: “What lies behind us and lies before us is no matter compared to what lies within us.”
This philosophy has ignited, informed, and developed the LGBT community in what should have been and what can be an all-inclusive movement for equal marriage rights. This cannot happen without you, only with you. Please visit www.couragecampaign.org to join the fight for equal marriage rights and www.meetinthemiddle4equality.com for more information on how you can be a part of what will be a historic march and rally from Selma, California to Downtown Fresno on the Saturday following the decision.
Nii-Quartelai Quartey is the Community Engagement Advisor to the Courage Campaign
|
|
|
Sponsor - Available Space
This space is available.
Box Size is 160x200.
Your ad could be here.
Call (310)519-1442
for more information.
|
Advertise with Us!
Deliver your message to thousands of readers every day.
Our readers are influential opinion makers, community activists, local business owners, and politicians.
Learn more about ads with our 2012 Ad and Publication Schedule.
Call our office at (310)519-1016
or email us for more information.
|
|
