Jason Howard Green

Jason Howard Green

Monday, January 28, 2008

LGBT and the Color Line


I just discovered the Bilerico Project a few days ago. This site which is sub-titled Daily Experiments in LGBTQ, allows various contributors to write about their experiences in our vast rainbow community. Today, I read an article by Monica Roberts that I found fascinating and wanted to share with everyone.

Please go to the link provided to 1) read the great article and 2) review the site and other great writers and posts.

http://www.bilerico.com/2008/01/the_color_line_is_a_glbt_issue_too.php#comments

OMG! Arizona Republic New Managing Editor

WOW. The Arizona Republic just announced their new Vice President: News and Editor. Randy Lovely has agreed to take the top news spot at the paper. Lovely is openly gay and Native-American. He joined the paper in 2002 as the managing editor and was promoted to Executive Editor within three years. He just received the news about his new apointment on Thursday, January 24.


This annoucement makes Lovely the only gay top editor of a major U.S. paper. He is a member of the National Gay & Lesbian Journalist Association.




Congratulations to Randy on his success and his earning this top post. Kudos to the AZ Republic for recognizing Randy for his talent and his contributions. This news may make me subscribe to my cities paper.

Gay versus Black at the DNC


With so much drama at the DNC . . .


A gay outreach worker with the Democratic National Committee has been fired from his job with the national partisan group. He claims he was fired because he is gay. Donald Hitchcock alleges that he was relieved of his position because he advocated for gay issues.


The article in the Souther Voice penned by Kevin Naff and Joshua Lynsen reads like a virtual he said/ she said as accusations are made against Leah Daughtry, an African-American DNC staffer.
A series of emails have surfaced that reflect Hitchcock and his successor Brian Bond making accusations against Daughtry, claiming she is homophobic and that she is plotting against the LGBT community. The emails talk specifically about an election in Alabama where an openly gay Patricia Todd was elected to the legislature against an African-American candidate. The narrow victory was contested but the win did bid some colleagues within the DNC against each other. Hitchcock's language in the emails was called into question.
My mama always said, "If you don't want it come back and haunt you, then don't write it down." I guess people don't realize this applies to emails also.


From reading the article, I tend to think Hitchcock's actions were inappropriate. But I'm a realist and I know there are three sides to every story. So I really shouldn't draw any conclusions from just this one article. But I do want to hear how this turns out.
To read the full article, please visit . . . http://www.sovo.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=16193

First Black Lesbian Mayor

I don't know how I missed this. The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts has elected an out black lesbian to the post of mayor of the city. Denise Simmons now holds the title of the first black lesbian to run a city. She takes the seat of Ken Reeves who was the first Black gay mayor. Simmons was elected into office on Monday January 14. She was elected into office by the Cambridge city counselors in a unanimous vote. Her public tenure has included twelve years as Executive Director of the Civic Unity Committee and sitting on the Cambridge City Council since 2001.
How phenomenal a city is Cambridge to have a same gender-loving man and a same-gender loving woman serve consecutively in this manner. I'm seriously thinking about relocating.



Congratulations Denise Simmons. You inspire me.

Black Gay History Celebration in Britian


thebrotherlove.com just announced this. London's Museum in Docklands will be showing a small art exhibition celebrating black LGBT history of the last 30 years. The exhibit is entitled Outside Edge and the show opens February 7. Then on Saturday, February 23, noted members of their Black LGBT community will be onsite for a provocative discussion.


We need something like this in every city. Kudos to London and the Outside Edge Project.


Please visit the following links to learn more . . .



FYI - the In The Life Celebration will be coming to Phoenix. This will be our opportunity to recognize those Black LGBT individuals that are omitted from history in spite of their tremendous contributions to our country's development. Please visit www.myspace.com/soulpurposeaz to learn more.
Will post more on this event soon.


Barack Takes South Carolina

And there you have it. Barack won the South Carolina primary 2 to 1 over Hillary Clinton. There are some amazing things that came out of these results. First, the huge trump over Clinton shows that he has the ability to get people out to the polls. The number of people that voted for Barack were more than those that voted for Republican candidates John McCain and Mike Huckabee combined. These numbers are also impressive because South Carolina is a red state. This is a state that generally votes Republican.

What does this mean for the Clinton campaign? I can't answer that question. Is her current strategy not working or did it just not work in South Carolina?

This victory of Barack means that he has two wins and Hillary has two wins.

Let's see what Super Tuesday brings us.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Tandi Iman is Wonder Woman

God I love YouTube. Time just flies by when I log on. So now, I've decided to share some of my faves with you. Each week I'll post a video that I think is amazing.

Below is a performance by Ms. Tandi Iman Dupree. Go in bitch - let have. I loved, loved, loved this performance. Let me know what you think.


Janet Receiving GLAAD Recognition

Ya'll know I love me some Janet. But I still can't bring myself to say I'm enjoying her latest video. I've heard the upcoming album is supposed to put Ms. Jackson (I call her Ms. Jackson cause I'm nasty) back on top of the charts by focusing on danceable club hits instead of radio hits. If that's the case, I don't think they're succeeding with this first single. No matter what she releases I've no doubt I will buy it and love it.


Today I was purusing through some of my fave blogs and Rod 2.0 just announced that GLAAD will have Janet as a special honoree in their upcoming media awards. Janet has been a friend of the kids for years now and I feel she totally deserves this honor. Looking foward to seeing this when it airs.

Black LGBT Presidential Forum in L.A.

Today, the African-American LGBT community in L.A. is hosting the first presidential forum to discuss the issues relative to our community and the race to the White House. Contenders from both parties have been invited to attend. The event will be hosted by my favorite blogger Jasmyne Cannick and star of season 3 College Hill Ray Cunningham. I won't hold my breath in thinking that any of the candidates will accept the invitation. But I love the fact that this event happening.

The black LGBT community is becoming more and more visible and eventually all candidates will realize that our voice is important also. I love this quote from Jasmyne Cannick - "when you’re black and gay, marriage may not be the defining issue for you in comparison to putting food on the table and having a roof over your head. Hopefully, this forum will shed light on the issues that black gays see as being most important while letting our presidential candidates know that our voices and votes count too and that all gays aren’t white and all blacks aren’t homophobic or heterosexual and our vote is not to be taken for granted or our voices ignored."


Can't wait to hear how the night went, who turned out, and what all happened.

MLK in Phoenix

So Monday I went down to Margaret T. Hance park for the annual celebration of the MLK holiday. And again I was elated to see so many beautiful black people coming together for a positive reason. Often I hear people complaining that there are no black people here or we can't get together without fighting (and usually that is the case regarding this gathering). But Monday was a day of celebration, a day of diversity, and a day of non-violence. Martin Luther King would have been very proud of this commemoration. The picture above was actually taken at the park.

Monday, January 21, 2008

HAPPY MLK DAY

To those that took today off to celebrate the life of our greatest civil rights leader, Happy Martin Luther King day. I made my annual pilgrimage downtown to Margaret T. Hance park to participate with hundreds of others. It was a great celebration and I'll post more about those festivities later.

But I want to take a moment to thank Martin Luther King and all the other leaders that helped in the fight - Malcolm X, Hewey Newton, Angela Davis, Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, A. Phillip Randolf, The Black Panther Party, Marcus Garvey just to name a few. Also please remember those thousands of individuals that sacrificed life and limb so that our world could be just a little bit better.

With each generation, the world is getting more and more color blind. But I'm still a realist and know we still don't live in an ideal world. But hallelujah, look how far we've come.

Coretta Scott King: Gay Rights Activist

There has been much debate about the parallels (or lack thereof) between the black civil rights struggle and the LGBT civil rights struggle. There are some that claim the gay community is a priviledged community that has suffered nothing. There are some that claim the the LGBT community is one entered by choice and therefore members are subject to all of the consequences.

But on this day of celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, I would like to comment on his widow, the remarkable Coretta Scott King. Coretta continued the fight for equality long after the assassination of her husband. But Coretta recognized the need for equality for all.

Some of her quotes are listed below.
"I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice," she said. "But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'" "I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people,"


"Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood. This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group."

"Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination."

You Inspire Me: Bayard Rustin

In honor of MLK day, I think it is appropriate to pay homage to an individual whose contributions to the Civil Rights Movement equalled those of Martin Luther King. Bayard Rustin is a name that unfortunately is not known in all households. However, if it were not for Rustin, the historic March on Washington that culminated with the King I Have a Dream speech would never have happened.
Bayard is the individual that taught King the principles of nonviolent protests and how to use civil disobedience as an effective demonstration tactic.
Rustin was openly homosexual. His decision to live his life honestly did raise a few eyebrows with some leaders in the movement and some encouraged Martin to distance himself and the movement from Bayard. And thought Martin did temporarily buy into the scare tactic, he did eventually realize that the movment would not be succesful without Bayard and his tremondous talent for organizing and mobilizing people into action.
It's important to realize the strength and character needed to remain true to yourself and still be effective in your influence in the face of people that despise you. Bayard was so good at rallying people together that other leaders in the movement saw his contributions to the cause not his homosexuality.
There is a wealth of resources if you would like to learn more about this remarkable individual. Please watch Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin. There are also several books that will help. They include Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin, Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin, and Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

New Weekly Post - You Inspire Me

Okay - so I've decided that I want to do something to pay homage to those individuals that encourage me. And for that reason I am launching a weekly post entitled "You Inspire Me." Each week I will profile some individual that has had a profound impact on me. The first person I have chosen to profile will be Pat Parker.

You Inspire Me: Pat Parker

Pat Parker is my all time favorite poet. She was upfront and honest about who she was in everything she wrote - black, feminist, lesbian, and unshamedly so. All LGBT persons of color should possess at least one book by her. Her poem below is my favorite.

For staights folks that don't mind gays . . .
You know, some people got a lot of nerve. Sometimes I don’t believe the things I see and hear.
Have you met the woman who’s shocked by two women kissing and in the same breath, tells you she's pregnant? BUT gays, shouldn’t be blatant.
Or the straight couple who sit next to you in a movie and you can’t hear the dialogue because of the sound effects. BUT gays shouldn’t be blatant.
And the woman in your office, spends your whole lunch hour talking about her new bikini drawers and how much her husband likes them. BUT gays shouldn’t be blatant.
Or the “hip” chick in your class rattling a mile a minute while you’re trying to get stoned in the john, about the camping trip she took with her musician boyfriend. BUT gays shouldn’t be blatant.
You go in a public bathroom and all over the walls there’s: “John loves Mary”, “Janice digs Richard”, “Pepe loves Delores”, etc., etc. BUT gays shouldn’t be blatant.
Or your go to the amusement park and there’s the ‘tunnel of love’and pictures of straights painted on the front; and grinning couples coming in and out. BUT gays shouldn’t be blatant.
Fact is, blatant heterosexuals are all over the place.Supermarkets, movies, on your job, in church, in books, on television - every dayand night, every place -- even, gay bars!And they want gay men and woman to go and hide in the closets.
So to you straight folks I say, “Sure! I’ll go - if you go too!” “BUT I’m polite so, after you.”

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

WHO KNEW?

She's done it. Hillary Clinton has won the New Hampshire primary. I'm not sure what to say. So many polls had Obama as the candidate taking this race tonight. But this makes things so much more interesting. There is no front runner.
Clinton has regained the women's vote (a vote captured by Barack in the Iowa race). Several times in her speech tonight she alluded to young voters - a demographic she has been suffering with until now.
Congratulations to the senator on tonight's victory. Things are about to get hot and heavy in South Carolina. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Barack Pulling Ahead

Aftering reviewing the New Hampshire debate on CNN, I stated that you can't count Hillary out just yet. I thought she was very convincing on that night sharing how she was both the candidate of experience and the candidate of change simultaneously. But after viewing several different polls taken today in New Hampshire, I think Barack has done it again. We won't know for certain until tomorrow night and you must remember that polls are just don't decide the winner, they're just a guess of how things may go.
But what if? What will happen if Barack takes New Hampshire? The Obama momentum may be unstoppable. But a review of delegates already assigned in various states show Hillary far ahead of Barack.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Don't Count Her Out

Okay , I just finished watching the New Hampshire debates and must say I can't wait to see what happens. Hillary, who just came in third in the Iowa primary has removed the gloves. Now I won't say that it got ugly, but Hillary did call Barack on the fact that he has changed positions on several issues through the course of his campaign.



She was very sharp and to the point. But will that translate into votes. Although she continues stressing that she is a candidate for change, people are lost in her verbage that she has the "experience" to show this. I personally think that among the Democratic candidates, Hillary won this one. But victory cannot be claimed until Tuesday.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Barack Wins Iowa

WOW! He really did it. Barack Obama has won the Iowa primary for the Democratic Party. OMGWTF. This is huge. Iowa, a state with less than four percent black people, has stated that they support Obama for the candidacy of President of the United States. And he won overwhelmingly, beating Edwards (who took 30% of the votes) and Clinton (who took only 29% of the votes). The momentum he gains as a result of winning this primary is phenomenal. The next two showdowns will reveal a lot. New Hampshire is next on the calendar. Then South Carolina. Many political analysts now believe that the lead Hillary had in South Carolina will end because of tonight's results. Many African-Americans were hesitant to support Obama because they feared his campaign would not translate to white votes. Tonight's primary showed that his support is not defined by race. This victory could mean many people jumping off the Clinton trail and throwing their support toward Barack. Let's see what happeneds next.
But if you didn't pay attention to the paragraph above, you missed the other big story. Hillary Clinton came in THIRD in this primary. Again - WTF. There were many that believed that Clinton's capturing the Democratic nomination was inevitable. Tonight showed that Hillary is not the shoe in everyone everyone thought she would be. She thought she had the woman vote. That went to Barack. Early during her campaigning, her strenght was her experience. But she quickly realized that change is what people want. So now, she has become the candidate for change (a bit too late, Barack already has that title).
And regarding the Republican candidates, there was another shocker. Huckabee was the star tonight. This happened in spite the fact that Romney has much, much more money and irregardless of the mud tossing that happened in the campaigning.
Were you surprised by what happened tonight in Iowa? I'd like to hear how you felt about tonight's results and what do you think will happen next. Does Hillary need to change her strategy? Does she have time to change her strategy? Will people now switch to Barack?
Holla back.



Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Regina Gazelle - Woman of the Year

Echo magazine has named their woman of the year for 2007 - and the honor goes to the very deserving Regina Gazelle. I've known Regina for several years and can honestly say this award has been bestowed upon the perfect person.
She has always been active in the community and last year we witnessed the culmination of her hard work, her sweat and her tears come to fruition. That happened with the opening of her facility - This Is HOW: Honesty, Openmindedness, Willingness. This is HOW is a halfhouse for transgendered individuals. She is providing sheter and counseling for individuals shunned by society because of gender identity. I am so very proud of Regina for her never tiring efforts in giving back to the community and would like to commend Echo Magazine for their recognition of this phenomenal woman.

I love me some Regina and know that their are many brilliant things ahead for her.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

keithboykin.com - farewell and goodluck

Blogger extraordinaire Keith Boykin annouced his plans of shutting down his site several weeks ago. His very busy schedule has demanded that he walk away from the tedious task of maintaining a daily blog. At the end of 2007 we saw the closing of keithboykin.com. I was on Keith's site several times a week finding out what was happening in the world of those gay and black. Although I will miss the site, I wish Keith well in all of his endeavors. I'm sure there are many fabulous things on the horizon for this dynamic writer, speaker, lawyer.

There will be a void in the blogosphere but I ain't mad boy - do your thing.