Saturday, February 28, 2009

GLBT Black History Day, Unofficial

The day will come when Black History Month will stop being an exclusively heterosexual affair. I know that tons of black folk are loathe to acknowledge that there is, and always has been, a black GLBT community. Yet, as one who is a part of that slice of the black community, I am proud of the people in our past who created change. On this last day of Black History Month, all I am going to do is provide names and links to black historical figures (not an exhaustive list) who were also a part of the GLBT community.

It's long overdue, and we in the black GLBT community have to speak for those in our past who could, or did, not. Enjoy.

Bayard Rustin
Alain Locke
Ma Rainey
James Baldwin
Barbara Jordan
Alvin Ailey
Angelina Weld Grimke
Audre Lorde
Glenn Burke
Billy Strayhorn
Lucille Bogan
Andre Leon Talley
Angela Davis

4 comments:

BLKSeaGoat said...

I'd add to that list

June Jordan, Essex Hemphill, Wanda Alston, Sylvester, Kieth Boykin, Donna Payne, Donna Brazile, Phil Wilson, Marlon Riggs,

Better Guy X said...

I thought that was Memorial Day Weekend in DC?

Anonymous said...

um, Langston Hughes

hscfree said...

@anonymous: Langston got his own entry, and I wanted to go for people who aren't as well know (and the list was hardly exhaustive). Thanks for stopping by though, and please come back.