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The BMX-NY  Gatekeepers  e-NewsletterAPRIL  15th, 2011
Black Men's Xchange-National

 
In This Week's Gatekeepers Issue
This Friday's Topic:
BE THE CHANGE: Same Gender Loving Men As Change Agents
BMX National News: BMX Annual National Leadership Summit & Retreat
Friday Forum Recap (04|01|11): It Helped In The Past, But Now It Hurts: Are Some "Cultural Traditions" Examples of Normalized Oppression?
Upcoming Topics: BMX- NY 2011 Spring Calendar
BMX: A Historical Flashback
Community Corner Announcements
SGL Black Sheroes:
Bessie Smith
The Bawabisi SGL Symbol
About BMX- NY...
BMX Mission Statement
Black Men's Xchange-New York Gatekeepers e-Newsletter Archive Homepage

 

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Welcome To The Black Men's Xchange-New York (BMX-NY) Gatekeepers e-Newsletter. This e-newsletter is for the gathering on Friday, April 15th, 2011.

 
 



Brothers, please if you would take the time and tell us about your experience at a BMX-NY meeting. This is a confidential Survey with no names required. We appreciate your time and comments as we continue to try and make your experience at BMX-NY one of true community. 
     

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BROTHERS! Although not required, BRINGING A POTLUCK DISH AND/OR BEVERAGE of your choosing would be a generous offering for the repast after the group discussion! Your offering defrays a cost to the organization.  Also, end of gathering DONATIONS are also greatly appreciated, too. THANK YOU!

ACHE!

BMX-NY Steering Commitee

BMXNY.org 

   

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Topic  For  This  Friday,  April  15th,  2011       

 

BE THE CHANGE:

Same Gender Loving Men As Change Agents
 

Facilitated by Anthony Truly   

 

 

FIRE!! Banner Heading 

 FIRE!!! Book Cover 

 

In 1926, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman, Aaron Douglas, Richard Bruce Nugent, Gwendolyn Bennett

and John P. Davis created FIRE!!*

THEY WERE CHANGE AGENTS WHO DARED! 

 

*Click the FIRE!! cover above to purchase a replica copy of the 1926 original from Fire Press.   

   

 Langston HughesZora Heale Hurston 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wallace Thurman

 

Pictured Above (clockwise):

Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman 

 

 

Is there a difference between your generation of SGL men and the one before? If so, how would you describe it?

 

 

What challenges do SGL men face today?

 

 

How do you think society perceives Black homosexuals today?

 

 

How, if at all, are the challenges we face different than those confronting the larger Black community?

 

 

Are you satisfied with the social standing of SGL men in the community and the world?

 

 

What, if anything do we need to do to change the perception others have of us?

 

 

Tim'm West - Soul Rebel 

 TIm'm West

(SGL Spoken Word Artist, Rapper, Writer, Professor, Activist) 

 

 

Which, if any SGL person do you believe has made a positive change for the Black community?

 

 

Do we need to try to change things in the Black community? If so, which things?

 

 

 


     

 

BMX  National  News        


BMX Annual National Leadership Summit & Retreat: "Healing, Strategic Intelligence,

Self-Love & Discovery"

 

Vineyard 1 

 

West Sonoma Inn & Spa Entrance Sign 

 

Friday, May 6th - Monday, May 9th, 2011

@ West Sonoma Inn & Spa Center

In Guerneville, California

 

Courtyard Room 

 

 

Pool Deck (Close-up) 

 

 

BMX-NY SBC Forum IMG_5202

 

 

CLICK ANY OF THE ABOVE PICTURES

TO BE RE-DIRECTED TO THE  

BMX NATIONAL E-FLYER WEBSITE

TO VIEW ALL RETREAT INFORMATION!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday  Forum  Recap

(Topic  Hi-lites  From  Friday,  April  1st,  2011)  

      
  

It  Helped  In  The  Past, But  Now  It  Hurts:

Are  Some  "Cultural  Traditions" Examples  of

Normalized  Oppression?

 

Facilitated  by  JM Green 

Soul Food

During Friday's exchange, Brothers considered the possibility that some Black "cultural traditions" might involve instances of normalized oppression from the following vantage points:

 

 

How delicate are soul food delicacies?

 

"I grew up in the Caribbean, but I had collard greens with the pork in it, baked macaroni and cheese...Johnnie cakes were a tradition...Just flour and water and baking soda..."

 


"I've had too many relatives get their toes chopped off...It's sickening...We go to these family reunions [where all this unhealthy food is served]..."


"I eat bad food...I work all week, move around a lot...[and] high fructose corn syrup is in everything...Our lives are more difficult than just fifteen years ago...Sometimes, I'll cook for a week...then I fall off...It's hard to keep up [with everything I have to do]..."


{Facilitator asks, "You say it's more difficult for us now than it was just fifteen years ago, but part of the reason we're taking up this subject is to give ourselves an opportunity to look at our behavior through an historical lens...Do you think it's harder for us than it was for Black people fifty, sixty, a hundred years ago...Forget our enslaved ancestors?..."}


"No, I don't think we have it harder... We're responsible for where we are today..."


"It's all about your life...How you live, what you think...You own your destiny...What you live is how you live...You are totally responsible for your life...You can make excuses about what you're not in  control of, but actually you are...I think you have to look inside yourself to control some of the things [you do that are unhealthy]...It's not so [mysterious]..."


"Reaching my middle years and watching so many of my brothers die...Misery does not love company...Our diet is literally killing us...Every morning I get up and I am glad I feel my toes...And, I make no excuses about my diet...There should be no excuses about this..."


"Sometimes you're so busy...It sounds like in the past...We had to do what we had to do...But now, it's like water seeks its own level...It's always talked about in our community...While we're all on different levels...It's all about each one teach one...We've got to shift it...We talk all the time about uplifting the community...Once you have a certain consciousness...How can we not know that [we have a responsibility to ourselves and each other]...I used to go with a gentleman who drove a nice car, and he would go to the gas station and fill it up, making a big deal about how he would only use high octane gasoline, and then drive to a Mc Donald's for lunch...[Our capacity to heal ourselves and our community] starts with what we put in our bodies...Now, it's so second nature to me [that] I know all the places in the community that sell healthy food...Just like we have to be strategic about our career[s]...I cook...I carry lunch...There's a juicer, a blender...The sustenance of our community depends on our eating better...It's not rocket science...If you've just got a little left on your food stamp card, if you get vegetables in the farmers market, they're much cheaper than the fast or processed food [you find in the local groceries]..."

 

 

Santa Claus   

 

What effect might telling our children that, on December 25th a cherubic white man will bring them presents down the chimney have on the Black psyche?

 

"It makes us feel like we're not important...Not valuable...Invisible..."

 

"How can that be?...As a child, I don't remember thinking, 'That kid is White, Asian, Indian'...I don't think it has a negative effect...As a child, I didn't see the image of Santa as negative..."

 

{Facilitator says, "I think the intention of the question is to consider the ramifications of the tradition of teaching Black children about a White Santa Claus might have on us as adults..."}

 

"Well no...We didn't have a lot of money when I was a child and I remember there being a Christmas tree with nothing under it, and in the morning it was showered with presents...and it was wonderful..."

 

"We gotta' understand different people have different experiences...Those outside influences are going to affect us, and we're not necessarily [going to] be aware of it...And people shouldn't be judged..."

 

{Facilitator says, "Thank you...You are absolutely right...those outside influences do affect us differently [from one to the next of us]...And, frequently we are not aware of how they affect us...And that is precisely why we are having this dialogue...what BMX exists to do... [is] to shed light on some of those affects...To the extent that they may not influence us to be such self-loving, self-respecting and empowered Black men as we can be...You are also absolutely right that we can not facilitate each other to recognizing those instances if we judge each other..."}

 

"We're from different generations...What I experienced...I liken [teaching Black children about a White Santa] to giving a Black child a White doll..."

 

{Facilitator says, "Excellent analogy...And, do you ever see Black parents with their young children toting white dolls?"}  [Collective] "Yes..."

 

"There was this Brother we used to call Midnight...He was so beautifully African-featured...We were trying to get a date with him, but he would only date fat, older White men...And, for doing this [BMX], I realized that, he was chasing the Ken doll...It's Pavlovian [behavior modification] where you keep ringing the bell until the dog responds the way you want it to, so that the dog will begin to exhibit the behavior [independent] of the stimulus..."

 

"What changed my mind about racial issues was when I was treated unfairly...I was eighteen...in a gas station buying something from a vending machine and a guy came out and asked me to come in...He asked me, "Did you try to get into that car over here?"...I said, "No, I just got here"...He didn't believe me [and brought other White people to interrogate me]..."

 

"We have to be careful...When it's time to look at the things that have had a negative impact on us, it's painful...But we have to look at the implications..."

 

"As a people we don't know our history...If we knew more about us...If we had more images of things that affirmed us [we'd be less conflicted]...I don't remember if I saw Santa Claus as a White man as a child, but I know it affected [my sense about Black people]..."

 

"This is why I think [teaching Black children about the image of a White Santa] is dangerous...My Christmases were always wonderful...But, when I came to New York, I never put up a tree...The negative effect of believing a White person is coming to your house to bring you presents is a crystallization of the Cato Kalen [O.J. Simpson's White house guest] syndrome...It teaches us to value a White person's words over a Black's...It teaches us to value materialism...Even in this room, I've had to defend Black people like Al Sharpton...I believe he's staunchly invested in Black people's uplift...[But] we can be trained to be agents of White supremacy and not even know it...And it comes from our childhood...Santa, Jesus...I only had one Black male teacher growing up..."

 

 

Christianity 1559_1 

 

What, if any impact might a White image of Jesus have on us?

 

"My father was an artist...A Black man...[He] always depicted Jesus as African American...My mother was White, conversely...Because my father was from a very impoverished background, and my mother was from a privileged background...My father was never allowed to visit my [White] grands' home...But, I can see how a White image of Jesus could be destructive...I have a very articulated White man in my head who tells me things against myself..."

 

"When I was thirteen, I was pulled out of the worst neighborhood in Brooklyn and put in an all-white prep school [by a White man]...While all the time there was all manner of dysfunction at home, I was ever under the impression that White people were evil...And then, I had White people attack me for having the nerve to come and take the prize [of an elite education]...[The problem of] a White image of a Jesus is that it might give White people cart blanche [in our minds]...Giving carte blanche to White people...You can't do that...I was training at Columbia Presbyterian [and treated like shit by Blacks and Whites]...I have to know if you've bought into that sick, sordid mindset of White privilege..."

 

"We've all been taught to insure the empowerment of White people...The Dominicans...Who are 80% Black [don't want to see themselves as Black]...Are there bad Black people?...Yes...But, they're bad for a reason...We've been taught not to trust each other...When I come across an unhealthy Black person, I have empathy for him...I try to facilitate him..."

 

"There is something called Covert Conditioning...Without saying anything to you...Manipulating the way I think with symbolism...A picture of a White Jesus can reinforce the thought that White people are better...And when it's Counter-Conditioned [the beliefs that have been conditioned]...with Jesus as Black, you get this up-swell [of disorientation]...Learning your history, you get this Counter-Conditioning...So, when you challenge one's conditioning, it's frightening, and so, you must buffer it [so as not to traumatize the person]..."

 

"I was studying to be a monk and was concerned about the fact that I was the only Black, and that, whenever I closed my eyes and saw Jesus, he was White...And, a monk who I adored told me to go to the Blessed Sacrament where people meditate...[While there] I saw a vision of Jesus as Egun...An African ancestor...And, He was Black...He was reaching out to me to take His hand while he was being crucified...And, it took me ten minutes to be able to take His hand...But, I did...And, ever since, I've seen Him as Black...Then I went to the other monks and said, "Why aren't there more Black people here?"...they said, "That's why you're here...To bring them..."

 

 

When does corporal punishment become abusive?

 

"I find corporal punishment fascinating...It's still legal in schools in about twenty states...In the Black community, there's a lot of comedy around it and around bad credit and being broke...I think it's child abuse...There seems [to me] to be no reason for a large person to hit a small person...in any other such circumstance, it would be a crime...When trying to discipline children, you need to have a learning goal...some behavior you're trying to teach them [and hitting isn't an effective teaching tool]..."

 

"I'm an Emergency Room physician...You feel like corporal punishment isn't good until you see a fourteen-year-old brutally beating his mother...There was a family that came into the ER regularly where the son kept beating his mother...And, one time they came in, and the mother had retaliated, beating the son...We never saw the family again..."

 

"There's a difference between corporal punishment and self-defense..."

 

"I was beat with extension cords...My father was 6'-4" and 225 pounds...And he beat me...[One time] he choked me...Lifted me off the floor...We laugh at children...We think they should be beat and then look with horror as people throw their children off of bridges...The only thing that saved my life when my father was choking me was that my mother saw him and intervened that time...Because she beat me too...[But] I had blacked out...It had gone too far...There is a certain level of intimacy they will never have with me because, on a certain level, they were my abusers..."

 

"I just finished training where you have to report child abuse...No one's going to report spanking a child on the butt where no marks are left...But, the way you deal with punishment in your household has a lot to do with the value system of your community...When you do an aversive punishment...When you inflict pain as a deterrent to some [unwanted] behavior, you're trying to teach something [it's not necessarily destructive]...When you inflict pain because you're angry it's abusive...Black people are simply identifying with an oppressor...Our children use violence to take care of all their problems...And they don't know any other way..."

 

{Facilitator says, "You offer a series of gems...The [corporal punishment] behavior [of Black parents] reflecting an identification with the oppressor is part of the theory behind Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome...and is precisely why we're taking up this examination of so-called traditions...The idea of aversive punishment as a teaching tool as opposed to inflicting pain out of anger or frustration is an important distinction...And might indicate a reason, to the extent that violence is a primary conflict-resolution tool for our children, why that would be the case..."}

 

"The earlier you start beating kids, the sooner it has no effect...They start becoming desensitized and learning ways around [the punishment]...It's called habituation...When a person becomes habituated to [a stressor,] over time, it has no effect..."

 

"There is something [about beating that is] dehumanizing to a human being..."

 

 

How does the silencing of same gender loving men and women impact the African American community at large?

 

"The control [people] have [over us], we give them...I choose not to walk down 125th Street waving a multi-colored flag...[Or] to engage in public displays of affection..."

 

{Facilitator asks, "Speaking of giving our power to heterosexuals in the community...Have you never had the impulse to greet your man with a kiss at the airport, or to kiss him goodbye as he boarded a train?..."}

 

"And, I have..."

 

"[Regarding] public displays of affection...[we think about] what [heterosexual] men might do to us...the pain [they might be moved to inflict]...I am deterred [from expressing my affection by the memory of pain]...You were taught to be averse to pain [by having had pain inflicted on you]..."

 

 

 



 


Upcoming  Topics:  BMX-NY  2011  Spring  Calendar          

(PLEASE NOTE THAT TOPICS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE;
WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTERS WILL REFLECT ANY NEW CHANGES)

        

       

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

Does Your God Mind How You Love?

(Facilitated by Jett Wilson & John Singletary)

 

 

Friday, April 29th, 2011

"Zeitgeist" - Film Screening 

(Facilitated by Anthony Truly) 

 

 

Friday, May 6th, 2011

BMX National Retreat - Outing

Also, For More Retreat Information: BlackLeaderEvents.org

 

 

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Bringing MTF* Trans Sisters Home

(Facilitated by Kyle Doyle & Jett Wilson)

 

*Male To Female

 

 

Friday, May 20th, 2011

Is there Division between Black and Latino SGL Men?

(Facilitated by JM Green)

 

 

Friday, May 27th, 2011

"The Epidemic Chronicles" Film Screening

(Facilitated by Jett Wilson)

 

 

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

TO BE ANNOUNCED

 

 

Friday, June 10th, 2011

Taking Responsibility For The 'L' in SGL

(Facilitated by Jett Wilson)

 

 

Friday, June 17th, 2011

Thriving or Surviving, Which Are You?: The Resource Quotient

(Facilitated by Kyle Doyle)

 

 

Friday, June 24th, 2011

How Do We Flex Our Political Muscles As SGL Men?

(Facilitated by Anthony Truly)

 

 

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

2nd Annual Harlem Pride Event

(Currently Scheduled For Marcus Garvey Park > 12 NOON - 6PM)

 

Harlem Pride Logo 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

BMX: A  Historical  Flashback  
         
BMX-NY RAP SESSION with Karamo Brown Group Shot 1 [Best One]

BMX-NY: Rap Session With Karamo Brown

(FRIDAY, JULY 28TH,2006)

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

Community  Corner  Announcements 

 


25th  Annual  ADODI  Summer  Retreat

Wednesday  July  20th  -  Sunday,  July  24th,  2011

White Eagle Conference Center

Hamilton, New York 


ADODI Summer Retreat (2011) - African Masks

Official ADODI Website:  ADODIonline.com




Greetings from The Brotherhood of ADODI

 

We invite all same-gender loving men of African heritage to join us in the gathering for our 25th annual summer retreat:

 

The ADODI Promise:

Claiming the Legacy, Living The Legend

 

If, as Joseph Beam postulated in 1986, "Black men loving Black men is the revolutionary act..:" then the ADODI Brotherhood is surely revolutionary. It lies with each of us to ensure that this life affirming movement does not become simply an historical moment.

 

We gather together in July 2011 to conjure the legendary qualities of the ADODI Brotherhood. We journey forth to hold one another and affirm the fearless vision and life-saving, life-giving mission of black men loving black men. We congregate to appreciate the lives - both past and present - that define our tribe of caring, compassionate community among same-gender-loving (SGL) men of African descent. This summer we join together and share our commitment, knowledge, skill, passion and evolving aspirations of freedom, so that our beloved tribe may thrive 25 years more!

 

For this special 25th summer gathering we invoke the idea of

"legends" to honor the values, traditions, ancestors and historical significance of the ADODI Brotherhood. We call forth the notion of "legacy" to center our spirits on the seemingly modest gifts turned into grand treasures - our inheritance of loving intent and beloved community called ADODI. As trustees and beneficiaries of this legacy, we have our own bequests to the future to consider. This year's Retreat is dedicated to celebrating that legacy, and envisioning the future. As we benefit from the fruits grown by those who have gone before us, so the future of the brotherhood rests on our shoulders.

    

ADODI Summer Retreat (2011) - White Eagle Collage

ADODI Summer Retreat (2011) Registration Form (PDF)

  

Registration for the 25th Annual ADODI Summer Retreat is now available online, too!!!

 

Visit www.ADODIonline.com and click on The Adodi Annual

Summer Retreat on the banner to be taken to the Retreat info.

page.

 

You will need to create a login to ADODInline.com to register for the Retreat. Above the Retreat information tabs is where you click to create your free account to access the ADODIonline community.

 

You may register online now and mail your payment(s) in later, or you can register and using a credit card via PayPal. (if you pay using a credit card, a $15.00 service fee is added onto your registration price).

  
Registration Fee Information 

If paid in full by April 30, '11........... $630.00

If paid in full by May 31, '11 ............ $700.00

After May 31, '11............................... $800.00

 

 

Round trip coach bus transportation will be provided from the  

Adam Clayton Powell Jr State Office Building 

163 West 125th Street

(between Lenox Avenue/Malcolm X Blvd and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd)

Harlem, New York City 10027

 

GOOGLE MAP

 

 

 
  

New BlackFest, The (logo)Official Website: TheNewBlackfest.org

 

 

   

THE NEW BLACK FEST is A THEATER FESTIVAL.

 

THE NEW BLACK FEST  

with guest curators Judy Tate and Godfrey Simmons  

in association with  

651 ARTS

 

presents

 

 

THE AMERICAN SLAVERY PROJECT

 

In recognition of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War (now through 2015), The New Black Fest with Guest Curators Judy Tate and Godfrey Simmons, launch the American Slavery Project Series, a monthly reading series that celebrates the work of African American playwrights who boldly and refreshingly explore slavery and/or the Civil War. The purpose behind the American Slavery Project is to initiate new conversations around theater's role in counteracting the increasing revisionism in our political/social discourse about the Civil War and slavery. More importantly, the American Slavery Project aims to promote a generation of African-American voices who are telling the diverse and rich stories from an era that most adversely affected us. The series runs from mid-March through Juneteenth.

 

Schedule of Events

 

Monday, March 7, 2011 at 7 p.m.

 

Fast Blood by Judy Tate

 

It's 1845.  Ham and Effie, an enslaved couple, stumble across the body of a hanging man who's miraculously still alive.  It is their connection to this mysterious and seductive stranger that tests their faith, love and ultimately, their own notions of slavery.

 

Location:  CAP 21 - 18 W. 18th Street, 6th Floor, NYC

 

Post Show Conversation:  The Human Face of Slavery

 

Kick-Off Wine and Cheese Reception will follow.

 

Co-presented by CAP 21

 

 

 

Monday, April 4, 2011 at 7 p.m.

 

Sweet Maladies by Zakiyyah Alexander

 

It's been two years since slavery was abolished and three recently freed slavegirls, stuck in 'the big house', play the only game they know: history.  But what happens when the game turns sticky sweet and deadly?

 

Location:  Mark Morris Dance Center - 3 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn

 

Post Show Conversation:  Tiny Rebellions

 

 

 

Monday, May 2, 2011 at 7 p.m.

 

Living in the Wind by Michael Bradford

 

Georgia. 1876. Isaiah, a former plantation stud, steps into Sarah's front yard after a twelve-year absence. Married as slaves and separated by their owner on the night of their marriage, Sarah and Isaiah attempt to salvage a relationship.  However, difficulties arise as new lovers, past conquests, and the deadly reminder of slavery stand before them.

 

Location:  The Drilling Company - 236 W. 78th Street, NYC

 

Post Show Conversation:  Slavery's Impact on Male Sexual Identity

 

Co-presented by The Drilling Company

 

 

 

Monday, June 6, 2011 at 7 p.m.

 

Voices from Harpers Ferry by Dominic Taylor

 

In 1859, twenty-one men, including five free Black men, attacked the arsenal at Harpers Ferry along with the legendary John Brown.  This exciting new play probes into the lives of the five Black men who fought alongside Brown, and more importantly, Osborne P. Anderson, the only Black man who survived to tell the tale of Harpers Ferry.

 

Location:  Audubon Ballroom - 3940 Broadway, btw 165th & 166th Streets, NYC 

 

Post Show Conversation:  John Brown and Civil War Uprisings

 

Co-Presented by The Classical Theatre of Harlem

 

 

 

Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 7 p.m.

 

Safe House by Keith Josef Adkins

 

1843.  Kentucky.  Addison Pedigrew is a free man of color who has big dreams of opening a shoe business.  His family also secretly helps fugitives flee to Liberia.  When a young woman knocks on his door seeking refuge, Addison's loyalty to race and family finally clashes with his unrelenting desire for success.

 

Location:  Audubon Ballroom - 3940 Broadway, btw 165th & 166th Streets, NYC 

 

Post Show Conversation:  Free People of Color and the Trek to Liberia

 

Co-Presented by The Classical Theatre of Harlem

 

 

 

Please check back for updates:  TheNewBlackfest.org

 

THE NEW BLACK FEST is URGENT.

 

The New Black Fest is a movement. It's a call to action inspired by the state of Black theater in the 21st century. It is a bold step motivated by a growing need within the Black theater community for serious change and boundless opportunity.

 

THE NEW BLACK FEST is A COMMUNITY.

 

The New Black Fest is a gathering of artists, thinkers, activists and audiences who are dedicated to stretching, interrogating and uplifting the Black aesthetic.

 

THE NEW BLACK FEST is VISIONARY.

 

The New Black Fest is a commitment to celebrate, advocate and showcase diverse and provocative work in a festival of Black theater artists from throughout the Diaspora.  It is a convening of visionaries who are determined to reintroduce the way black theater is perceived, who are ready to chart out resolutions and promote action through panel discussions, workshops, and putting both artists and community members on the hot seat.

 

THE NEW BLACK FEST is FOR EVERYONE.

 

The New Black Fest is for everyone and anyone who supports elevating and celebrating Black theater around the world, in a fresh way.

 

THE NEW BLACK IS NOW.

 

WE ARE THE NEW BLACK.

 

For reservations, e-mail [email protected]

The New Black Fest couldn't do this work without your support! A donation of any size will help! You can make your tax-deductible donation here
 
  

The New Black Fest  

is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of The New Black Fest must be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.


The New Black Fest

Keith Josef Adkins & J. Holtham

Co-Artistic Directors







  
 
SGL  Black  Sheroes 


Bessie  Smith  (1894  -  1937) 


Bessie_Smith 2 

 

Bessie Smith 4Bessie Smith began her professional career in 1912 by singing in the same show as Ma Rainey, and subsequently performed in various touring minstrel shows and cabarets. By the 1920s, she was a leading artist in black shows on the TOBA circuit and at the 81 Theatre in Atlanta. After further tours she was sought out by Clarence Williams to record in New York. Her first recording, Down-Hearted Blues, established her as the most successful black performing artist of her time. She recorded regularly until 1928 with important early jazz instrumentalists such as Williams, James P. Johnson, and various members of Fletcher Henderson's band, including Louis Armstrong, Charlie Green, Joe Smith, and Tommy Ladnier. During this period she also toured throughout the South and North, performing to large audiences. In 1929, she appeared in the film St. Louis Blues. By then, however, alcoholism had severely damaged her career, as did the Depression, which affected the recording and entertainment industries. A recording session, her last, was arranged in 1933 by John Hammond for the increasing European jazz audience; it featured among others Jack Teagarden and Benny Goodman. By 1936, Smith was again performing in shows and clubs, but she died, following an automobile accident, before her next recording session had been arranged. 

 

 

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Smith was unquestionably the greatest of the vaudeville blues singers and brought the emotional intensity, personal involvement, and expression of blues singing into the jazz repertory with unexcelled artistry. Baby Doll and After You've Gone, both made with Joe Smith, and Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out, with Ed Allen on cornet, illustrate her capacity for sensitive interpretation of popular songs. Her broad phrasing, fine intonation, blue-note inflections, and wide, expressive range made hers the measure of jazz-blues singing in the 1920s. She made almost 200 recordings, of which her remarkable duets with Armstrong are among her best. Although she excelled in the performance of slow blues, she also recorded vigorous versions of jazz standards. Joe Smith was her preferred accompanist, but possibly her finest recording (and certainly the best known in her day) was Back Water Blues, with James P. Johnson. Her voice had coarsened by the time of her last session, but few jazz artists have been as consistently outstanding as she.   



Bessie Smith 5 (The Essential)


SOURCE MATERIAL: pbs.org






  
 
The Bawabisi SGL Symbol

Bawabisi SGL Symbol (Partial Transparency)

The SGL symbol, the Bawabisi, is inspired by Nigerian Nsibidi script and West African Adrinkra symbols. The two facing semi-circles represent unity and love. The figure has been split symmetrically in half to suggest parts of a whole that mirror each other. Dots are often used in Adinkra symbols to represent commitment and pluralism. The split and dots, with the addition of color, suggest the concept of gender. The circle encompassing the figure reinforces the idea of connectedness despite duality, suggesting the idea of two-spirited.





About  BMX- NY...
 
  



 THE BLACK MEN'S XCHANGE - NEW YORK (BMX-NY) was founded in Harlem in 2002 and is a gathering for same gender loving (SGL) and bisexual Black men to powerfully and respectfully address issues that impact their lives, and to connect with one another in a positive, affirming, nurturing and transformational environment. Ages 18 and up.

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BMX  Mission  Statement

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THE BLACK MEN'S XCHANGE (BMX) was founded in 1989 by activist, writer and behavioral health expert Cleo Manago, as an instrument of healing and empowerment for same gender loving (SGL) and bisexual African descended men. The mission of the Black Men's Xchange (BMX) is to affirm, heal, educate, unify and promote well-being and critical thinking among Black people - 18 and up - diverse in sexuality, class, culture and philosophy.  Black Men's Xchange (BMX) conducts activities that promote healthy self-concept, sexual health, constructive decision making, and cultural affirmation among same-gender-loving (SGL), bisexual and heterosexual Black populations. BMX affirms and educates Black men (and the community at-large) while providing tools for self-determination, community responsibility, self-actualization and the prevention of health threats (e.g. HIV, isolation, substance and other addictions, and mental instability). BMX creates an environment that advances black culture and involves identifying and unlearning ingrained anti-homosexual and anti-black male and female conditioning,

 

BMX is built on a philosophy that embraces same gender loving experience as intrinsic to everyday Black life.  Integral to BMX's approach is the understanding that, in order to decrease internal and external anti-homosexual thinking, and demystify differences around diverse ways of living and loving Black people must engage in supportive dialogue with each other and the community.

 

At BMX we believe that self-determination is crucial in achieving success toward healing and empowerment.  We understand that our cultural and experiential uniqueness requires a uniquely focused and precise approach.  Affirming strategies born out of our own experience is powerful; hence, the adoption of the terms, Black, African American and Same Gender Loving (SGL).



  

BMX-NY MMM Photos 11
 
The Black Men's Xchange-New York And Our Allies At The Millions More Movement (MMM) In Washington, DC
(October 15th, 2005) 


 
The Term Same Gender Loving

The term Same Gender Loving (SGL) emerged in the early '90s to offer Black women who love women and Black men who love men (and other people of color) a way of identifying that resonated with the uniqueness of Black life and culture.  Before this many African descended people, knowing little of our history regarding homosexuality and bi-sexuality, took on European symbols and identifications as a means of embracing our sexualities, including: Greek lambdas, German pink triangles, and the white-gay-originated rainbow flag, in addition to the terms gay, and lesbian.

The term gay, coined as an identification by White male homosexuals in the '50s, was cultivated in an exclusive White male environment.  By the '60s, the growing Gay Liberation movement developed in a climate largely excluding Blacks and women.  In response to this discrimination, White women coined the identification lesbian, a word derived from the Greek island, Lesbos. The Lesbian movement, in turn, helped define a majority White movement, called feminism.  In response to the racism experienced by women of color from White feminists, celebrated author, Alice Walker introduced the term womanist.

The term womanist identified women of color concerned with both the sexual and racial oppression of women.  In this spirit of self-naming and ethnic-sexual pride, the term same gender loving(SGL) was introduced to enhance the lives and amplify the voices of homosexual and bi-sexual people of color, to provide a powerful identification not marginalized by racism in the gay community or by "homophobic" attitudes in society at large.

As gay culture grew and established enclaves in San Francisco, Chelsea, Provincetown, Key West and other territories, Blacks especially, were carded and rejected from many establishments.  Even today Blacks, Latinos and Asians often appear in gay publications and other media solely as potential sexual objects.  Ironically, gay rights activism was modeled on the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements initiated by African Americans.

In the years since the advent of the Gay Rights movement many Black SGLs have found scant space for the voices, experiences and empowerment of Black people.  Additionally, the rigid influence of the Black church's traditionally anti-homosexual stance has contributed to attitudes that repress and stigmatize Black SGLs.  The lack of acknowledgment and support in the Black community has shunted multitudes of same gender loving African descended people to the White community to endure racism, isolation from their own communities, and cultural insensitivity.

The high visibility of the white gay community along with the absence of illumination on same gender loving experience contributes to the tendency in Black communities to overlook and ridicule same gender loving relationships as alien or aberrant.  The SGL movement has inspired national dialogue on diverse ways of loving in the Black community.  The term same gender loving explicitly acknowledges loving within same-sex relationships, while encouraging self-love.

The designation, same gender loving has served as a wake up call for Blacks to acknowledge diverse ways of loving and being, and has provided an opportunity for Blacks and other people of color to claim, nurture and honor their significance within their families and communities.


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