Race and class divide is deep and wide amongst queer folks

The race and class divide amongst queer folks is wide and oh so deep, yet so often not talked about or addressed as one of THE issues in our community -- and it is.

So read this article, posted on The Griot! Here's an except:

Black working class gays left out of national gay rights agenda

When Obama delivered his "gay agenda" speech to the well-fed, well-scrubbed mostly white crowd of gays and lesbians at the Human Rights Campaign's Annual Dinner on Saturday night, anyone outside of the LGBT community would have assumed by the applause that the entire "gay community" is in agreement that access to serve in the military, gay marriage, and hate crimes legislation are our primary issues. But in reality, HRC's political agenda is not what I want. It does not speak for me, nor for the lives of many other black, poor and working class LGBT people.

Given the fact that we're in a long recession where hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost in almost every month of 2009, and national unemployment numbers are at nearly 10 percent, why are we not talking about the issues that most people are concerned about - health care and the economy - and their impact on the LGBT community? The truth is, for many people at that dinner who could afford the cheapest ticket at $250 a plate, jobs and wages are of little concern.

Let's keep talking about our stuff, people!

Update from post racial America, October edition

This in the news this week (in case you though you were in a time warp, this is indeed October 2009):

Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License By Louisiana Justice of the Peace

A couple of "lowlights" from the article:

A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

Hmm, last I checked, anti-miscegenation laws were banned in 1967 by Loving v Virginia.

Seriously?!

Related post: A "Loving" kind of day, or is it?

Related photo -- heh!:

>Hmmm. Last I checked, all miscegenation laws banned by Loving v Virginia in 1967. 42 years ago.

Related post: A "Loving" kind of day, or is it?

Related photo:

Join the Too Big For My Skin Campaign

Check out this amazing video and note from Minneapolis's own amazing Desdamona and get involved!

Too Big For My Skin - The Campaign

Hello - I'm writing to invite you to be a part of The Too Big For My Skin Campaign. Many of you have probably heard my poem by the same name. But "Too Big for My Skin" is not just a poem. With the help of BFresh there is now a video for the poem. We are working to build an international campaign that invites people to leave responses to the video in the comment section or to submit their very own video response.

It's about positive body image, acceptance and strength.

It's about finding your voice and speaking.

Join us in the campaign.

More is to come! We are planning on expanding the project to include interviews with the women in the video. A group of women from Loyola University have already taken the title as their theme for the year.

The word is spreading. Send it along to others who you feel may benefit from seeing and hearing the words.

I am hoping to tour the video and do workshops in correlation with the video and well as performances and Q&A. So, if anyone is interested in this please contact me: desdamona4@aol.com

Thanks!
Desdamona

~~~~

About Desdamona

DESDAMONA is an international, award-winning artist; who has taken her distinct lyrics, sound and artistic stylings to audiences from Minnesota to Hawaii, from Puerto Rico to Germany; gracing some of Hip Hop and poetry’s most illustrious stages.

ALONGSIDE: Desdamona has had the pleasure of opening up for distinguished artists including Wyclef Jean, GURU, Bahamadia, Zap Mama, Black Uhuru/Sly & Robbie, Saul Williams, Ursula Rucker and Rhymesayers Artists. She has also shared the stage with other influential Hip Hop artists including Canada’s Eternia and bgirl Rockafella.

EVENTS & TOURS: Desdamona is one of the founders of B Girl Be, the first international festival, which celebrates women in Hip Hop. She was a featured performer at the We B*Girlz Festival in Berlin, Germany (2008), the SheRock Festival (2008), and was a Minnesota Music Awards featured performer (2005). Desdamona won the award for Best Spoken Word Artist from the MN Music Awards five consecutive years. Desdamona was a featured artist on the SummerJam Tour (2007) with legendary, Grammy Award winning artists Sly & Robbie. She and beatbox partner Carnage (as Ill Chemistry) also headlined The 2nd Nature Tour (2008).

No one puts baby in the corner

A quote to live by, a song to love, a dance to remember.

It is also so funny to remember what was "dirty dancing" in 1987...

And look how much my wuzband and me look like Johnny and Baby.

And then there's this. Oh so timely and hilarious!

Ellen!

This is why I love Ellen Degeneres. She is my middle aged white girl dancing diva role model! Go Ellen Go Ellen Go Ellen!