LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 13: Laverne Cox

Day 13, Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox

Born May 29, 1984

Actress, Entrepreneur, Advocate

"Laverne Cox is a critically acclaimed actress who currently appears in the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black, playing the groundbreaking role of “Sophia Burset,” an incarcerated African American transgender woman. Laverne is the first trans woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show. Time Magazine named Sophia Burset the 4th most influential fictional character of 2013.

Laverne is also a recipient of the Dorian rising star award for her work in “Orange is the New Black.” A renowned speaker, Laverne has taken her empowering message of moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically all over the country. Her insights have been featured on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NPR, HLN, VH1, FOX NEWS LATINO, among other national TV and radio networks.

In 2013 Laverne won Best Supporting Actress at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival for her work in the praised film Musical Chairs, directed by Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan). Laverne’s other acting credits include Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, HBO’s Bored to Death, and the independent films Carla and The Exhibitionists. She also has roles in the forthcoming films 36 Saints and Grand Street.

Laverne is the first trans woman of color to produce and star in her own television show, VH1’s TRANSForm Me, which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. Laverne is also the first trans woman of color to appear on an American reality television program, VH1’s I Wanna Work for Diddy, for which she accepted the GLAAD Award for Outstanding Reality Program. Laverne was named one of Out magazine’s “Out 100,” one of the country’s top 50 trans icons by The Huffington Post, and one of Metro Source magazine’s “55 People We Love.” Laverne’s critical writings have appeared in The Advocate and The Huffington Post. A graduate of Marymount Manhattan College, Laverne holds a degree in Fine Arts."

 “If we want to keep kids safe we should stop being gender police.”

-Laverne Cox

Info from: lavernecox.com

LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 12: Audre Lorde

I am so sorry for these late posts y'all, my internet hasn't been on for days, 

The following posts have been brought to you by Panera Bread, their wifi is on fleek!!!

Day 12, Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde

Born Feb. 18, 1934 - Nov. 17, 1992

Author and Activist

"The Black feminist, lesbian, poet, mother, warrior Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was a native New Yorker and daughter of immigrants. Both her activism and her published work speak to the importance of struggle for liberation among oppressed peoples and of organizing in coalition across differences of race, gender, sexual orientation, class, age and ability. An internationally recognized activist and artist, Audre Lorde was the recipient of many honors and awards, including the Walt Whitman Citation of Merit, which conferred the mantle of New York State poet for 1991-93. In designating her New York State’s Poet Laureate, Governor Mario Cuomo observed: “Her imagination is charged by a sharp sense of racial injustice and cruelty, of sexual prejudice…She cries out against it as the voice of indignant humanity. Audre Lorde is the voice of the eloquent outsider who speaks in a language that can reach and touch people everywhere.”

Her works include:

• A Burst Of Light
• The Black Unicorn
• Between Ourselves
• Cables To Rage
• The Cancer Journals
• The First Cities
• From A Land Where Other People Live
• I Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities
• Lesbian Party: An Anthology
• Need: A Chorale For Black Women Voices
• The New York Head Shop And Museum
• Our Dead Behind Us: Poems
• Sister Outsider: Essays And Speeches
• The Marvelous Arithmetics Of Distance: Poems
• Undersong: Chosen Poems Old And New
• Uses Of The Erotic: The Erotic As Power
• Woman Poet—The East
• Zami: A New Spelling of My Name"

"Caring for myself is not self indulgence, it is self preservation and that is an act of political warfare."

- Audre Lorde




Info from: http://alp.org/about/audre

LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 11: Alvin Ailey

I fear that tomorrow I won't have time to do day 11's Black icon, so I'll just do him now:

Number 11, Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey

Born January 5, 1931- December 1, 1989

Choreographer

"Alvin Ailey Jr. was an internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer. He founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a dance company hailed as an ambassador of American culture. Ailey formed a multiracial company and revolutionized dance, incorporating elements of ballet and jazz, along with modern and African dance, into his work.   

Ailey grew up in Rogers, Texas, the son of a young, struggling single mother. His father abandoned the family when Ailey was six months old. In 1941, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Ailey met Lester Horton, who ran the first multiracial dance school. 

Horton took Ailey under his wing, teaching him a variety of dance styles and techniques. In 1953, Ailey joined Horton’s company. Later that year, he was named artistic director.

In 1954, Ailey made his Broadway debut dancing in “House of Flowers.” He also performed in “Sing, Man, Sing” with Harry Belafonte and in “Jamaica” with Lena Horne. 

In 1957, Ailey established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The company’s premiere performance, “Blues Suite”—a riveting work reflecting the African-American emotional experience—defined Ailey’s theatrical and eclectic style. 

A prolific choreographer, Ailey created 79 original works for his company. “Revelations” (1960), recognized as his signature piece, is touted as the most-watched work of modern dance. “Cry” (1971), one of Ailey’s most successful works, was dedicated to his mother and African-American women. 

In 1979, Ailey received the Springarn Medal for outstanding achievement from the NAACP. In 1988, he was recognized with a Kennedy Center Honors Award. 

Ailey died at age 58 from complications of AIDS. In his memory, a section of West 61st Street in New York was named 'Alvin Ailey Way.' "

“I am trying to show the world that we are all human beings and that color is not important. What is important is the quality of our work.”

-Alvin Ailey

Info from: lgbthistorymonth.com

LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 10: James Baldwin

Number 10, James Baldwin

James Baldwin

Born August 24, 1924- December 1, 1987

 Novelist, Essayist, Playwright, Poet,Social critic, and Civil rights activist

"James Baldwin was an African-American writer whose novels and essays captured the conflicted spirit of late 20th century America.

 

It is often the outsider who divines truth most clearly. James Baldwin, to whom many doors were closed by virtue of his poverty, his race, and his sexuality, was a prophet and truth-teller whose writing searingly delineates the soul and image of 20th century America.

 

In 1953, the publication of "Go Tell it on the Mountain" heralded the debut of a major literary voice. James Baldwin's semi-autobiographical novel depicts much of the writer's painful early life. Like Baldwin, John Grimes-the novel's bright, sensitive protagonist-battles poverty and suffers at the hands of a brutal stepfather in Harlem. Like Baldwin, John Grimes becomes a precocious storefront preacher at the age of 14.

 

As a gay African-American, Baldwin struggled with his identity in a racist and homophobic society. His disgust with the racial climate in the post-World War II United States impelled him to move to Europe, where he wrote Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953) and his other early major works: the essay collection "Notes of a Native Son" (1955) and the play "The Amen Corner" (1955). His second novel, "Giovanni's Room" (1956), deals explicitly with homosexuality. It was published at a time when few other writers dared to publish gay-themed works.

 

After Baldwin returned to the United States in 1957, his writings increasingly reflected his engagement in the struggle for African-American civil rights. He explored black-white relations in a book of essays, "Nobody Knows My Name" (1961), and in his novel "Another Country" (1962). "In The Fire Next Time" (1963), Baldwin declared that blacks and whites must find ways to come to terms with the past and make a future together or face destruction. His incorporation of gay themes evoked strong criticism from the black community.

 

Following the assassinations of Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X in the late 1960's, Baldwin became increasingly pessimistic about the possibility of a positive relationship between the races. He returned to Europe and lived out his remaining years in the South of France, where he died in 1987.

 

Baldwin received many awards during his lifetime, including France's highest civilian award, Commander of the Legion of Honor, presented by President François Mitterrand in 1986."

"Everybody's journey is individual. If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality."

Info from: lgbthistorymonth.com

LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 9: Mabel Hampton

Day 9, Mabel Hampton

Mabel Hampton

Born May 2, 1902- October 26, 1989

Activist, Dancer, Philanthropist 

"Mabel Hampton, a Black lesbian pioneer inspired many during her 87 year stay on this planet. Born in 1902 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Hampton’s mother died when she was just two months old. She grew up in the care of her grandmother, surrounded by chickens, hogs, a garden full of roses and vegetables, her maternal aunt, and of course, friends. She formed fond memories of North Carolina during this time and was forced to leave this haven of safety when her Grandmother died when Mabel was just 7 years old.

Hampton took the train to New York City where she went to live with her aunt and uncle. Treated poorly in that family and raped by her uncle, at 8 years old Hampton walked away from their home and set out on her own.

Between the ages of 8 and 17 Hampton lived with a white family in New Jersey, was wrongfully imprisoned for prostitution, and eventually found work dancing in an all women’s troupe that performed on Coney Island. For Hampton the 1920's were a time of dancing in all black productions, private parties with Jackie "Moms" Mabley and other Harlem Renaissance figures, and living amongst other dancers and lesbians. Mabel Hampton was "in the life."

Hampton left the chorus lines as work dried up, claiming that "I like to eat." She began a career of working as a cleaning woman for white families. Mabel Hampton is perhaps best recognized as a major contributor to the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York. Through out her adult life she collected all matter of memorabilia, letters, and records documenting her history and the world around her as a black woman and as a lesbian.

In 1932 Mabel Hampton met Lillian Foster. The two quickly fell in love and remained a couple until Lillian died in 1978. For 45 years they, along with various friends, formed a household that weathered World War II, the Civil Rights era, and the Stonewall Rebellion. Perhaps most interesting about Mabel Hampton is how integrated a life she led. She was surrounded by her lesbian contemporaries, volunteered for the New York Defense Recreation Committee collecting cigarettes and refreshments for soldiers during World War II., and was her community’s air raid service warden in 1943. Despite her meager salary she attended performances by the National Negro Opera Company and regularly contributed to the Martin Luther King Memorial Fund and later to gay organizations.

Mabel Hampton clipped articles, kept letters, and later donated her treasures to the Lesbian Herstory Archives so that she could be "a part of going on." She marched in the first national gay and lesbian civil rights march in Washington, appeared in the films Silent Pioneers and Before Stonewall. She inspired members of the gay and lesbian community in New York, and through her gifts to the Lesbian Herstory Archives, shared her tremendous history with the rest of the world. In 1984 Mabel Hampton addressed the crowds at New York City’s pride parade. She said "I, Mabel Hampton, have been a lesbian all my life, for 82 years, and I am proud of myself and my people. I would like all my people to be free in this country and all over the world, my gay people and my black people."

""I, Mabel Hampton, have been a Lesbian all my life, for 82 years, and I am proud of myself and my people. I would like all my people to be free in this country and all over the world, my Gay people and my Black people."

-Mabel Hampton

PS. This woman is really fucking incredible

Info from: lesbianlife.about.com

Featured this week: Autumn :D

Its 2:09 am and I'm awake watching Criminal Minds 

So I figure I should be productive and post the weeks featured friend!

I met this beautiful person when I first auditioned for True Colors 

(my acting troupe and motivation in life). 

How do I describe them?

They are poetic, and theatrical,  funny, and sweet. 

They are punk rock and heavy metal on the outside, a cuddly caring soul within. 

They are fucking hot, haha. 

I don't know... I just... *loses train of thought*

Anyways, here is the magnificent Autumn!

(All of this info they gave me word for word)

Name: Autumn

Pronouns: They/Them

School: Salem State University

Likes: Theatre, Video Games, Spoken Word, Poetry, Drawing, Tumblr

Dislikes: Men's Rights Activists, Disrespect

About me: "I'm an American perfectionist with dreams. I was ripped from the womb on the first of May-- yes, I'm a Taurus. I'm panromantic*, demisexual*, and genderfluid. I have the memory of an eighty-two year old man with Alzheimer's and am mature for my age despite being a "child". I enjoy plenty of other random and weird things. Being genderfluid and demisexual, in my experience, is a strange and almost confusing journey. I wake up almost every day a different version of myself."

**Kay Kay, so, a lot of people don't know this, but there is such a thing as romantic orientation. Basically, who you can be romantically attracted to, who you want to cuddle, hold hands with (or nah), versus sexual orientation, which is about da sex, and who you want to make da love to (or nah). 

The prefix pan- meaning all, so, panromantic, is the romantic orientation of being attracted to people ROMANTICALLY regardless of gender or sex, 

And then demisexual, is the sexual orientation, where a person feels sexual attraction ONLY to people whom they have an emotional bond. Most demisexual identifying people rarely feel sexual attraction compared to the rest of the population, and some have little to no interest in sexual activity. 
Your sexual orientation and romantic orientation don't have to "align" necessarily, 
And by that I mean, just because you are heterosexual, doesn't mean you are heteroromantic, 
You can be asexual and heteroromantic.

For more info you can ask me questions or go to:

https://lgbtq.unc.edu/asexuality-attraction-and-romantic-orientation

http://www.asexuality.org/wiki/index.php?title=Romantic_orientation

Also, you can go to the charts and diagrams page on this blog, cuz I put a chart on here that explains it :D

LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 8: Malcolm X

Before we go on, this is just a reminder that every single one of these Black Historical Icons being recognized are/were Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender Queer/Questioning Plus. 

Day 8, Malcolm X

Malcolm X

Born May 19, 1925- February 21, 1965

Civil Rights Activist, Minister

"Born Malcolm Little in 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm was the son of a Baptist preacher who was a follower of Marcus Garvey. After the Ku Klux Klan made threats against his father, the family moved to Lansing, Michigan. There, in the face of similar threats, he continued to urge blacks to take control of their lives.

Malcolm’s father was slain by the Klan-like Black Legionaries. Although he was found with his head crushed on one side and almost severed from his body, it was claimed he had committed suicide, and the family was denied his death benefit. Its disintegration quickly followed: welfare caseworkers sought to turn the children against each other and against their mother, from whom Malcolm, then six, was taken and placed in a foster home. Mrs. Little underwent a nervous breakdown from which she never recovered.

After the eighth grade, Malcolm dropped out of school, headed for a life of crime. He wore zoot suits, straightened his hair to affect a white look, and became known as “Detroit Red.” When twenty-one, he was sentenced to prison for burglary and there encountered the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, popularly known as the Black Muslims. Muhammad’s thesis that the white man is the devil with whom blacks cannot live had a strong impact on Malcolm. Turning to an ascetic way of life and reading widely, he began to overcome the degradation he had known. The argument that only blacks can cure the ills that afflict them confirmed for Malcolm the power of Muhammad’s faith. He became a loyal disciple and adopted X–symbolic of a stolen identity–as his last name.

After six years Malcolm was released from prison. Later, he became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem, his indictments of racism and his advocacy of self-defense eliciting admiration, as well as fear, far beyond the New York black community. Whites were especially fearful, recoiling from his sustained pronouncements of crimes against his people. While most contrasted him with Martin Luther King, Jr., with whose philosophy they were much more at ease, white college students found ugly truths in his searing rhetoric of condemnation. Malcolm, however, grew increasingly restive as the Nation of Islam failed to join in the mounting civil rights struggle and became convinced that Elijah Muhammad was lacking in sincerity, a view painfully validated by corruption at the highest level of the organization. For his part, Muhammad seemed threatened by the popularity of Malcolm, whose influence reached even into the respected Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Malcolm’s assertion that President John F. Kennedy’s assassination amounted to “the chickens coming home to roost” led to his suspension from the Black Muslims in December 1963. A few months later, he left the organization, traveled to Mecca, and discovered that orthodox Muslims preach equality of the races, which led him to abandon the argument that whites are devils. Having returned to America as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, he remained convinced that racism had corroded the spirit of America and that only blacks could free themselves. In June 1964, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity and moved increasingly in the direction of socialism. More sophisticated than in his Black Muslim days and of growing moral stature, he was assassinated by a Black Muslim at a rally of his organization in New York on February 21, 1965. Malcolm X had predicted that, though he had but little time to live, he would be more important in death than in life. Foreshadowings of his martyrdom are found inThe Autobiography of Malcolm X. The almost painful honesty that enabled him to find his way from degradation to devotion to his people, the modest lifestyle that kept him on the edge of poverty, and the distance he somehow managed to put between himself and racial hatred serve, in that volume, as poignant reminders of human possibility and achievement.

Influenced largely by Malcolm, in the summer of 1966 members of SNCC called for black power for black people. Their lack of power was the foundation of Malcolm’s charge that they were denied human rights in America. His clarity on this matter, as America continues its retreat from its commitment to full freedom for his people, has guaranteed for him pride of place among black leaders."

"I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color."

-Malcolm X

Info from: history.com, the guardian.com, knowledgenuts.com