the young people's professor

regardless of either u identify yourself as same gender loving people or gay, people are people who love care and sleep with men of the same sex. Openly gay or closet we need to love each other and respect each other. Keith is a great person who i had the opportunity to meet in person at POCC summit in august. and cleo who i know nothing about is from what i hear is a good person too. Love one another and stop hating. good blog as usual Mr. Roberts.

Andre-Ft.Lauderdale, FL

Frank,
First, allow me to say thank you for posting both speeches. I had read Keith's speech, but no one had been posting Mr. Manago's speech, so the argument became overly one sided. Having now read both, I still feel a bit sad that Keith was not allowed to speak. Both men present very deifferent idea, but both sets of ideas really needed to be heard. In the interest of full disclosure, my politics lean towards inclusion, so I admit that I am partial to Keith's speech, but... and this is a big but... Manago's speech says things that are very important and not ususally politically correct to say (that the "gay community" is racist... it is, that the black community is not as violent against homosexuals as the media would have us believe). Like I said BOTH speeches should have been heard. On one hand, I applaud Min. Farrakahn for this the inclusion of gays or (SGL: weird term that I am not yet comfortable with) in the movement. this was indeed an important and monumentous moment.On the other hand, I, of course, still want more. One again thank you for your great blog.

damion

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

First of all..

Regardless of where one would stand on the issue at hand. I do think that the entire event would have been better served if BOTH gentleman were allowed to speak. There exists a wide range of opinions within the community itself and it would have been wonderful for folks on the OUTSIDE to see that the "movement" is not monolithic..

That being said...I did pull away something VERY VERY important and crucial from Brother Manago's speech...

That we cannot even begin to have a discussion about the plight of young black GAY men without discussing HOW black masculinity is and has been constructed FOR US (historically) by a white supremacist power structure and how WE in our respective communities INCUBATE and PERPETUATE those stereotypical and damaging characterizations...Black HOMOSEXUAL men share something in common with thier heterosexual counterparts; and that similarity lies in the fact that we are ALL BLACK MEN..

now how their combined blackness and maleness may interact with their respective sexual orientations is another story..

I do think Manago raises a good point in stating that the White Gay Rights Movement has for too long not made serious attempts to include and/or address the issues affecting Black GLBT folk (primarily the 18-35 crowd)...

I also do think that Keith's point about the need for Unity and solidarity between the Black Heterosexual and GLBT communities is a VERY important point as well..

Black history would have been a lot different if you would have removed the contributions of Black GLBT folks...for example...There wouldn't have been a Harlem Renaissance without Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, Alain Locke, Langston Hughes (tho his sexuality is still widely disputed) and the March on Washington would have looked a lot different without the contributions of Bayard Rustin...And that is just scratching the surface.

BUT...I do think Keith shot himself in the foot politically when he attempted this whole outing campaign. I understand the "principle" of what he was attempting to do..but in the long run trying to out hypocritical preachers is taking the low road and will NEVER lead to any productive dialogue between the parties involved...

So is it any suprise that Rev. Wilson (who Keith was asking for information about that would lead to his outing just two weeks prior) was the one who denied him a slot to speak?

It was an opportunity wasted..

What is in darkness will come to light...We don't need to DRAG people "OUT"...

If you don't believe me google "Reverend James Cleveland" and you'll know what I am talking about..

Great Post Frank!

reading keith boykin's speech, i wonder if farrakhan had read it before boykin was banned. if not, i wonder if he's read it since and what he would say about it. for me, the most powerful section was the one on "the back of the bus", the point that invisibility is not protection, and is in fact weakness for the community. i'm glad i got to read the speech and hope with boykind does eventually (hopefully) get to speak at an event of this scale that he actually takes it farther beyond this olive branch to a more detailed vision. perhaps there should be a however many march of lgbt black people that farrakhan is invited to speak at. wonder what he'd say.

keith's speech seemed much too Farrakhacentric (yup...a word i JUST made up)...it seemed to depend on the power of the hug between boykin and farrakhan as a pivotal moment for keith...comparing the speech to manago, i affirm that keith's was far too conciliatory whereas manago's was much more interested in deconstructing the idea of black maleness which i think will be much more productive...

The Speech That Did Happen
By Cleo Manago

October 15th, 2005 was a historic day for same-gender-loving (SGL) and bisexual Black folks, and the Black community. We were embraced, affirmed and heard on that day. For the first time in Black history an SGL/bisexual organization (the Black Men's Xchange [BMX]) was invited to present our voice to an international African descended audience.

When Minister Louis Farrakhan and Millions More Movement (MMM) organizers decided to make this year’s march more diverse, to include homosexual members of the Black collective, we were confident BMX would be invited. BMX, an independent, national organization conceived for the empowerment, affirmation, education and healing of SGL/bisexual Black males and allies, heads toward two decades of influential work. BMX is known among west coast members of the Nation of Islam (NOI) as a “unique,” progressive Black community organization. In 1998 NOI members of Mosque #27 in Los Angeles collaborated with BMX to conduct a debate on “Homosexuality in the Black Community.” At the time the NOI’s intentions were to put the “abominations” in their place, publicly. What occurred instead was a Black affirming lesson they would never forget, on the presence of homosexuals and bisexuals throughout the Diaspora and Black history. BMX won that debate.

This year, starting as early as June 2005 BMX members in New York/Harlem became actively involved in MMM local organizing efforts. It was then that discussion about BMX’s MMM involvement began. In August BMX’s role was solidified. In September radio personality Bob Law - head of the New York State MMM executive committee - came to BMX personally to confirm what was already known. BMX would definitely be representing SGL, gay-identified and bisexual Black folks at the historic MMM march on the DC mall.

At an October 5th MMM Washington D.C. press conference, Akbar Muhammad, international representative for the NOI, announced that the Black Men’s Xchange (BMX) would represent [Black sexual minorities] at the MMM march October 15th. The announcement came in response to “gay representative” questions by a few people in attendance who were gay-identified and or who represented "Black gay" organizations funded by the White gay 'Human Rights Campaign (HRC).' In reaction, the "Black" HRC funded organization reported to the White gay press that BMX was “separatist” and "not acceptable." Following this attack they began a gay media campaign to create dissention, empathy for them and coerce MMM organizers to make another choice. This included submitting a list of 10 other speaker possibilities, and setting up numerous meetings and a ‘photo op’ with NOI staff and Farrakhan. Though MMM organizers had already established that BMX founder Cleo Manago would speak, on the morning of the march, at 8:00 a.m. a desperate move was made by the leader of the HRC funded “Black” gay group. In a disrespectful, last stitch effort to speak, he attempted to crash the MMM march. When this was not successful he spearheaded a deceptive media campaign, claiming to have been snubbed at the last minute. He opportunistically took full advantage of the ignorance of his constituency, and of the racist biases in the media that had already resulted in total disinterest among the Nation of Islam, Farrakhan and BMX members to even address the press.

To bolster belief in their deception as a MMM victim, they released a speech called, “The Speech That Didn’t Happen.” Below is the speech, affirming Black same-gender-loving (SGL) people and the Black family, which is ‘The Speech That Did Happen’ (delivered in excerpt, due to time constraints)

http://www.livejournal.com/users/cleomanagosblog/

Related links:
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=9829
http://www.houstonvoice.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=2800
http://www.blackstripe.com/archives/discussion/debate.html
www.hrc.org/