the young people's professor

On Tueday, June 11th, Boykin reaches out to Emil Wilbekin, former Vibe Magazine editor-in-chief, fashion guru, and member of LIFEbeat's Board of Directors. According to Boykin, during this conversation Wilbekin's comments mirror Cannelli's. Wilbekin suggests that given the rampant homophobia of many hip hop/reggae recording artists, obtaining a "gay friendly" artist for a concert is unlikely in most circumstances. By this time, the growing tension between the black gay blogger cohort and LIFEbeat had reached national news, with over 30 sources reporting on the controversy. Later that day LIFEbeat issues an official statement refusing to pull Beenie Man and TOK from the lineup. In response, the black gay blogger group in conjunction with the New York State Black Gay Network and Gay Men of African Descent announce plans to hold a press conference in front of LIFEbeat's offices on Thursday, June 12th. Activist/artist Stacyann Chin, as well as representatives from GMAD and NYSBGN are scheduled to speak. The number of bloggers participating in the campaign against LIFEbeat continues to grow.

One Wednesday June 12th, Boykin publishes the names, and in some instances, personal cell-phone numbers of all of the executive board of LIFEbeat, including Wilbekin. 52 international news sources have reported on the fued, including the Associated Press. Admist growing public outrage, LIFEbeat announces that it has cancelled its July 18th concert. In the published release, the organization suggests that concerns over potential violence that might have been caused by a "select group of activists" was the primary decision making factor. Additionally, LIFEbeat calls on these "select group of activists" to "do something positive for the Caribbean American community", since the organization feels that it was because of this group's unruly actions the concert needed to be cancelled.

On Thursday, June 13th, Boykin, Chin, Kenyon Farrow and representatives from the black gay blogger campaign and the larger black LGBT community hold a press conference in response to LIFEbeat's accusations. Activists express their extreme frustration with LIFEbeat's inability to take full responsibility for their negligence in hiring homophobic artists in the first place, as well as the organization's attempt to act as though the LGBT community and Caribbean American community are mutually exclusive constituencies. The activists critique the continued racialized homophobia of LIFEbeat's rhetoric, calling attention to how the organization's call for the bloggers to "do something positive for the Caribbean American community", completely erases the specific concerns of black gays and lesbians, as though this group does not also belong to the "Caribbean American community". Boykin and others critique LIFEbeat for canceling the concert rather than granting the original request to simply remove the homophobic artists from the line-up. Boykin suggests that the concert should in fact be held, but with black gay friendly artists, and donations should be made to JFLAG, a Jamaican gay and lesbian organization. A few hours later LIFEbeat issues an additional response, apologizing for their actions, and calls for alliances between black LGBT and larger Caribbean American community.

GOT IT?

Posted by the young people's professor on 7/13/2006 at 12:55:00 PM | Permalink