Category: Inclusion

Or would being more explicit when introducing non-white characters play into a racist assumption that literary characters are white unless otherwise stated? BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, the Rev. Irene Monroe, is a religion columnist, theologian, and public speaker. She is the Coordinator of the African-American Roundtable of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in…

�Rustin�s steadfast opposition to identity politics also came under criticism by exponents of the developing Black Power movement. His critical stance toward affirmative action programs and black studies departments in American universities was not a popular viewpoint among many of his fellow Afro-Americans, and as at various other times of his life Rustin found himself…

A new allegation has surfaced that pop superstar Whitney Houston was murdered. Legal television commentator, Nancy Grace, ignited a firestorm of criticism speculating Houston�s death might have been a homicide. �I�d like to know who was around her, who, if anyone gave her drugs, following alcohol and drugs, and who let her slip, or pushed…

When Viola Davis lost the Oscar for best actress, portraying an African American maid in Katherine Stockett�s �The Help,� to Meryl Streep portraying former Britain Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in �The Iron Lady,� at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony, there was a collective sigh of relief from many of us African American sisters. Tulane University…

To some in the LGBTQ community, Cleo Manago is hugely despised. Descriptors like �homo demagogue,� contrarian, separatist, and anti-white are just a few that can be expressed in polite company. But to a nation-wide community of same-gender loving (SGL), bisexual, transgender and progressive heterosexual African American men, Manago is the MAN!, seen as a visionary,…

February 1 began Black History Month, a national annual observance since 1926, honoring and celebrating the achievements of African-Americans and their institutions. The one institution least expected to be lauded among LGBTQ people of African descent in the month-long celebration is the Black Church. In this ongoing cacophony of anti-gay rhetoric from fire and brimstone,…

February 1 begins Black History Month, a national annual observance since 1926, honoring and celebrating the achievements of African-Americans. February 1, 2010, the International Civil Rights Center and Museum (ICRCM) opened in Greensboro, North Carolina, honoring the courageous action of four African- American students. Their actions led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which…

Robert Champion, Jr.�s murder may never be solved. And those who struck the fatal blows will never disclose whether they used the guise of hazing as an accidental homicide to cover up an intended hate crime. Champion was an usual student to be at one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). He was…

Like her parents� faith, the Kings� eldest daughter Yolanda�s faith in the civil rights movement drove her passion for LGBTQ justice. �If you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, you do not have the same rights as other Americans,� she said at Chicago�s Out & Equal Workplace Summit in 2006. �You cannot marry. … [Y]ou…

Seldom do I see my image anywhere, especially portrayed in non-stereotypical and non-heterosexist ways on the silver screen. As a matter of fact, if you google �black lesbians� or �black lesbians in film� you�ll get a plethora of porn sites to visit. But writer-director Des Rees�s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama, �Pariah� gives me a glimpse of…