UNDRESSING ICONS

For the last 25 years, there have been many black gay, or same gender indentified men who have been about the business of desecrating what Essex Hemphill called sacred closets, closets sealed by kisses and semen, closets that often trap the souls of black gay men. Our great brother to brother patron saint of all things black, holy and homosexual often reminded us that "The Black homosexual is hard pressed to gain audience among his heterosexual brothers; even if he is more talented, he is inhibited by his silence or his admissions.  This is what the race has depended on in being able to erase homosexuality from our recorded history.  The "chosen" history.  But these sacred constructions of silence are futile excersises in denial.  We will not go away with our issues of sexuality. We are coming home."

Hemphill had a knack for telling the truth and shaming the devil. Some homophobic blacks continue to try hard not to write or speak about the open secrets of our icons and cultural figures often so that certain others of us cannot not lay claim to them. From Bessie Smith and Langston Hughes all the way down to Luther Vandross and Queen Latifah, they hope we will forget about the importance of who they loved or how they express desire by saying that it doesn't matter or affect their current position and influence in their respective fields. When icons like Jimmy Baldwin or Bayard Rustin showed us or told us out of their own mouths, even their own friends still found it necessary to dig their heads in the sand as if facing the truth would somehow tarnish their brilliance. More than finding strength in numbers, some of us think differently and feel the full truth only adds to their luster!

But other people are not always at fault; sometimes we're the one's who are damned if we do and damned if we don't. Consider the recent opportunity that singer Freddie Jackson had to be totally authentic. Instead, he chose to artfully sidestep the obvious issue folk have always known to be the truth for years. I respect the man's privacy, and he is totally within his right, but in the end we are still left trying to breathe new life onto the old bones that have been left to rot in the closets. Sometimes the bones can live again, but trying to flesh out a full and real life in the hope of elevating it beyond the conspiratorial whispers of who slept with who is an often daunting task.

Over 80 years ago, Carter G. Woodson, the phenomenal African American historian, known as the Father of Black History created Negro History Week (later expanded and renamed Black History Month) but had to tell folk that "If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated." Way back then, we had to worry about the "other" man erasing or whitewashing our history, and while I'm not equating race with sexual orientation, 80 years after Woodson and only 20 years after Hemphill, it's still the same old song with a different meaning since they've been gone.  The remix is not all that different from the original!

Someone asked me what I was doing for Black History Month.  People ask me that every year, and every year I give them the same answer, which is EVERY MONTH IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH at Corey @ I'll Keep You Posted!  More often than not, it's black gay history as well and if it were not for the legacies of men like Woodson and especially Hemphill, I wouldn't have anything to work with. 

However, just let me add that for the first time since I've been in this space, I plan to work more diligently this February than I ever have before.  Blogging is hard work!  I haven't always been great, but I am trying to operate on a new level of commitment and excellence. And if it extends well into March, know that I'm only trying to do what I've recently vowed to do - keep you posted but in a much greater way!

The snapshot above was taken in 1964.  There are no icons pictured here - just ordinary brothas undressed at the beach.  It is from the collection of the Black LGBT Archivist Society of Philadelphia.

Comments

[Derrick from Philly]

Again, very well written, Corey.

Without history how the hell do you know who you are?

And like you, Corey, I believe that Black American history is important and so is Black LGBT history important for us to know. Knowing your own people's history empowers a person spiritually (I think). Nobody can tell you that you're worthless because you know where and what you come from.

And thanks for mentioning the Black LGBT Achivist Society of Philadelphia. The young man who started this cultural group is Kevin T. Jones. I've never met him, but he created a fabulous exhibit at Philadelphia's Black Gay Pride in 2006 or '07. He persuaded older Black and Latino Gay folks in the Philly area to contribute photographs from their youth along with video/recorded testimony of what it felt like to be "in the life" in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Seeing and feeling that exhibit was the greatest experience I've experienced in many years.

And I believe young Mr Jones may be a transplant from your part of the country (Ohio, but I'm not sure).

Thanks, again, Corey.

[Curious]

No icons, I think I knew the young man posing in the lower center of the photo. If it's him then he was a dancer and he told stories of himself in the documentary, Dancing on Pearls. In fact it was one of his stories that was the inspiration for the title of the film. I've forgotten what his name was, he died a few years ago and I would ask the Ex...but that's not happening.