Listen Up, Before You Give Me the Boot...
By Brother Tracy Gibson
Before you give me the boot because I am Same Gender Loving or a Homosexual there are a few things you should know about my history, motivations, goals, aspirations, and my acceptance and or non-acceptance of my so-called ``lifestyle''... I am a Pro-Black Family Man, I may not have children myself {That I know of} or a wife, but I want our children to grow up straight and have families--I DON'T want them to share my lifestyle. I love Black Men AND Black Women.. I love Black children—but only in positive, progressive, holistic, spiritual and appropriate Ways {I pray about this ALL the time, and I mean ALL the time}-- and I have dedicated my life to our black children’s betterment and advancement.
I may well be and definitely am a Homosexual, but that doesn't mean I want others in our community to take on this lifestyle. I want to see our young men and young women grow up to be straight, responsible, caring, loving, respectable, law-abiding, trustworthy, non-drug using {Illegal drugs I mean}, and honest people. If they do turn out to be Homosexual or Same Gender Loving, I don't want to see them ostracized by our community and hated or disrespected, but accepted and given the chance to accomplish what they can for the short time we are all here on this planet earth. So-called Gay people or Homosexuals are a secret weapon in our fight for liberation and a secret Way to help finance our struggle and movement—especially black gay and lesbian and black transgendered people, but they need to be trained, respected and loved and appreciated…. [A TALL order, I know.] {Many of us—as Gay people--have disposable income because we don't have children and the medical bills, food bills and tuition costs that comes along with being parents..} To be ostracized for being Same Gender Loving is just the same as being ostracized for being disabled, Black, left-handed, or into an addictive lifestyle such as having a food addiction or a drug dependency... We all need to not only have more tolerance of ourselves and each other, if we want to be accepted ourselves, we also need to learn to take on the nature of LOVe, Peace, Understanding, Self-Acceptance, Growth, Kindness and Sharing--not the non-virtues of greed, hatred, deceit, repugnance, guilt, and deception.
Yes, Yes, Yes, all this is very hard to discuss because I am right in the heart of the Black community of West Philadelphia and I can be targeted like anyone else. But I have to be honest with the community because I not only want your emotional support, but I also want your financial support and I want to be looked upon as an ethical leader among the Black men of the community.
As you may or may NOT know, I was sexually molested as a black child growing up in West Philadelphia. I was about eight or nine and I was working for a shop-keeper helping him run a general store. One day we were sitting in the back of the store watching ``Gomer Pile,'' –I swear this is true--and he must have been board or something and he decided to put his hands where they didn't belong. I was way too young to know what the heck was going on so I let things occur. After the incident {Which didn't include any penis penetration on either of our parts} I left the store and never went back. Talking about this to you is no joke and it should signal to you the importance of what I'm getting at. Sometimes, for the good of the community, we have to get over embarrassment and talk about the difficult things.
I thought my childhood was a great thing, a great time, but a few years later I started to have the issues of anger and resentment for no apparent reason. I finally talked with my Mom and Dad about the incident when I was about 17. They were shocked and saddened by what had happened, but it was something that, even then, they didn't really want to talk about.
What I'm getting at here is the fact that now I want to help other youth, especially Black youths, who have been ostracized by their families because of the fact that they are Homosexuals. I also want to help Black families deal with talking more directly, openly and clearly to their young men and young women about sex in a positive, honest and forthright way {without fear and embarrassment. So what happened to me doesn't have to happen to them so easily and so quickly without something like therapy and prison time happening to the perpetrator (s). I want more forthright talk and discussion on ALL the issues that face us, not just ones surrounding sex. It is interesting to note that according to some statistics, something like 50 % of Gay or Same Gender Loving men were sexually abused when they were children--often at the hands of a Father, Uncle, Family friend, Employer or someone else like a Step-Father or cousin. This is something we don't want to talk about and something that still gets swept under the rug. In case you haven't noticed lately, there are a lot of lumpy rugs in the Black community. My self-proclaimed job has been to lift those old rugs up and start a cleaning and dusting process that will help us look at not only our sexual abuse issues more clearly, but also other issues such as how we deceive ourselves about our finances; how we abuse ourselves and each other physically and mentally; how we obsess over food, clothing, cars, diamonds and other material items and how these obsessions are NOT healthy mentally, financially or even socially and physically; how we waste millions of dollars each week on the Lotto; and how we have allowed drugs {legal prescriptions and illegal drugs} to take a hold of the ethics in our community and turn our entire community upside down. I want to see us turned right-side up like Farrakhan does, but I DON’T think we have to hate Jewish People or Lesbian and Gay people to get there. {I do think Jewish People have taken advantage of us as black people. They have helped exploit and oppress us, but we can boycott their stores, research and find out what stores they own and stop purchasing the diamonds and gold chains that they are mining in Africa. That is the Way to get at them, not just bad-mouthing them and hating them. That is childish and silly.}
It is time for a fresh start. It is time for fresh discussions. It is time for fresh and new people to get a chance to lead our people and our nation. The Old Guard has largely been manipulated, at a real expense to our community and to our oppressors. Our old guard taught us a lot, but considering the state of our community they have, at least partially, failed Big Time. It is time for a New Look... It is time to bring truth to light, as the Brilliant Reggie Bryant, formerly of WRTI Radio and WURD Radio used to say. There are thousands of men and women in our community who want to bring more truth, understanding and light into how we deal with each other and how we deal with our own oppression. I have dedicated about 35 years of my life to this struggle--the struggle for human rights, civility, Civil Rights, decency, Women's Rights, and even Gay rights {I know some of you don't like that one, but I'm trying to explain why we should take a second look at that instead of allowing the Right Wing to control the debate and listen to them. We should make up our own minds on this subject. } The Black Church, at least some sectors of it, have allowed themselves to be manipulated and moved to right wing actions like chastising Gays and Lesbians, ostracizing gays and lesbians and transgendered people, and even supporting the killing of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people in Africa, which, by the way, is something I deplore and something I plan to fight actively against through presenting positive information that will help to internationally criminalize taking physical action against people who have different lifestyles.
As you know there have been more and more people coming out about their own experiences. There is a former NFL player who is a Homosexual and has been speaking out about his experiences. He is also Black, as I am also. There are other activists like Keith Boykin who have written books on the subject such as ``One More River to Cross: Black and Gay in America,’’ ; and there are films coming out about the subject such as ``Noah's Arc: The Complete First Season,'' {Cable TV Show}, Starring Nick Arquette, Jensen Atwod and Rodney Chester; ``Dirty Laundry,'' starring Rockmond Dunbar, Loretta Devine, and Jenifer Lewis; ``Tongues Untied,'' directed by Marlon Riggs; ``Looking for Langston,'' Starring Ben Ellison, Matthew Baidoo and Akim Mosaji; ``Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom,'' Starring Darryl Stephens and Jensen Atwood, {2008} ``Brother to Brother'' (2005) Starring Anthony Mackie, Larry Gilliard Jr., and Duane Bouttle; ``A Litany For Survival, '' by Lesbian filmmaker Michelle Parkerson, {A play cousin of mine who I know personally}; and ``Adodi--25 Years
Later, The Legacy.. '' a film by filmmaker Rod Patrick Risbrook for which I was interviewed and which is due out next August {2013}..
There are also several books on the subject such as: ``Brother to Brother,'' By Essex Hemphill ``In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology’’ by Joseph Beam {The first such know book in history...} ``Another Country,'' by famed Black writer James Baldwin and ``Sister Outsider,'' by Poet Audry Lord...
When we as Black thinking people see a subject that people are squabbling, fighting, arguing over and that is driving a shaft of hatred and anger through our community, the best thing to do is to take time and read about the subject and NOT take on angry and hateful position that only causes consternation, disgruntlement, anger and more hatred. That leads us nowhere fast. Elections have been lost by us on a National level, like in 2004, when the Republican Party manipulated this ``GAY'' issue and used it like a rope around our necks. Knowledge loosens the rope and lets us breath and reach agreement to work together on what we can and not feel hatred about different sectors of our community.. Reading and research also allows us to understand points of view different from our own.
I have noticed the very obtuse ways in which we are living in North America. We are letting a culture that basically hates us raise our children by letting them freely watch the muck and mire on TV; we are allowing our children to run free and curse us, disrespect us and not attend church or Mosque when we know they will greatly benefit from some constructive, consistent religious experiences; we let our society say we should not allow our parents, grandparents and trusted and respected elders and guardians and other such trusted and respected friends and extended family members and our children experience time together and read together and learn to respect each other. We have lost this part of our African root and our African culture. We can win it back and re-institute such positive cultural and social advantages back into our communities. It will take time, It can happen, but we ALL have to work at it. It may mean replacing some politicians and some churches who are about profits and not people, but if that is so, let it be and let it happen, or get out of the Way. We must and can do better.
The ``Doing Better'' part is where me and my company come in. I am not alone. There are literally thousands of activists who want to help Black people reach more unified, understanding and work together where we can. I hope you will read several other articles in this BLOG:
http//:thepoliticsofreal.blogspot.com…
so you will understand the level of dedication I have shown in helping resolve and work on community problems on a local, statewide, national and international level. Give me and us as part of the Vanguard of the community a chance. Open your mind. Read. Listen to others. Read Progressive writing like: ``The Nation Magazine,'' ``The Progressive,'' ``Mother Jones,'' ``The Crisis,'' and ``The Worker's World Newspaper,'' and ``The Final Call,'' which have liberal and even radical perspectives on this issue of Gays and Gay Rights and other issues. There is also an organization called the Black Radical Congress, which is a Black radical Organization {Which I have worked for, for a brief time in the past} which has a more open and understanding policy in dealing positively with Gay, Lesbian and Same Gender Loving issues and people. I thank you for reading this and I wish you well...THIS ARTICLE IS POSTED on my blog, BUT STILL BEING EDITED!!!
