fiction and musings from a gay black dude with delusions above his station
In the numbing haze in which I found myself on that fateful day in June 1996 when Mom died, I managed to focus while packing for the trip to L.A. to join my family on that which was most important: Music. In those pre-MP3, pre-iPod days, I carted about a dozen or so CDs with…
From Digby via blue aardvark on Daily Kos: Since 1986, the US has observed the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the third Monday of January, which typically falls within a few days of his actual birthday, January 15. All 50 states first observed the holiday in 2000. But in the good state…
It’s depressing that queer storytelling is still regarded as something rare, unique, or extraordinary. Even in an age where queer characters populate more films and TV shows, the voices from these characters are usually just a footnote rather then the main subject. The film 54, from 1998, pops to mind. Named after and set in…
On Salon I found a wonderful coming out essay written by Jean Melasaine in which she recounts the multiple communities she has grown into during her life. She was born to Samoan parents who immigrated to the US. Her parents speak little English. Her family was poor. And they attended the Mormon church, where she quickly…
I came up the long escalator from the Underground and found myself on the grey streets of London, home to Doctor Who, The Prisoner, and Monty Python. I was in heaven. Late March 2000, just in time for my birthday, saw my partner and me overseas for the first time. Everything about the trip excited…
“…[G]ay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Addressing the United Nations on International Human Rights Day Do read or watch Secretary Clinton’s remarkable speech on LGBT rights. She spent about a half-hour talking about the need to further the cause for LGBT human…
Within a couple of months of coming out in 1988, I took my first HIV test. It took two weeks to get the results at that time. Two weeks. They counseled you when they drew blood. And they counseled you when they gave you the results. But for two weeks, you were on your own….
The Doctor: Professor Watson, any being that can exist let alone thrive inside a nuclear pile is hardly likely to be deterred by a few primitive missiles. Professor Watson: But they’re the most powerful missiles we have! The Doctor: On your standards, perhaps. I think we should try much older weapons. Sarah Jane Smith: Like?…
“When they said Berkeley was ‘crunchy,’ I didn’t know they meant students’ rib cages.” – Stephen Colbert Gathered together to protest the injustices of the day, they linked arms and held firm. They linked arms as they crossed a bridge, knowing that police cars, batons, dogs, and fire hoses waited at the other end. They…
Have you ever used a pickax? The first time I ever used one was to create a ditch for a french drainage system on one side of the house. In the Bay Area, the soil is generally some type of clay. When it rains, it’s mud. But when it’s dry all bets are off. It’s…
