Resources for African Americans
Black Prides
Atlanta
Detroit
Houston
Los Angeles
Philadelphia
Washington, D.C.
PFLAG-related
For Those We Love (Washington, D.C., ) and African-American PFLAG chapters in Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Seattle, Wash.; and Boston: contact Families of Color Network (Listserv) at focn@pflag.org
Publications and Websites
http://www.womeninthelife.com
http://www.arisemag.com
http://www.blacklightonline.com
http://www.celebratesisterhood.org/index1.html
http://www.ngltf.org/pi/blackpride.htm
GLAAD’s Black History Month Media Resource Kit
Books
A Whosoever Church: Welcoming Gays and Lesbians into African American Congregations. Gary David Comstock, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.
Black Gay Man: Essays. Robert F. Reid-Pharr and Samuel R. Delany, New York University Press, 2001.
Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction. Devon W.Carbado. ed. et al, Cleis Press, 2002.
Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men. Essex Hemphill and Joe Beam, ed., Alyson Publications, 1991.
Coming Out While Staying in: Struggles and Celebrations of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals in the Church. Leanne McCall Tigert, United Church Press, 1996.
The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart. Peter J. Gomes, William Morrow & Co., 1996.
The Greatest Taboo: Homosexuality in Black Communities. Delroy Constantine-Simms, Alyson Publications, 2001.
In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology. Joseph Beam, Alyson Publications, 1988.
Love Awaits, African American Women Talk About Sex, Love, and Life: Dearest Brothers, Much Peace, Your Sisters. Courtney Long and Maria Jones, eds., Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishers, 1995.
Love Lifted Me: In Spite Of The Church. K. Godfrey Easter, LLM Publishing Group, 2002.
One MoreRiver to Cross: Black and Gay in America. Keith Boykin, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1998.
One of the Children: Gay Black Men in Harlem. William Hawkswood, University of California Press, 1996.
Respecting the Soul: Daily Reflections for Black Lesbians and Gays. Keith Boykin, William Morrow & Co., 1999.
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Audre Lorde, Crossing Press, 1984.
Faith Organizations
http://www.rainbowbaptists.org
http://www.umoc.org United Methodists of Color
http://www.rslevinson.com/gaylesissues/gfg/blgfg.htm (list of affirming churches)
http://www.whosoever.org/resources.html#Church (welcoming churches)
Films
All God’s Children. Producers: Dr. Dee Mosbacher, Frances Reid and Dr. Sylvia Rhue, 1996. Prominent religious, intellectual and political leaders, family members and activists speak out about the role of the church and the importance of commitment to equal rights and social justice for all people, including lesbians and gay men.
Among Good Christian Peoples. Producers: Catherine Gund and Jacqueline Woodson, Frameline Video, 1980. The story of an African-American lesbian (also one of the filmmakers) raised as a Jehovah's Witness. Unable to abandon either her religious beliefs or her current lifestyle, she ultimately finds a way to practice her faith within a supportive and nurturing environment.
B.D. Women. Inge Blackman, 1994. A celebration of the history and culture of black lesbians. Interviews featuring black women talking candidly about their sexual and racial identities are interwoven with a dramatized love story, set in the 1920s, in which a romance develops between a gorgeous jazz singer and her stylish butch lover.
The Body of a Poet: A Tribute to Audre Lorde. Sonali Fernando, 1995. The film is an imaginary biopic, centering on the efforts of a group of young lesbians of color to devise a fitting tribute to one of this century's great visionaries.
Black Nations/Queer Nations? Shari Frilot, 1995. An experimental documentary chronicling the March 1995 groundbreaking conference on lesbian and gay sexualities in the African diaspora, featuring scholars, activists and cultural workers such as Essex Hemphill, Kobena Mercer, Barbara Smith, Urvashi Vaid and Jacqui Alexander.
A Different Kind of BlackMan. Sheila J. Wise, 2001. A powerful look at the ideas and feelings of successful, black gay men on such issues as sexuality, masculinity and their perception of and their role within the black community.
The Edge of Each Other’s Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde. Jennifer Abod, 2000. This video is about Audre Lorde's broad social vision and the translation of that vision into a historic transnational conference.
James Baldwin: The Price of a Ticket. Karen Thorson, 1990. This documentary captures the spirit and intellect of a man who surmounted many barriers to become a celebrated writer. It discusses Baldwin's homosexuality, his self-imposed exile in France and Turkey, and his return to the United States to participate in the civil rights movement.
He Left Me His Strength. DCTV, 1989. Centering on the personal story of Mildred Pearson, a black adult female whose gay son died from AIDS, this video addresses AIDS, homosexuality and the black church.
I Shall Not Be Removed: The Life of Marlon Riggs. Karen Everett, 1996. Film biography providing a fitting memorial to Marlon Riggs, the gifted, gay, black filmmaker who died from AIDS in 1994. It traces his development from a precocious childhood in the close-knit African-American community of Fort Worth, Texas, , through his political awakening at Harvard, to his final years as a courageous advocate for stigmatized people.
Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100.Yvonne Welbon, 1999. Documentary with vivid narrative recreations about the life and times of Ruth Ellis, born July 23, 1899, and the oldest "out" African-American lesbian at the time of filming.
Our House: Lesbians and Gays in the Hood. Not Channel Zero, 1993. Up-front and in-your-face interviews with black gays and lesbians provides an uncompromising look at homophobia, racism, alienation and empowerment for GLBT African Americans.
Tongues Untied. Marlon Riggs, 1989. The acclaimed account of black gay life by Emmy Award-winning director Marlon Riggs, which uses poetry, personal testimony, rap and performance to describe the homophobia and racism that confront black gay men.
Watermelon Woman. Cheryl Dunye, 1997. Director Cheryl Dunye casts herself as the beleaguered protagonist in this film about a black lesbian struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, an alluring and mysterious 1930s black film actress.