B.G.M. Speaks on Texas Textbooks and Revisionist History

If we as a society are ever going to progress, we must address our past.  The State of Texas is taking a huge stepback in terms of progress by trying to eliminate slavery from the teaching of the Civil War. 

Next year, five million public school students in Texas will begin using social studies textbooks that will not mention the Ku Klux Klan(KKK), Jim Crow laws, or slavery as one of the primary factors in the Civil War.  Instead these books will suggest that slavery was a side issue and that the primary factor in the Civil War was the role of states’ rights vs. a centralized government.

However, historians have pointed out that the states rights debate and the issue of slavery are “inseparable.” Therefore, Texas is presenting a revisionist history that undermines the role and impact of slavery in the Civil War. 

If we do not bring attention to how slavery has impacted our country and society we are going to continue to see history and racism repeat itself. One of the examples that we are currently seeing is the Confederate Flag debate.  For some, people associate the Confederate flag with being a symbol of states rights “triumph” over centralized government, but as the Confederate Flag is also a symbol of racism and the enslavement of black people. Those two causes are inseparable, meaning they cannot be separated.

If we teach young children that slavery is a side issue, we are also teaching children that Black people are a side issue. If we teach young children that slavery is not equal in the eyes of history as other issues related to the Civil War, we are undermining the lives of Harriet Tubman and other abolitionists who gave their lives to end slavery and minimizing their contribution to history.

I am challenging everyone to end the revisionist history rhetoric and teaching and start addressing the central issues of racism and bigotry that have been pervasive throughout U.S. History. That starts by acknowledging slavery, racism, and bigotry in history class. Lets talk about these issues publicly and start the education at an early age. That way the next generation can grow and learn from the mistakes of our past and history can stop repeating itself. In 2015, we shouldn’t feel that it still 1955 or 1855. 

B.G.M. on My Independence Day

I have never felt a connection to the 4^th of July. I know that is the day that Americans celebrate the United States independence from England, and its supposed to be a collective celebration of freedom and independence.  However, I have never had a connection to the holiday because, July 4, 1776, those were like me, black, gay, male, we were not free in this country.  We were still enslaved in the United States.  You couldn’t marry or be publicly be in a relationship with someone of the same gender. You couldn’t really be fluid in terms of gender back then. Therefore, it makes sense why the 4^th of July has never really resonated with me.

I am a survivor of many things in my life. I have survived Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma twice. I am a rape survivor. I am a child-abuse survivor. Combine all of this with the daily struggles of being black, gay, and not 100% male conforming, it is a lot! I deal with all of these issues in my own way and in many ways in silence. One of the reasons why I deal with them in silence is because I’m often told to deal with them in silence because the world doesn’t like to hear people talk about the painful difficult aspects of their lives, especially if you have many. I also deal with them in silence because many of these experiences have been belittled and minimized by other people and you get to a point where you do not want your experiences to be minimized so you just remain quiet about it. Well, today I guess I am celebrating an Independence Day by saying to the world through this post that I am a Black Gay Male, Cancer, Rape, Child Abuse survivor who is dealing with all of these issues simultaneously each and everyday and I’m doing my best to handle it in the way that is most comfortable for me to handle it. It may not be the way that you deal with it, but at the same time, you’re not living with it. We as Black people have often been told that we have to love our enemies and understand others, without that same understanding coming our way. We as Gay people have often been told that we have to respect everyone else’s marriages and loves without having that same respect coming our way. We as gender non-conformists, have often been told that we need to not put ourselves out there, that are non-conforming behavior is problematic for other members of the LGBT community, and that are non-conforming is damaging to society. I say, why should any of us understand, respect, or conform to those who are not understanding, respecting, or behaving in a way that is pleasing to us.

I have spent a great deal of my life, silencing myself, understanding others, helping others, and trying to conform to standards that don’t have me in mind or are in my best interests. I know many of you who are reading this have also silenced yourself, given of yourself, minimized yourself, and conformed to standards that do not fit you. Today, I say, celebrate your Independence Day, and be free from all things that are inhibiting your voice, your progress, your growth, and your ability to freely live in all your intersections. Don’t wait because trust me as someone who has had his own family turn away from him, friends who may or may not be there when you need them, no real sense of consistency when it comes to love, you will drive yourself crazy if you keep conforming and waiting for these people. As my best friend has to often remind me, no one owes you closure, and at the same time, no one owes you, YOU. YOU owe yourself to be fully who you are.

So don’t wait for others to grant you independence, claim your own independence in being freely all of who you are and expressing in the ways YOU feel you need to. I’m celebrating my Independence Day by claiming my own freedom in being fully who I am as a survivor of a whole lot of shit and someone who is finding his way the best way he knows how and marching to the beat of his own drum. I invite you to celebrate your own and let what ever flag you carry fly!

B.G.M. Reminds You That We are BLACK, GAY, and PROUD

Over the weekend, across the U.S., several cities celebrated LGBT Pride. In addition to that, they also celebrated the landmark Supreme Court Decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which made marriage equality legal in all 50 states. On Friday and Saturday, I celebrated in Houston because I was happy to see our society move one step closer towards the ultimate goal of equality for everyone.  On Sunday, however, I was reminded by just how far we have to go and how little we have moved as a society. 

On this blog and in my life, I am very unapologetic about being a BLACK GAY MALE. The reason why I have to assert all these identities is because people often feel that one aspect of my identity is negated by the other or that because I embrace one aspect that I forget the other. For example, this weekend while I was celebrating Gay Pride, I was also hurting over the fact that in South Carolina several more churches have been burned to the ground. Some would say that because I am Gay and was celebrating marriage equality, that that makes me anti-black. Some would say that because I embrace Gay Culture that I do so at the expense of my blackness. Some would say that because I don’t produce children that I am not furthering the Black Race. To them I say BULLSHIT, I AM STILL BLACK AND GAY.

I embrace all of myself. I am very proud to be a Black man and I embrace my culture and my history. I also deal with the racism that I encounter within the LGBT community. For example, someone took it upon themselves to create an image of two people standing on an Olympic podium with their rainbow fists in the air similar to Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s symbolic and iconic gesture at the 1968 Olympics.

However, this image is offensive to me as a BLACK man.  The image negates the fact that it was celebrating BLACK achievement in the Olympic Games , BLACK people standing in solidarity with BLACK people, and the blocking out of BLACK people in the LGBT movement. The image could have easily been two BLACK GAY MEN who stood proudly with their BLACK FIST in the air clad in rainbow. Instead someone once again did not take into consideration the historical significance and the contribution of BLACK people to this country and to the LGBT movement.

Also, during this weekend I have seen white men going to twitter and using the hashtag #TakeUsDown to mock White Privilege and to assert that it is fake.

These images reflect how a large part of our society negates the oppression and hatred that Black people experience on the basis of race. It shows how our culture and experiences are not equally treated. It shows how while I may be able to get married today, I could be killed because I am Black. It shows how many people will smile in my face but behind their eyes and within their hearts they do not see me or others like me as being equal to them and want to mock the actual struggle that we face each and every day.

I have seen that the KKK is planning a rally in South Carolina to protest the removal of the Confederate Flag from the State Capital.

The Confederate Flag is NOT a symbol for Southern Pride. It is a symbol and reminder of a time when Black people were enslaved in this country. It is a symbol of a group of people who would like to return to the days of Black enslavement.For those who assert that the Confederate flag is a symbol of anything else, take a good look of who is standing around with you as your supports. The KKK stands for racial oppression and hatred and if you stand with them on this issue, you are also tacitly supporting their bigotry.

All of this happened over the weekend while I was celebrating Gay Pride, and it OFFENDS ME AS A BLACK MAN.

My Blackness and My Gayness are all a part of me. They are both equally important to me. I deal with racism and homophobia equally. They both hurt equally as much when I receive it from white, black, gay, straight, people. I know thousands of people turned their social media profile pics to rainbow to show support for the LGBT community, and I am happy that they did that. However, we need to also remind people that while we are celebrating we still have a long way to go and that there are people who live at the intersections of race, gender, and sexual orientation and that one aspect of their identity does not cancel out the other aspects of who they are.

I am happy that Seek The Poet created the profile pic that I am using now and the profile pic of others who proudly proclaim that they live at the intersections of LGBT and Blackness. We Exist!!! We feel the pride of having marriage equality. We feel the pain of racism and stand with our brothers and sisters in South Carolina and everywhere else. We are BLACK, GAY, AND PROUD…and DON’T YOU FORGET IT!