Historical Black Queer Voices in Black History Month
My Black History Month Wish…
Is that by the end of this decade people other than Black queer people…
Can you name 29 Black Queer historical figures, events, and locations?
The pictures shown throughout this article are of the books in the authors’ current library. What is not pictured are the books on its kindle, books returned, books lent to others, and books I didn’t think were needed for my nerdy book photoshoot. They represent a semi-random sampling of books accumulated by a Black queer American on the path of being an activist-scholar with research interest that includes, social-cultural anthropology, public history, with themes of Black liberation, homosexuality, black queer studies, black feminist literature, among other focuses of blackness, queerness, and black political thought.
In the pictures, there are 71 books at the most that I started this included queer fiction, and books that just had 1 chapter that fit the focus of Washington DC, queerness, and Blackness specifically black feminist thought.
The second-largest grouping of 55 books shows the research criteria winnowed to Books that centered on LGBTQ themes, whether its subject matter on it or the author is LGBTQ and it was not an autobiography. Category three with 30 books are all written by and or center queer people of color (this is not pictured).
Then there are 18 books by Black queer people writing about Black queer topics. I call this the T pictures.
And then there was
3
Three is the number of black queer oral history books out there that have been done by Black queer people.
Only three times have Black queer people being able to tell their story to a black queer person for publication and disbursement of their voice
3
(I know my library isn’t fully complete, but that section is.)
And neither one of the 2 brilliant black queer scholars that collected those 3 collections are historians by training. No shade to them for this you do not have to be trained a historian to collect and preserve the memory and voices of a community that you are a part of.
The pictures shown are of the books in my current library position, what is not pictured are the books on my kindle, books returned, books lent to others, and books I didn’t think were needed for my nerdy book photoshoot.
To my knowledge, there are not even three biographies written about three Black queer people let alone any by Black queer people. And therein lies one of my points!
Black Queer scholars are rare. Black queer people who manage to have the privilege and luck to allow them to be scholars are rarer. But who else can and will write about you correctly, be interested enough, and have the ability to balance a Black Queer historical figure without compromise one identity to the other? A book on Alaine Locke will have to include his unrequited love with Langston Hughes, preferably with rigor and candor that reads him for doing the actions that many educated Black Queer men have experienced when chasing another educated Black man they not willing to see is not interested in them.
Black people and queer people have already articulated the arguments for the need for them to write their own narratives all the same arguments apply when combined.
OUR BLACK QUEER VOICES ARE NEEDED
In the above collection of books pictured you will find:
- 2 books on gay dc
- 7 on general queer history in U.S.
- 2 books on African American DC
- only 2 of them talk about it make reference 2 Melvin Boozer the first openly gay candidate for Vice President being nominated in 1980 on the democratic ticket. And neither of them were on the Black centered ones.
- None of them could tell me that Avis Pendarvis the founding mother of the Legendary House of Pendarvis was born in DC before going to New York to help start a culture.
- 3 mention the Third World Lesbian and Gay Conference held before the first Lesbian and Gay March on Washington
- None of them mentions where the first Black centered HIV community talk was held.
- One mentions Us helping Us the oldest Black Queer HIV/AIDS organization.
- Only 1 mentions Black Pride, and though that book talks about its replacement of Children's Hour Memorial Day weekend it fails to acknowledge that the first planning meetings were held at the ClubHouse.
The ClubHouse is where from 1975–1990 Black queer Washingtonians had a place for them to feel safe and dance out the intersectional stress of the week.
It is where Wilmore Cook, Theodore Kirkland, Earnest Hopkins, and others first met to talk about the idea that became Black Pride, the first African-American centered pride in the world. It is where Us Helping Us began their mission to holistically take care of the brothers with the virus.
It is where Marion Barry campaigned for some of his “gay vote” and internationally people came in town memorial weekend just to attend Children’s Hour. The premiere Black-centric circuit party, if there even were others. A business that helped raise money for the Third World Lesbian and Gay conference
It is where John Eddy, Rainey Cheeks, Aundre Scott, Rayceen Pendarvis, Tito Robinson, Juicy Colman, Beverly “Miss Chocolate” White, Papaya Mann, and countless others built community, supported fellow Black queers and sometimes it was the last place they saw members of the community make their last night before becoming too weak to leave their house, hospice, or hospital.
The hour is upon us for the children of the ClubHouse have their voices preserved in the historical narrative and public memory of DC, LGBTQ history, Black history, and u.s. history.
Listening to the oral histories from Black queer Washingtonians already collected by the Rainbow History Project (RHP) the past month and a half has informed me to the fact that Avis Pendarvis, was from DC, the origins of ICAN, the VD clinic most Black queers went to, was across the street from the ClubHouse. I’ve learned about the amazing contributions of Earlene Budd, Barbara Chin, and Charlene Cheatem.
The ClubHouse Oral history Project is a community-based project centering Black queer people being led by a Black queer person and every day I’m honored to be able to work and preserve Black queer voices.
If you know someone we should talk to please let us know by filling out this Nomination Form. If you have ClubHouse stories and would like to give your own oral history please use this Participation sign up. If you are in the position and would like to help financially here is the Donation Link.
Please email delan@rainbowhistory.org for questions about the project including other opportunities to help support the project.
Please email info@rainbowhistory.org for general questions about the Rainbow History Project.
Delan Ellington is a second-year graduate student at Howard University working towards a Master’s in public history. They are the inaugural graduate fellow with the Rainbow History Project.
