Displaced Yet Not Discouraged: A Profile of Don Knight-Powell
By Alonzo S. Blalock
In America, youth ages 15–24 who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers. Of the 1.6 million homeless youth each year, up to 40% are LGBTQ — meaning around 640,000 queer teens and young adults are left to seek shelter and other resources on their own. I recently sat down with Don Knight-Powell, a 22-year resident of Essex County, to recount his story of trauma and triumph as a gay black man finding his way home.
At the age of three, Don was adopted into a Jamaican, two-parent home that already had a son. He recognized early on that he was considerably queer and recalled being chastised exhibiting behaviors not considered masculine. By 14, he was clear about his attraction to men yet had not self-identified as gay until his first sexual experience at 18. His early teen years were plagued with being grounded for looking at pictures of boys or more explicit content on the internet. “You don’t really feel comfortable in a society growing up as a kid being yourself,” Knight-Powell says.
Coming out is a monumental moment, and it can come with a sigh of relief for some when it is of one’s own volition. While several factors can lead to LGBTQ youth homelessness, the leading cause is family rejection, as reported by the National Coalition for the Homeless. Knight-Powell says that his family’s conservative values often made him feel uncomfortable and their reaction to this discovery ultimately played a significant role in his displacement.
One night after returning home from work, his mother suggested that he had been out hanging with men and told him that he could no longer live in the house. An argument ensued when he finally confirmed that he was, in fact, gay.
“It was painful…we tousled, we fought. There [were] things thrown. She basically threw me out of the house into my car.” He lived out of his vehicle for the next two days with no contact with his family members. “From there, it was very hard to live life as a gay black man with no parents… my father disowned me, my brother…they wouldn’t accept the fact that I was gay,” Knight-Powell says with a slight quiver.
Youth consistently report severe family conflict as the primary reason for homeless, so seeking out safe spaces becomes necessary for survival. After being forced out of his home and enduring a troubled stint at his boyfriend’s house, Don maintained employment and sought shelter at the Essex LGBT RAIN Foundation in East Orange, New Jersey. Many LGBTQ youth are forced to contend with abuse at homeless shelters and are nearly 7% more likely to experience sexual victimization than heterosexual homeless youth.
Unfortunately, Don was no exception to this staggering statistic and disclosed that he was sexually assaulted several times while residing in the shelter. “I got into arguments, thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is my family. I’m going to be safe here’…, and that entire four months was horrible. Being molested plenty of times by different individuals that lived there was one of the hardest things to go through,” he says. When asked if he had reported the incidents to the staff, he boldly stated, “Absolutely;” however, when asked if he had gone to the police, he solemnly responded, “No” and sighted fear of disrupting his progress. He claims that his report of sexual assault went unresolved, yet this did not deter Don’s focus on getting on his feet. “There is so much to think about when something like that happens, in my case, I feel like I still have priorities,” Don says.
The law firm representing the Essex County Rain Foundation responded with a statement denying the allegations and cannot provide any information about former or current residents.
Aside from seeking shelter, most LGBTQ youths find themselves looking for a sense of community. In the 1970s, Black and Latinx gay, trans, and queer people developed a thriving subculture comprised of “families” and “houses” where they could be mentored by older community members and build relationships with their peers. Most commonly known as the ballroom scene, these houses would come together to host events so that the youth would have a safe outlet to express themselves and cultivate their creativity freely. In the present, some agencies seek to provide a similar sense of community by offering programming and services to produce a healthier, well-adjusted population.
Don recalls his time at a local youth program, Project WOW, and his time as a core group member, saying,
“They gave me a lot of opportunities… it was good to know that going through what I went through before I got to Project WOW that I can help someone else out that came in after me.”
His fondest memory was a retreat in the Poconos, where everyone had the opportunity to share their experiences, offer support, and make life-long connections. “It gave me so much drive into becoming who I want to be,” says Knight-Powell.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, youth shelters and housing programs have a shortage, resulting in many young people being denied assistance. Increasing funding from $103 to $140M could support nearly 7,000 new residential services and 200,000 more homeless youth crisis intervention programs.
Don’s story is one of the countless others who have had to traverse through this space. Since leaving Project Wow in 2019, Knight-Powell has secured his apartment. He works as a paraprofessional with children living with Autism. Don encourages other teens that may find themselves in the challenging position of being displaced to be themselves, take advantage of resources, and surround themselves with lovable people.
Alonzo S. Blalock (aka ‘Prince Derek Doll’) is an American performing artist, media personality, journalist, entrepreneur, and LGBTQ advocate. He serves as the Co-Executive Producer/Moderator for Queered Millennial’s “The Ki”, Co-host of “The Darren Greene Show” podcast, and is the Executive Vice President for Newark Pride, Incorporated. He is a resident reporter for the Newark News and Stories Collaborative, entertainment writer for The Newark Times, and inaugural scholar of the Center for Black Equity’s Ron Simmons Leadership Institute. Balancing life in the arts and public service, he’s been featured in Out In Jersey Magazine for his contributions to LGBT representation in music and recently produced the 16th Annual Newark LGBTQ Pride Festival.
Do you or someone you know need LGBTQ+ services? Here is a shortlist of resources in the Newark area:
Newark Public Library
LGBTQ Resource Center
First Floor
5 Washington St
Newark, NJ 07102
NJCRI [North Jersey Community Research Initiative]; one of New Jersey’s largest and most comprehensive HIV/AIDS community-based organization; includes LGBTQ services such as Project WOW, Pride Center of Newark, PRIDE Project, and more.
393 Central Ave. Newark, New Jersey, 07103
(973) 483–3444
Rutgers- Newark
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Diversity Resource Center
350 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Newark, NJ 07102
Paul Robeson Campus Center Room 352
http://lgbt.newark.rutgers.edu/
973–353–3416
Are there resources that you know of that we can add to our list? Email our project coordinator Lenise, lenise@newarkstories.com
