Why not take all of me? I desired to attend the Gala, but given a change in my employment, I could not afford the price of the ticket. As fate would have it and the generosity of Calenthia Dowdy , the opportunity to attend the event arose a day before the event. “I’ll wear my tails… and something Burberry,” I said to myself as I looked forward to interacting with the movers and shakers of the Philadelphia FIGHT and the city of Philadelphia. The event was held at the Urban League in Center City. Ruth Naomi Floyd, co-director for the Inspirational Voices of Philadelphia FIGHT shared with me the history of racism that this place has had and some more personal accounts. As I understand it, it was approximately in the 1980’s where they began to allow Blacks to enter through the front door. Yes, not even 20/30 years ago, Blacks had to enter through the back door. this highlights the fact that our history books fail to expound upon the racism and discrimination that has happened and continues to happen in the North; the grass is not always greener on the other side. I always like to arrive around 30 minutes after the start time for events like this. Suited and booted, I arrived about 15 minutes after I had planned. I tried to take a short cut from Suburban station to the event and, in the process, I got a little scrambled. God was at work because my steps led me to walk from back of the Urban league. Walking up the alley towards Broad Street, I couldn’t help but to image what it felt like to wear my finest, better than most and still have to enter from the back of a building because of the color of my skin. Proceeding forward, I stepped carefully and quickly to avoid getting my shoes dirty, praying that the smell of the alley way didnt overpower my fragrance. “Remember to smile,” I told myself as I entered the sea of Caucasian bodies sprinkled with Blackness. Perusing the crowd, I felt like I was overdressed and nice suite would have been more appropriate. My self doubt soon subsided as an onlooker approached me saying, “You look so elegant!” Wade Davis, former NFL player, was the featured speaker for the event. He ignited a passion for us to begin looking at ways to empower our youth, particularly those who are “at promise.” He advised that with an adequate support system, youth are not really at risk but are at promise. I believe this was a prophetic called for organizations and institutions to begin to equally intentional about the quality of services they provide as well as the quantity. He also challenged us to re-ignite the concept of the global village by suggesting that we ascribe to the idea of “fictive kinship.” Without going into a full analysis of this term and usage, I will simply quote a song that I would hear church mothers and deacons sing simply saying, “Let it be real. Let it be real. Whatever you do for the Savior, let it be REAL.” After his speech, we talked long enough to find that our degrees of separation are quite close. Understanding the intellectual and spiritual support backing his efforts, it is my prayer that Philadelphia FIGHT will find ways to him empower LGBT youth of Philadelphia, particularly young black gay men who are “at promise” but still find themselves at the cross roads where system worlds and life worlds tragically collide. Organizations such as Philadelphia FIGHT have championed in their efforts in activism and advocacy for populations disproportionate affected and infected with HIV. These efforts have enabled medical breakthroughs and now, an HIV positive test result is no longer a life sentence. Yet and still, individuals who are living with HIV still face challenges, particularly when environments are not supportive of their humanity overall. Unfortunately, some of these toxic environments are funded to serve individuals living with HIV and those who are at risk. Conversations around Black LGBT youth and institution building ion Philadelphia is important because, as the gayborhood is gradually changing, places where young Black LGBT youth experience a right of passage are also changing and are becoming inhospitable and insensitive to their plight. There is an ever-present need for black LGBT youth to have a place and space where they can holistically engage on the ideological playground of identity formation in a way where they build skills needed to survive. And so, I stood there, looking around, thinking about these things. And then Spirit told me to celebrate. That night, I stood in a place historical known to be inhospitable to Blacks, and listened to Black Gay man eloquently stand in front of a crowd that was 96% Caucasian, lending his life to the LGBT agenda… an agenda that has poorly answered the call to challenge hierarchal systems of power created upon race. And so I danced! The jazz band started playing and the vocalist echoed throughout the hall, “All of me, why not take all of me.” Somehow I configured a dance that fit the culture context from which the song was written… with a few innovative steps to make it my own. After about a minute or two of dancing, suddenly, a swarm of people headed to dance floor. It was more people that I saw dance at one time all night. And so WE danced! I began to think about my personal narrative, triumphs and failures. I thought about who I am and how I came to be. I thought about the labels comfortably and uncomfortably wear. “All of me, why not take all of me,” was the only thing I could hear. There comes a place in each person’s life where they find that everything needed to accomplish what we need to do we already have. Everything that life calls us to be, we already are and the world looses something when we shy away from authentically expressing this gift of life. Along this journey we will encounter self doubt, a theme that I have been dealing with for the past month or so. As God would have it, I checked my email this morning and saw an email from Philadelphia FIGHT. While saying thank you to all of those who attended, they included a picture of me dancing with others. Tis true, a picture is worth a thousand words.. When we begin to see each other as humans, as specific and necessary creations by God… When we begin to see each other as more than a number or a statistic… When we begin to see each other beyond our fears and frustrations… When we begin to see each other “ends” and not “means towards a end”…. When we begin to see each other through a lens of love and creativity…. When we begin to give our all to being who we were meant to be, doing what we are called to do… We will dance.. together! #theBelovedCommunity #theForwardFirmINC
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 02:24:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015