A new documentary series seeks to tell the stories of queer Black visionaries in an accessible and compelling way.
Series creator Katina Parker formerly worked as a media strategist for GLAAD, where she focused on helping to get the stories of LGBT African-Americans into the mainstream media. She said that during that experience she became aware of how few opportunities were really available to tell full, engaging stories of the people she was meeting.
"I became aware of all these really compelling stories about, not just coming out, but coming into self, and realized that there was not really a format or venue for those stories to be told," Parker said.
She noted that time constraints and word limits often led important stories to be reduced to sound bites.
After leaving GLAAD, Parker decided it was time to create a venue to tell the stories of queer Black people and she began working on Truth.Be.Told.
In her project summary she writes, "In America, we are told through a variety of means, including mainstream media, that Black LGBT people are "other," as in problematic, and that because we are so marginalized, our families/our voices/our rights do not matter. It has long been the analysis of Black LGBT leaders that we lack media visibility for the authentic portrayals of Black queer people and that this contributes to homophobia in Black communities. It has long been believed that by telling our stories to family and friends, we create spaces where we can bring all of who we are. The latter has been confirmed by the many of us who have come out to our families and who have endured a complex array of responses, but who have endured, nonetheless."
Parker is in the development stage of the project and is currently fundraising to help fund the pilot episode and for the creation trailers to help show off the breadth of the communities that will be given a voice through the documentary series. She has already shot several episodes for the series as well, which will be used in cutting the trailers.
"Whoever I choose for the pilot, there is going to be some aspect of the community that is saying 'what about us,'" Parker acknowledged, which is why she said the trailers are particularly important.
She plans to pitch the series to the networks once the pilot episode is completed, but said that regardless of where those conversations are at, the pilot episode will be available for viewing on Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day.
More than 50 queer Black visionaries have signed on to be part of the series, including Staceyann Chin (Jamaican-born, Tony Award-winning playwright); Emil Wilbekin (editor-at-large for Essence magazine), Patrik-Ian Polk (creator of Logo TV's Noah's Arc); Mia McKenzie (creator of the Black Girl Dangerous blog); Linda Villarosa (a former editor for the New York Times); Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs (co-creator of the Mobile Homecoming Project); Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler (filmmaker/transgender rights activist); and Justin Robinson (Grammy-winning musician, formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops).
Parker also noted that current and former Chicagoans have also signed on to participate: Kai Barrow, senior strategist at Southerners on New Ground, poet and playwright Sharon Bridgforth, and well-known poet Red Summer.
Parker said that in choosing which visionaries to include she was looking for people who have demonstrated some evidence of self-awareness and having done the work to really come out and come into themselves, something she notes is not easy.
"When I was in my late 20s, I was coming out of a period of drug addiction, which was in response to being dreadfully frightened about what was going to happen to me if I came out, when I came out," Parker explained. "I was at an event and I heard this woman say, 'be honest about who you are wherever you go.'"
The comment stuck with her and she said its taken her more than a decade to become comfortable bringing her whole self into a room.
"I take all of myself into every room, me, Black-Indian, queer, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, lover, so many things. I have no qualms or concerns about bringing all of myself into a space. It took a lot of work to get here."
Parker hopes that Truth.Be.Told. will help other queer Black individuals to gain that same courage and find the support systems they need to live their life fully and authentically.
To donate to the current campaign, visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/truth-be-told-pilot-fundraiser-take-three and to find out more about Truth.Be.Told., visit www.facebook.com/truthbetoldtvseries or www.twitter.com/TruthB3ToldTV.
