THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Larry Duckett was a native of Washington, D.C., and earned a B.A. in Music from Virginia State University. He has had a long contribution the African American LGBT community as a writer, musician, and actor. Many of his poems and commentary pieces have appeared in numerous publications, including Lambda Publications' BLACKlines. He worked at and volunteered in many different capacities at several community-based organizations over the years, including the Washington, D.C. Care Consortium, an AIDS service organization

In the early 1980s Larry auditioned for a show that poet, writer, and performance artist Essex Hemphill was putting together with lesbian filmmaker Michelle Parkerson. He didn't get the role for the show but did work with Hemphill on another project called the Brass Rail and thereafter had a 10-year union that was as close as you can get without being physically intimate. He often described it as "10 years beside Hemphill as artist, confidant, and brotha." You may recall him on the cover of the 1992 book release by Hemphill titled Ceremonies. The original cover featured Essex and Larry embracing one another, showing love, the way two men of African decent can do so passionately. Essex died of AIDS in 1995. Now our community feels the loss of another eloquent, strong and poignant voice that spoke for the African American LGBT community.

Larry Duckett has left a rich legacy of his work. He has performed as an actor and musician at The Painted Bride Arts Center in Philadelphia, The Kitchen in New York City, The Kennedy Center and the National Theatre. As an accompanist he played for many singers at clubs like Blues Alley. Larry joined Hemphill in the NPR broadcast of "First and Last Words," hosted by Sonia Sanchez. His collaborations with filmmaker Marlon Riggs can be seen in performances in the groundbreaking films Tongues Untied that aired on PBS, as well as in Riggs' film Black Is, Black Ain't.

In Chicago, Duckett and Hemphill had readings and performances at People Like Us Books and The Randolph Street Gallery. In 1998 A Real Read, Chicago's African American LGBT Performance Ensemble, presented the Midwest premier of We Heard The Night Outside at the Bailiwick Arts Center, the story of Duckett and Hemphill...two years after the death of Hemphill. Byron Stewart played the character of Paradise based on Hemphill; C.C. Carter portrayed MC and I portrayed Perez based on Duckett. Larry Duckett was working on a book, which detailed his life before and after the untimely death of Essex Hemphill. It was to be called The Unknown Road to Paradise.

Larry's family held a service that celebrated his life Oct. 1. There have been plans made for an additional Memorial Service that friends, love ones and colleagues from the LGBT community. Details will be available soon.

"The gift of creativity, the gift of being Black, the gift of an alternative lifestyle, is opportunities I celebrate in my work. I want people to bear witness to another pain, another love, a different light that will, hopefully, encourage a mediation, an awareness that the intangible things build and support the bridges between us," Larry Duckett once said.

The following poem was printed in the December 1998 issue of BLACKlines. I'd like to remember this poem as I remember Larry Duckett.

Harris, Wood,

Hemphill and Riggs

Poets, gatekeepers, warriors,

You open your heart.

Expose the soul,

Truth is borne,

Love endured

Tour insight,

Spotlight,

On a shadow.

You shine,

Refuse the dark,

And write,

Like Aretha sings.

Our fear subsides,

Your burden at ease.