Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

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

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Racial-justice confab looks at LGBT report
by Andrew Davis
2010-09-29

This article shared 3768 times since Wed Sep 29, 2010
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


A groundbreaking report on the link between racial-justice groups and LGBT communities was spotlighted at the Applied Research Center's "Facing Race 2010" conference at the McCormick Hyatt that took place Sept. 23-25.

"Facing Race"—the largest multiracial gathering of leaders, educators, journalists and other professors promoting racial justice—was a focal point for those who wanted to discuss strategies and successful models for changing some policies and advance racial justice.

It was in the workshop "Better Together: Collaborations between Racial Justice and LGBT groups" that the report was discussed. The "Better Together" study was motivated by three facets of the national political landscape: Racial-justice groups and LGBT individuals would seem to have a natural bond; despite these links, the bonding is not widely occurring or known; and, LGBT people of color are hurt by the perceived split between communities of color and the LGBT demographic.

According to one of the speakers, Applied Research Center President/Executive Director Rinku Sen, the report surveyed 81 organizations ( 41 racial-justice groups and 40 LGBT organizations of color ) . Interviews with 32 LGBT activists followed "for a deeper perspective," she added.

The goal of the project was to answer four questions:

—How do racial justice groups currently engage LGBT constituencies and equity issues?

—What are the barriers to strong engagement of racial justice groups in LGBT issues?

—Where are the opportunities for greater engagement?

—What changes can funders and people working in the fields of racial justice and LGBT rights pursue?

Sen said that there were four elements of success: an intersectional analysis and approach equaled strategic impetus; LGBT people of color need to be in the mix ( "Some see 'LGBT' as not including people of color," Sen noted ) ; a formal sharing of power and resources is necessary; and long-term community-education programs are a must.

The survey also identified various barriers, such as lack of strategic clarity, inadequate funding and fear of dividing the community. Of the last, Sen noted, "We discovered that the more multi-issue an organization is, the less likely it was to engage in LGBT work. This may be due to the pressure to hold an organization together," and she cited immigrant groups as an example.

As for recommendations, they include ( not surprisingly ) increasing support for groups of color, investing in tools to achieve strategic clarity, building the media/communications infrastructure and lifting up LGBT leaders of color.

The "Better Together" report is available at http://www.arc.org/content/view/2169/201.

Projects and reflections

Aimee Santos-Lyons—a trainer and field organizer at Western States Center in Portland, Ore.—spoke about the "Uniting Communities" project, which focuses on bringing the LGBTQ community and communities of color together to address racial justice and LGBTQ equality.

Santos-Lyons talked about what was already known ( real strength in numbers, the LGBT community being underserved and the opposition running wedge campaigns ) as well as the goals of the project ( supporting organizations; strengthening internal capacity to address homophobia and transphobia; and space for peer-to-peer relationships ) .

Approaches to achieve said goals included working with predominantly white LGBT organizations and building critical space.

Regarding focus areas of assessment and work ( what Santos-Lyons called "four Ps and the C" ) , she cited policies, program, people, power and culture. Of the five, she said that power was "the most challenging" because the central issue there involves who makes the decisions. Among the lessons learned were that direct connections are needed and that there needs to be a focus on youth because of their role as intermediaries. Now, the aims are strong ally action with white LGBT groups, the construction of peer networks and organizational shifts

For more information, see http://www.westernstatescenter.org/our-work/uniting_communities.

The last speaker was Coya White Hat-Artichoker, a Sicangu Lakota who is working to bring together LGBT people through her organization, Sacred Circle ( www.sacred-circle.com ) , which seeks to end violence against Native American women.

White Hat-Artichoker, who has worked with groups such as the Audre Lorde Project on multi-issue campaigns, made a comment that garnered an audible response from the packed room: "I haven't [ experienced ] a lot of pushback about being queer but [ there has been ] pushback regarding racism in the LGBT community."

She talked about dealing with intersectionality, the theory that different forms of discrimination combine to foster an atmosphere of oppression and inequality. The goal, she said, was "trying to create movements that allow us to be our whole selves," and she stressed the need to be allies: "I'm not a big fan of leaving people behind." She concluded by mentioning how "queer people of color are among the more progressive thinkers" and that organizing together is crucial for progress.

Among the other highlights of the conference were a keynote luncheon featuring Melissa Harris Lacewell, associate professor of politics and African American studies at Princeton University, and a trunk show, "The Unspoken Truth About Color: A Dialogue in Art Quilts About Racism."


This article shared 3768 times since Wed Sep 29, 2010
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Chicago alder proposes renaming street after Obama 2024-03-22
- Openly gay Black Chicago Ald. Lamont Robinson has proposed renaming Columbus Drive after former U.S. President and city resident Barack Obama, media outlets noted. The street stretches through the Loop from East Grand Avenue to DuSable ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece 2024-03-14
- Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

Women's History Month doesn't do enough to lift up Black lesbians 2024-03-12
- Fifty years ago, in 1974, the Combahee River Collective (CRC) was founded in Boston by several lesbian and feminist women of African descent. As a sisterhood, they understood that their acts of protest were shouldered by ...


Gay News

No 'explanations' needed: Affinity remains a haven for Chicago's Black queer community 2024-03-12
- Back in 2007, Anna DeShawn came out while she was studying for her undergraduate degree. At around the same time, she searched online for "Black lesbians in Chicago." Her search led her to Affinity Community Services, ...


Gay News

SAVOR Eldridge Williams talks new concepts, Beyonce, making history 2024-03-08
- One restaurant would be enough for most people to handle. However, this year Eldridge Williams is opening two new concepts—including one that will be the first Black-owned country-and-western bar in the Midwest. Williams, an ally of ...


Gay News

Samuel Savoir-Faire Williams's violin stylings help COH mark Black History Month 2024-02-23
- As part of its celebration of Black History Month, Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., presented a solo jazz performance by violinist Samuel Savoir-Faire Williams on Feb. 21. The two-hour long performance presented a showcase ...


Gay News

HIV criminal laws disproportionately impact Black men in Mississippi 2024-02-21
--From a press release - A new report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that at least 43 people in Mississippi were arrested for HIV-related crimes between 2004 and 2021. Half of all arrests in the state ...


Gay News

Human Rights Campaign report releases new data on experiences of Black queer youth 2024-02-14
--From a press release - WASHINGTON — Today, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), the educational arm of the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, released a report in ...


Gay News

SAVOR 'The Bear,' new pizza lounge, Chicago Black Restaurant Week 2024-02-11
- "Bear" necessities: The third season of the Chicago-set series The Bear will debut in June, per Variety. FX chairman John Landgraf made the announcement during the network's presentation at the Television Critics Association's winter 2024 press ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Raven-Symone, women's sports, Wayne Brady, Jinkx Monsoon, British Vogue 2024-02-09
- In celebration of Black History Month, the LA LGBT Center announced that lesbian entertainer Raven-Symone will be presented with the Center's Bayard Rustin Award at its new event, Highly Favored, per a press release. She joins ...


Gay News

National Black Justice Coalition commemorates National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2024-02-07
--From a press release - WASHINGTON — Today, Feb. 7, marks National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD). In commemoration, Dr. David J. Johns, CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), a leading Black LGBTQ+/same-gender ...


Gay News

Comcast NBCUniversal partners with News is Out, Word In Black on fellowship program highlighting Black, LGBTQ+ issues 2024-02-06
--From a press release - Digital Equity Local Voices Lab Fellows to be placed at 16 local publications to receive training and create content Philadelphia (Feb. 6, 2024) — News is Out [ https://newsisout.com ] , a queer media collaborative of ...


Gay News

SAVOR Jean Banchet Awards, new Black-owned spots and free pizza 2024-02-04
- Congrats!: The winners of the Jean Banchet Awards—which honor Chicago cuisine—were recently announced at Venue Six10. Longtime Chicago Tribune critic Phil Vettel was (justifiably) honored with the Culinary Excellence of ...


Gay News

ART Champaign display looks at the Midwest Black lesbian experience 2024-02-03
- In Illinois, archival photos are the centerpiece of a new display at the Krannert Art Museum focusing on the Black lesbian experience in the Midwest, IPM reported. The new solo exhibition by St. Louis-based artist Jen ...


Gay News

SAVOR Going 'Underground,' change at Skylark and Mango Pickle closing 2024-01-29
- Pop(-up) life: Chef Mariya Moore-Russell—who guided the local spot Kikko to a Michelin star, becoming the first Black woman to helm a kitchen with one of the food world's highest honors—is returning to Chicago to lead ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.