(New York, NY) While debates and protests intensify over California's Proposition 8, and the marriage and constitutional amendments nationwide, there is a project in New York City addressing the issue of homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.


 

After attending a forum on homeless LGBT youth and hearing a number of these young people speaking of their experiences living on the streets and the horror stories they had encountered while in the Department of Homeless Service shelters because of who they are, an idea popped into the head of Colleen Jackson, executive director, West End Intergenerational Residences.
"I knew there had to be something that could be done, but I also knew that another shelter was not the answer," said Jackson. In May 2007, while organizing a fundraiser and honoring 1980s superstar Cyndi Lauper, Jackson discussed with Lisa Barbaris, who for several years was a volunteer with West End and is Lauper's publicist, about the True Colors tour and how one of the tours addressed the plight of homeless LGBT youth. Through the connection with Barbaris, Lauper and Jackson discussed providing housing for the "kids."
Cyndi Lauper		Colleen Jackson
"I looked at her [Lauper] and it all came together in my mind, real permanent housing and I knew this would really work. This I knew how to do and with Cyndi's commitment, though we haven't started building as yet, she has been promoting it," Jackson said. True Colors Residences is permanent housing for homeless LGBT youth, named after Lauper's song "True Colors:" "… I see your true colors/shining through/I see your true colors/and that's why I love you/so don't be afraid to let them show/your true colors/true colors are beautiful/like a rainbow."

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By Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) When the Chelsea-based Rush Arts Gallery (RAG) hosted the Lorenzo Jackson Foundation (LJF) first annual awards gala on Wednesday, November 19, to honor leaders in the community and to present college scholarships to HIV-positive high school students, it seemed as if it had begun the Dec 1, World AIDS Day celebrations two weeks early.


 

		Rush Arts Gallery
In a program that included awarding honors and speeches by community activists, Alexander Everett, founder and executive director of Alex: The Magazine, and LJF founder and CEO, welcomed close to 150 invited guests which also included author and award-winning HIV/AIDS activist, Maria Davis;
Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum, director of Brooklyn-based Health Education Alternatives for Teens (HEAT), honored for his work and commitment to educating youth on HIV/AIDS; entertainers Lee Carr, a Jive Records artist; 12-year old Curtis Anderson called "Baby Triggy," a young Hip Hop recording artist; and co-mistress of ceremonies singer Mashonda, and actress Chyna Layne.
		Baby Triggy

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(New York, NY) - When close to 100 African-American men and women gathered at the New York's Lesbian and Gay Community Center on Wednesday, October 29 for a social networking and panel discussion on "The Future of Black Gay New York City," it was the result of a successful email and word-of-mouth advertising.

The organizers of the networking mixer and panel discussion, Randall Isaacs, principal and founder, Festa Events by Chelsey, an event planning company; Cornelius Jones, Jr., CorneliusJonesJr.com, star of an autobiographical one-man performance "Flag Boy" and formerly of the Broadway production of The Lion King; and Nathan "Seven" Scott, promoter and life coach, Ngenius Empire TV.

 

Participants at the "Future of Black Gay NYC" networking mixer and panel discussion held at NYC's LGBT Center, Wednesday, October 29. Photo: Dontre Conerly.

Music from a pair of speakers seemed timed to coincide with the doors opening at exactly 6:30pm for the people who had gathered in the hallway. After paying a $10 admission fee, each person was greeted by a volunteer and one of the organizers, who encouraged everyone to mingle and get to know each other. According to Jones, the organizers hoped to have a high turnout of Black gay men interested in moving forward in their community though sharing in positive dialogues of their experiences. The network mixer, he said, was intended as another outlet for Black gay men to socialize and rebuild the community instead of going to a happy hour or a club. "We want to give a rebirth to the Black gay community," he said. But, taking a break from greeting people and performing introductions, Scott said that he had become frustrated with the night life and party scene in New York City. "As I got older I realized I wanted something more. I think this type of event is for the distinguished Black man and it is a springboard for other events," he said.

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By Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - After sipping on red and white wine, sampling from cheese platters, introducing themselves to each other and exchanging business cards, close to 100 Black gay men and women gathered on Wednesday, October 29 at New York City's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center (LGBT), for a panel discussion on the "Future of Black Gay New York City."

 

Hosted by three entrepreneurs: Randall Isaacs, principal and founder, Festa Events by Chelsey, an event planning company; Cornelius Jones, Jr., CorneliusJonesJr.com, star of an autobiographical one-man performance "Flag Boy" and formerly of the Broadway production of The Lion King; and Nathan "Seven" Scott, promoter and life coach, Ngenius Empire TV; the panel discussion networking combination was a teaser to gauge the interest of Black gay men and women around the city for future events and to begin to look at how HIV and AIDS is affecting the Black gay community in New York City and at the relationship Black gay men have with it.

(L. to R.) Panelists: De'von Christopher, publisher, Bleu magazine; Rob Smith, co-host and executive producer, Mocha Lounge; Nathan "Seven" Scott, panel moderator, promoter and life coach, Ngenius Empire TV; Rev. Joseph Tolton, pastor, Harlem-based Rehoboth Temple Christ Consciousness Church; and Cornelius Jones, Jr., actor; at the panel discussion. Photo: Dontre Conerly.

Scott, the panel's moderator introduced the panelists: Jones; Rev. Joseph Tolton, pastor, Harlem-based Rehoboth Temple Christ Conscious Church, and managing director of Blur Advertising; Yves Michel Fontaine, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Health and Behavioral Studies at Columbia University; De'von Christopher, publisher, Bleu magazine; and Rob Smith, co-host and executive producer of Mocha Lounge, a blog that focuses on gay men of color in the media.

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For four of the five years Art Off The Main exhibition was held at the Puck Building, but this year, due to renovations, the exhibition was relocated to the artsy Chelsea exhibition gallery on West 19th Street.

Curator and producer of the exhibition, Loris Crawford says that prior to holding this type of exhibition, not many opportunities existed for artists of color to show their work, and with hundreds of art fairs in the U.S., Art Off The Main is one of the only shows to fill that void. This year is special, she adds, due to the large number of galleries that have entered the show, including the National Gallery of Nigeria, galleries from Mexico and Cuba and from across the U.S. compared to previous exhibitions. On its opening night, the exhibition attracted more than 400 guests.

"The exhibitors, as studios, collectives and individual artists brought their work to show that they can be taken just as seriously as and be placed alongside other mainstream artists. Like in all events, a person will find work that is exceptional and others as average. One of the things we endeavor to maintain in the show is in the quality of the work which we select by looking at the artists we invite to participate,"

says Crawford who is also the curator and owner of Savacou Gallery. Featured artists at the exhibition included Michael Escoffrey, the Caribbean Cultural Center, bronze sculptures "They Are Waiting" by Nnamdi Okonkwo Studios, Dick Griffin Studios, En Foco, Inc., Diaspora Now/Caribbean Arts, Arte Inversion Galleria of Puerto Rico, and the International Cultural Exchange.

An artist, Lawrence Graham-Brown, originally from Jamaica, who lives in New Jersey, and who has been an artist for over 20 years, says his acceptance of his sexual orientation and expression in his work is without attachment to labels of himself. He recalled that when he first showed his work in Jamaica, he received a lot of resistance from lawyers and from the board of directors of the National Gallery. "My style is based on race. I work within the themes of race, gender, class and sexuality, using mediums such as mixed collage which include images of people, post cards, feathers and found objects," says Graham-Brown. One of his signature pieces, done between 2006 and 2007 and titled "Fuck Off With The Beast Of Burden," is a mixed media collage oil on canvass with laser prints bordering the image of a man copulating with another in chains and drawn in black lines on an all white background; employing a minimalist perspective and simplicity with his work. The inspiration for this piece, he says, stems from his knowledge of the Black man who is relegated to a life of servitude and a beast of burden and is sexually abused from behind by a representation of a white man, the exploiter.

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On July 17th, 2008 Fraser and Phillips, while awaiting the bus at the intersection of Avenue N and Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, witnessed several plain clothe Police officers rush into a store, tackled a young black male to the floor and then dragged him from the store on to the roadway. Fraser, upon seeing the young man being maltreated, turned on his phone camera and began to record the incident.

When the officers realized that they were being recorded, one went over to Fraser and demanded that he prove that he is a United States citizen, telling him that he was obstructing a Police investigation and that he would be arrested for obstructing a government agent, if he did not give up the video recording. Fraser refused and was arrested. During this arrest he allegedly sustained injuries. A videotape of an aspect of this incident can be viewed...

As the officers attempted to effect Fraser's arrest, he threw his cell phone to Phillips for safe keeping. However,once the officers had handcuffed and placed Fraser into a Police van, they then turned their attention to Phillips. They demanded that he also produce identification to prove that he is a United States citizen and that he hand over Fraser's phone to them. Phillips produced his New York State "drivers" license but refused to surrender the phone. He too was then arrested and placed in handcuffs. Fraser's phone was also forcibly confiscated. Once the officers seized Fraser's phone from Phillips, he was releasedon the scene.

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Directed by Josh Ian, Flag Boy will open at the Eagle Theater, located on 347 West 36th Street, ground floor, New York, NY. It is part of the Midtown International Art Festival. After the opening, a second show will be held on Sunday, July 27, at 12:45 p.m., and the third show on Friday, August 1 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $18.00.

The show is exactly one hour, without an intermission. Jones will also be doing a benefit performance on July 27 for the 3Lions Stage Theater Company, and a single performance on September 18, at 8 p.m. at the Christina Cultural Arts Center in Wilmington, Delaware.

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For Jones, the play is an affirmation of his identity as a Black gay man. It is two stories: a young boy's journey toward acceptance of himself and his sexuality, and about a flag - a gay flag, a country's flag and the symbolism that goes with flags - the sense of identity and pride.

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Vermal, as she prefers to be called, had come from a one-time performance of the play, Tara's Crossing, at the Richmond Hill High School on Saturday, May 17 and which told the story of her experience as a young boy struggling with his sexual identity, persecution in the countryside and in Georgetown, Guyana's capital, to asylum seeking and detention in the U.S, in Miami and Elizabeth, New Jersey. Along with some of her closest friends, the play's cast, and with the play's writer, director and producer, Vermal twirled and danced to the music blaring from two large speakers.

"Although the play does tell my story, it only tells of my experiences when I arrived in the U.S. and not of my complete experience back in Guyana," said Vermal shimmying and gyrating to the music as if she was casting off the memories of the pain she had endured.

As she explained, the name "Tara's Crossing" was taken from the Hindi word for star, which she attributes to her experience and likening to a star crossing in the night sky.

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