REVOLUTIONARY LOVE STORIES
who should decide what black queer solidarity looks like?
There are phrases that become 'fashionable', ones that are regularly repeated; they usefully describe something powerful about our reality. Repetition can lend them an air of self-evidence - familiarity makes them unquestioned truisms. Repetition can also strip phrases of their power. Before long politicians, lawyers, estate agents or popstars use it, creating negative associations that are difficult to shake off. Before long, capitalism claims it as a means of selling us more stuff we don't need. Worse, opposing political traditions sneeringly, use it as a means of subverting the narrative. A credibility gap grows, until we need to find new language or we find ourselves giving up on the idea.
"Black men loving Black men is the revolutionary act of the 1980s..." wrote Joseph Beam in 1982. It has become the enduring epitaph to both the man and his work.
Today, Beam's provocation, is at risk of being undermined; misinterpreted as a threat to white privilege and the ubiquity of white access to all arenas in the name of 'objective truth', it has been viewed reductively as a narrow demand for intra-racial dating. Weighed down by the hyper-sexualisation that features in all discussions of Black men and Black masculinities, a sexual revolution is the limitation imposed by the passing of 40 years. Love can only be sex in this reading, instead of a call for the kind of care, intimacy, compassion, and friendship between Black men that might save lives, or in 1982, at least enable dignified deaths as the AIDS epidemic decimated Black queer lives across the Black queer diaspora. Rather than community as site for judgement, denial, or punishment, as too many Black queer men experienced it (then and now), Joseph Beam's call is for love as action, love as a tool for our liberation
Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust.
Black men expressing love, as defined here by bell hooks, for other Black men could be socially transformative. In particular, given what we know about Black queer men's experiences of trauma, abandonment/rejection, ignorance, disrespect, love would help us begin the necessary process of healing required to move from merely surviving to thriving.
'show, don't tell'
Storytelling is increasingly recognised as an important means of creating lasting change. Stories are described as 'the reservoir of values' by Ben Okri. Maya Angelou's insight on the greater impact in engaging the audience's emotions rather than solely their intellect, has encouraged more groups to use stories more imaginatively in their justice initiatives. Revolutionary Love Stories will present the evidence of community building that you undertake as part of a recurring pattern - at the forefront of new social norm, as part of an identity category maturing into a vital and dynamic community.
For reasons of safety and privacy, in the past, many of us have sought to keep our stories to ourselves. We witness or carelessly add to cultures where gossip or shaming persist; cultures that ultimately limit us too. Negotiating a status as 'partially out' has others seeking to maintain multiple stories, with all the stresses and strains that puts on our mental health. While at the same time, we lament a lack of role models for our youth, or advocacy on our behalf when experiencing periods of vulnerability.
Many of us have undertaken relevant work with young people, in support of social justice, or supporting access to health, yet not been intentional in naming the support that we want to offer other Black queer men. When we have, it is a request that can be difficult for organisations to respond to because they 'do not monitor', or 'would not be comfortable asking'. These responses compound the silences that bind us and limit that which we may have to offer each other.
This project seeks to
create a collective response to the problem of representation increasing vulnerability,
discover new ways of storytelling,
model behaviours that we would like to see from more of us at our best,
and exercise our habits of solidarity.
We can use visibility for our collective benefit rather than solely for individual gain, and celebrate our differences, intentionally - because we view them as chief among our strengths.
We will move beyond the slogan to show how Black Queer Lives Matter to us.
Through collecting Revolutionary Love Stories over the next 6 weeks, we stand alongside each other, expecting no more than anyone is ready to give, understanding and responding to the challenges we may face together, and ultimately, creating a record of this unique moment for those who may follow.
pick your acts of solidarity
Click on the links to view the relevant Google Sheet to see what others have suggested would be worthwhile tasks to complete as a simple act of solidarity with other Black queer men over the next 6 weeks, in each of our four categories.
Please add your ideas and examples
If you work or volunteer for an organisation, consider how you could work with Black queer men to help them support other Black queer men. Please include your contact details so that we can get in contact with you to discuss if necessary.
Self Care
community Care
social justice
global equity
share your story
On video, voice note, or written statement, click on the link below to answer the three simple questions before the end of September.
inspire others
We will launch the Revolutionary Love Stories series in time for Valentine's Day in 2023. Make sure you stay in touch to be among the first to know when and how
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