My World is My Stage

I wish I was more creative to think of a word, that begins with a B, to complete the title, but I failed. Please forgive me.

I have long struggled to rationalize my ever changing stance on Christianity with my growing interest in social justice and equality. I often talk about growing up in a conservative-southern-Black-Christian society and how that affected me. Having had been experienced to SO much since then, I realize how much my initial upbringing affected the way I see the world, especially same-sex relationships.

In a moment of full disclosure, I once voted against same-sex unions. I can’t even tell you why. It was my first chance to vote (I was much more of conservative Christian back then too) and I think I was overwhelmed by how many things there were on the ballot to vote for. I clearly remember not reading the proposition well, but I do remember saying to myself, “I believe gay people should be able to love who they want to but marriage is sacred.” It hurts me to know that was my stance at that time. I’m proud to say that I now see how limiting and hurtful that stance was and I’m glad I’ve moved to a better place on that issue.

As the debate on same-sex relationships wages on, I wonder how my community, the Black community, and more specifically the aforementioned community I grew up in, will respond. Will we realize that our homosexual brethren are asking for the same equality we fought fight for?! Will we use this moment as a blessingand finally acknowledge our own LGBT community, a community we, as Black people, have kept hidden?! Will we go the way of some “wayward” Christian evangelicals (and Manny Pacquiao) and continue to insist that we LEGALLY infringe on the civil rights of American citizens?!

I have been critical of Black people who have blindly followed President Obama and have sucked up everything he’s said, without hesitation. That’s why, although I don’t agree with them, I didn’t mind Tavis and Cornell going on their world tour debating Obama’s ideologies. While I think their impetus to do so was, for the most part, fueled by selfish and self-indulgent reasons (jealousy even?), I think that type of discourse is needed and should be welcomed (I mean, he’s a politician at the end of the day. All politicians should be have their views scrutinized, right?). I’m going to go on the record and saying I hope, that on this issue, Black people blindly follow Obama’s lead. He is doing the right thing on this one and even after intense debate and scrutiny the truth and value of his position will be justified.

While reading up on these issues (and getting lost in the myriad of “related” articles) I came across two articles that spoke most directly to my current feelings. The first one spoke to the rising numbers of Black atheists and agnostics. While I still consider myself a Christian (and a proud one at that!) I have to say that I have moved away from the church and the more restricting forms of Christianity. I’ll leave it at that as I feel like there is another blog post in there.

The second article speaks, in a similar fashion, to what I’m saying in this post. I’ve highlighted a section that resonated the most with me:

Self-examination is also necessary to ensure that opposition to this and other polarizing social issues is not a result of twisting either the letter or spirit of biblical teaching. My pastor often says that when you take a text out of context you end up left with a con. For example, while the Bible was used by many whites to justify slavery in our country, the course of history has made it clear that they were motivated more by the desire to maintain their privileged political and economic status than fidelity to the scripture.

What is our “privileged political and economic status” that we, as heterosexual Blacks, are fighting to maintain? The sanctity of marriage? Shit, we lost that a long time ago! So then what? For real, someone answer that for me, please!

Anyway, I’m going to wrap up this rant by saying I hope we, as a community, align ourselves with The President, Michael Eric Dyson, Will Smith, Jay-Z, and numerous others, and support same-sex marriage equality. 

Thanks to mel0di’s post, I wanted to write a small post about things I’ve noticed.  It is extremely unfortunate how the Black community, in general, has tried to suppress the voices of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.  We have tried to ignore them, marginalize them, and cast them out of our circles.  The Black community, with all that we’ve been forced to endure, should be the last to discriminate against our own, but we do.

I don’t want to stand on a soap-box but it is sickening to see.  I must admit, entering my first year in college, I was severely homo-phobic.  I believe it resulted from not enough exposure to the LGBTQ community and sheer ignorance.  Thanks to Colgate, my cousin, and a series of friends and experiences, I have shed that ridiculous mindset and have become more open and accepting of those around me.

I heard recently that Morehouse is instituting a dress-code for students while they are on the campus grounds.  The hope is that they reduce the amount of men wearing heels and dresses on campus and get their students to dress more like Morehouse Men.”  I have my own stance on what it means to be a “Morehouse Man” and that entire culture, but I don’t think that instituting this policy helps at all, but only hurts and further marginalizes those men.

I really feel strongly about this issue.  Having a family member, who has dealt with ostracism on all levels because of who chooses to love, has pushed me to become more active in the fight against suppressing the LGBTQ community.  The play I am currently working on will focus on this issue.  My hope is that through this piece, I can help open up the conversation and lead to some form of change.

All one can ask for is that people respect and accept those around them.  We can’t ask for people to like, or condone certain behaviors, but respect is so crucial.  Respect for self, respect for others, respect for community and respect for progress.  “Is that too much to ask?  Or is it just wishful thinking” (Phrase borrowed from Vivian Green)

-Jamil Jude