From Invisible to Visible: Empowering Black LGBT People to Claim our Destiny

My how the landscape for Black LGBT visibility has changed since I first began working at GLAAD. Three years ago, when I signed on to be the Media Strategist for Communities of African Descent, there were only a handful of out Black LGBT folks that I could call on to represent us in media outlets like Oprah, CNN, the New York Times, etc. Now, I need like four of me to keep up with all of the amazing people out of New York, D.C., Detroit, Atlanta, Los Angeles, anywhere USA. I can’t spokesperson train and pitch people fast enough! I love it – I love watching our communities leverage resources and build bridges in order to increase Black LGBT visibility. I’m excited about folks like the NBJC’s (National Black Justice Coalition) Alexander Robinson, Jordan-Rustin Coalition’s Vallerie Wagner, Transcend Institute’s Valerie Spencer, Seattle Black Pride’s Kiantha Duncan-Woods, Black Gay Speak’s Raymond Boney and the list goes on. In this space, I could name 50 great Black LGBT organizers and still have more to name.

As a Media Strategist for Communities of African Descent, I spokesperson train community members and pitch our stories to outlets like the Associated Press, Jet magazine, BET.com, etc. My work takes me all over the country – so I truly get to meet a little bit of everyone. The thing that continues to touch me the most about Black LGBT people is how hungry we are to see positive reflections of our lives and how eager we are to empower ourselves with information – people have literally chased me down for hard copies of GLAAD’s Media Essential Training Manual for Activists. It gives me strength to arm people with affirming terminology, news articles that support our identities, and the means to fight back when media outlets say hurtful things that jeopardize our safety. The COAD Weekly Black LGBT News and Events Digest is a labor of love. Every week it becomes longer because every week Black LGBT people throw more community-affirming events.

I take all of these things as a sign of how we’ve grown, collectively. Much of it, I believe, is owed in part to the advent of new media. In my opinion, new media is an awesome opportunity to name ourselves, to talk about our lives in ways that are authentic, to recognize that we are many, and, for those of us who have the skill-set, to launch webisodes and programming that tell our stories. In new media, I see significant opportunities for community building and outreach.

In 2008, we have our work cut out for us. The challenge: preventing our communities from falling for the okey-doke when it comes to political candidates using “gay marriage” to divide our vote. The solution: becoming as visible as possible in our communities and media outlets. This means telling our stories about coming out, love, professional successes and challenges, faith, discrimination – anything that touches the human heart, we should speak to. In doing so, we name ourselves, we name our destiny, we change hearts and minds, we move closer to receiving equal rights and protections under the law.

I’m truly impressed by and humbled by the community that has served me for so many years and am proud of anything I’ve contributed to make the spaces we enter more safe, more loving, more empowered. It is an amazing time to be out, Black, LGBT and proud.

Katina Parker is GLAAD's Media Strategist for Communities of African Descent