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July 27, 2005
Black Gays & Church Leaders Unite to End Violence
What: REVIVAL! Victory Over Spiritual Violence Through Grace
When: Sunday, July 31, 2005 – 4:00pm-7:00pm
Where: Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive (bet 120th & 122nd Sts), Harlem, NY 10027
Who: Guest Speakers include: Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, Arun Gandhi, M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence; Krishna Stone, GMHC; Robert Miller, SUNY Albany; Reverend Valerie Holly, Unity Fellowship Church; Bishop Carlton Pearson, Higher Dimensions Family Church; Reverend Cari Jackson, The Center of Spiritual Light; Elder Joseph Tolton, Christ Conscious Ministries; and Reverend Sylvia Rhue, National Black Justice Coalition. Music by Lavender Light Choir and Da’rrell Belton.
Why: To challenge Black ministers to end homophobic rhetoric and join the fight to end violence.
New York, NY – After four murders of Black gay men and the attack on Dwan Prince which left him in a coma, Black gay community leaders hold a REVIVAL! to denounce homophobia from Black ministers, and challenge them to become more proactive in ending violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in the Black community.
“The Black gay community is in a state of emergency. We need our ministers to stand with us to end the violence,” says Tokes Osubu, Executive Director of Gay Men of African Descent, one of the event’s sponsors. “Ministers should know that when they preach hate against gays on Sunday, someone will be bashed or murdered on Monday.”
A recent report issued by The Anti-Violence Project shows that violent attacks against the LGBT community increased 25% over the last two years. This year, four gruesome murders of members of Black gay men have occurred including Rashawn Brazell, Marvin Paige, Kenmoore Thomas, and Jamal James.
“Historically the deciding factor in social justice movements is the spiritual energy that fuels them,” says Elder Joseph W. Tolton of Christian Conscious Ministries, and the event’s keynote speaker. “This revival meeting which is stirring in the hearts of our lay people is a decisive indicator that the civil rights struggle for gays and lesbians is evolving into a movement rooted in Christian principles that will guide us toward the realization of Dr. King’s Beloved Community.”
REVIVAL! is the first event in a campaign targeted to end violence against gays in the Black Community.
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July 12, 2005
Rashawn-Related Art Exhibition: Open Call
The Rashawn Brazell Collective (RBCollcetive@yahoogroups.com) is organizing an innovative art exhibition (not yet titled) in New York that deals with the murder of Rashawn Brazell. The mission of the art exhibition is to create further awareness of the senseless and brutal murder of Rashawn Brazell (whose body parts are still missing), and to bring healing to the community. This is an Open Call to all artists that have created art around the murder of Rashawn Brazell. Art forms/mediums can include (but not limited to): Paintings, Drawings, Photography, Mixed-Media, Creative Writing (poetry, short story, journals), Digital Art, Spoken Word, Performance Art, and Video.
Initially, we were thinking of having the exhibition around Pride In the City in New York (Aug 5), but we will have to postpone to an appropriate date in the fall. This allows time to plan, receive inquiries and art, promote and find a suitable exhibition venue.
While the primary focus of the exhibition is Rashawn Brazell, we will be accepting art that also deals with other hate crimes in the Black LGBT community.
If you are interested in participating in the exhibition, please send your name, contact info, and discipline to spiritus1@aol.com. At the subject heading, please put RASHAWN ART EXHIBITION. Also, if you know anyone that might be interested in participating, please feel free to forward this and other related emails. Submission guidelines will be sent out to those interested artists, as well as the address in which to submit your work.
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July 11, 2005
VIRGINIA FIELDS HOLDS FIRST MEETING TO DISCUSS
Fields Brings Together Faith Leaders and Community Leaders Including Rabbi Rob Kaplan, Father Earl Kooperkamp, Rev. Timothy Mitchell, Rev. Pat Bumgardner, Bishop Zachary Jones, Rev. Joan Brightharp, Ydanis Rodriquez, and Yvonne Stennett
On July 5, C. Virginia Fields brought together faith leaders and community leaders from across the city to begin a dialogue about how to end hate crimes in New York City.
Said Fields, “New Yorkers must not accept bias crimes as status quo.” Last year, there were 267 reported bias crimes in New York. While this represented an overall decrease from the year before, anti-gay hate crimes were up substantially. “One hate crime is one too many. Bias attacks are devastating to the victims and the communities where they occur,” Fields said.
“No New Yorker should live in fear of these kinds of attacks. Sadly, what happened in Howard Beach is not the end of the story; it’s the beginning. We must start a serious conversation about how we can get to the underlying causes of these horrible crimes and stamp them out once and for all,” Fields added.
Last month, a Brooklyn man was viciously beaten while his attackers shouted anti-gay slurs at him, putting him in a coma. A group of young white women were chased and beaten by black teenagers in Marine Park. And just last week, an Asian woman in Brooklyn was surrounded by a group who pushed her to the ground and punched and kicked her, shouting anti-Asian slurs as they robbed her. This occurred in the same neighborhood where swastikas were painted on storefronts in May. And according to the Anti-Violence Project, hate crimes against the gay, lesbian and transgender community in New York City are up 26% over the last year.
Fields continued: “I am committed to working with our diverse communities to launch educational efforts aimed at dispelling stereotypes and encouraging broader intercultural understanding and appreciation. Punishing perpetrators of these crimes is critical, but preventing them is just as important. Studies have shown that hate crimes are not necessarily random, uncontrollable, or inevitable occurrences. There is overwhelming evidence that society can intervene to reduce or prevent many forms of violence, especially among young people, including the hate-induced violence that threatens and intimidates entire categories of people.”
Said Fields: “Today was the first step toward the ultimate goal of ending bias crimes in New York City. We will continue to meet and I am gratified that our community and religious leaders have expressed a desire to work in partnership to increase understanding among our communities and start the process of dealing with the underlying causes of these horrible crimes. I know that when New Yorkers are working together, we can accomplish anything.”
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