KNOWhomo

Today on Martin Luther King, Jr Day, we remember the powerful and driven work of Dr. King and all of those who worked with him. We also take pause and remember Bayard Rustin, who fought for racial and queer equality.

knowhomo:

LGBTQ* People You Should Know

Bayard Rustin - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s strategist and adviser. Rustin ran and organized the largest non-violent protest in the United States of America.

Rustin was also openly gay. 

(video from the documentary OUT OF THE PAST. For another post on Rustin, click HERE.)

LGBTQ* Musicians, Blues, and Music History You Should Know

Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey

Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886 — December 22, 1939) was one of America’s earliest successful blues singers. 

What’s Queer* about her music?

‘Ma’ was openly (in her circles) bisexual. She was once arrested in Chicago (1925) for hosting an ‘indecent party.’ The party was shut down due to the room being full of scantily clad women and the raucous being hosted by a female driven party.

‘Ma’ highlighted her love for women in her song ”Prove It On Me Blues.”

They say I do it, ain’t nobody caught me

Sure got to prove it on me;

Went out last night with a crowd of my friends,

They must’ve been women, ‘cause I don’t like no men.

It’s true I wear a collar and a tie,

Makes the wind blow all the while

Don’t you say I do it, ain’t nobody caught me

You sure got to prove it on me.

Say I do it, ain’t nobody caught me

Sure got to prove it on me.

I went out last night with a crowd of my friends,

It must’ve been women, ‘cause I don’t like no men.

Wear my clothes just like a fan

Talk to the gals just like any old man

Cause they say I do it, ain’t nobody caught me

Sure got to prove it on me.

LGBTQ* Novels/Books To Keep On Your Radar

Novels with Black/African-American Lesbian Themes or Characters (1920s-1970s)

1. Home To Harlem by Claude McKay (1928) - two scenes set in black lesbian bars, glimpses of early Harlem
2. Young Man with a Horn by Dorothy Baker (1938) - Josephine Jordan, a  singer, has a relationship with Amy North, a wealthy woman
3. The Wasteland by Jo Sinclair (1946) - novel depicting the oppression of women of color and opposition to women of color in lesbian circles 
4. The Big Money by John Dos Passos (1960) - Harlem 1920s
5. Loving Her by Ann Allen Shockley (1974) - one of the first novels to explore interracial relationships between lesbians
6. Strange Brothers by Blair Niles (1975) - Book takes liberties and draws from Harlem lesbian culture of the 1920s 
7. Ruby by Rosa Guy (1976) - West Indian girl finds friendship after relocating
8. In Her Day by Rita Mae Brown (1976) - longtime friendship of Adele, a wealthy lesbian woman of color, and Carole, a working-class white lesbian woman
9. Ed Dean is Queer by N.A. Diaman (1978) - San Francisco elects their new mayor (a queer woman of color) 

List/Information From:

Richards, Dell. Lesbian Lists: A Look at Lesbian Culture, History, and Personalities. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1990. p.34

Quintessential Movies from the Gay (male) Film Canon You Should Know

1. The Broken Hearts Club — West Hollywood gay softball team learns how to love, the power of friendship and coping with loss (actors include Zach Braff, Andrew Keegan and Dean Cain)
2. Get Real — gay teen comes out (and being a gay teen means drama will follow)
3. A Single Man — based on the Isherwood novel, this film follows what it means to be gay in the 1960s and what we do to keep on after tragedy
4. Latter Days — A promiscuous gay man from California meets a private Mormon and their encounters rearrange both of their lives
5. Looking for Langston — split film crossing back and forth between 1920s Harlem and 1980s England, this film invites you to explore the ways people express themselves and the places they find comfort
6. Brokeback Mountain — the life story of two men who meet while sheep ranching 
7. Milk — biopic about the life of Harvey Milk, S.F. first openly gay elected city official
8. Shelter — a young man returns home to care for his family, finding companionship in a place least expected
9. Brother to Brother — taking place during days of the Harlem Renaissance, this film follows a young artist and aging poet 
10.  Walk on Water —  following the suicide of his wife, an Israeli intelligence agent is assigned to befriend the grandchildren of a Nazi war criminal

LGBTQ* History Through Photographs

Photographs by Trent Kelly 2010
Hidden in the Open
A Photographic Essay of Afro American Male Couples
from the Distant Past

Note: Throughout the month of February, KNOWhomo will be featuring blogs dedicated to African-American/Black LGBTQ* History. Should you have something to submit or some of your own unique spirit to share, please don’t hesitate to pass it this way. Keep On, Keeping On - R.