Morehouse to Offer Course in Black LGBT History, Culture
Morehouse College, a historically African-American school, will offer a course in black LGBT history and culture beginning in the spring semester.
Yale University professor Jafari S. Allen will teach the class via Skype, reports The Maroon Tiger, Atlanta-based Morehouse’s student newspaper. “He’s very interested in gender nonconformity among people of color, and I’m interested in that as well,” said Marcus Lee, special project and events coordinator for SafeSpace, Morehouse’s gay-straight alliance, who brought Allen into the project.
Allen told the paper, “What you call ‘human rights advocacy’ is for me just trying to be a responsible person in the world to point out and perhaps, in some cases, also to attempt to help to fix injustices. While this may be controversial in some academic settings where there is the pretension of a kind of nonpolitical educational project, this has never been the case for Morehouse or for any historically black institution. So it is essential for Morehouse students, faculty, administrators, and alumni to engage [in] this conversation.”
SafeSpace public relations director Ja’Mal Lewis said the course will bring visibility to black LGBT leaders who have been overlooked. “Many influential LGBT leaders have gone unrecorded due to their sexuality, and they made many of the movements that changed and shaped our history,” he said.
Source isn't long, but has a link to the student newspaper's initial report.
Previously this month: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, Day Seven, Day Eight, Day Nine, Day Ten, Day Eleven, Day Twelve, Day Thirteen.
Morehouse College, a historically African-American school, will offer a course in black LGBT history and culture beginning in the spring semester.
Yale University professor Jafari S. Allen will teach the class via Skype, reports The Maroon Tiger, Atlanta-based Morehouse’s student newspaper. “He’s very interested in gender nonconformity among people of color, and I’m interested in that as well,” said Marcus Lee, special project and events coordinator for SafeSpace, Morehouse’s gay-straight alliance, who brought Allen into the project.
Allen told the paper, “What you call ‘human rights advocacy’ is for me just trying to be a responsible person in the world to point out and perhaps, in some cases, also to attempt to help to fix injustices. While this may be controversial in some academic settings where there is the pretension of a kind of nonpolitical educational project, this has never been the case for Morehouse or for any historically black institution. So it is essential for Morehouse students, faculty, administrators, and alumni to engage [in] this conversation.”
SafeSpace public relations director Ja’Mal Lewis said the course will bring visibility to black LGBT leaders who have been overlooked. “Many influential LGBT leaders have gone unrecorded due to their sexuality, and they made many of the movements that changed and shaped our history,” he said.
Source isn't long, but has a link to the student newspaper's initial report.
Previously this month: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, Day Seven, Day Eight, Day Nine, Day Ten, Day Eleven, Day Twelve, Day Thirteen.
I didn't even know about Bayard Rustin until a few years ago which is wrong on several fronts. There's lifetimes of history out there that most of us don't know.
I only learned about him last year, in my first year of college. so sad how such an amazing (not to mention interesting) figure is overlooked.
It'd be nice if they offered classes like this in all universities, though. Minorities in LGBT history, that is, because even when they do offer classes like this, it's always centered on white people.
Edited at 2013-02-15 11:30 am (UTC)
I currently am a part of an organization (Urban League) that does an annual Black College Fair in NYC so that African American kids can learn about the different HBCUs and think about attending one. It's such a wonderful experience. Spelman offered classes like this all the time, that focused on the experiences of African Americans and African American women specifically.