Bidding Farewell to Pam's House Blend - The Blogosphere Loses ANOTHER Great Voice!

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry provides a moving tribute to citizen journalist, activist, Journey enthusiast, and blogger, Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Thanks for all you have done, Pam!

Thinking about World AIDS Day - From the Perspective of a Person Living with HIV

So, it's been nearly two years since I have posted anything on this blog and nearly 6 months since I posted anything on my original blog, Black Sapience. 

Having said that, I'll be try to be concise as I can while I write this post. To put it bluntly, I am living with HIV and have been for some time now. Part of the reason I chose to write this post is because of World AIDS Day and the fact that I'll be volunteering in some activity to help PLWHA - myself being one of them. I was diagnosed in 1998 and for the last 13 years or so, I had been very fortunate to not need medication as my body's immune system had done a pretty good job keeping the virus in check. That all changed this year though; after many doctor consultations and discussions with friends who are HIV specialists, I elected to start HAART. I chose Atripla, which is one of the medicines that combines three classes of Anti-HIV agents into one pill. 

To state that this process of taking medications (which I will now have to do for the rest of my life) has been an adjustment period would be an understatement. It has required some lifestyle changes as well as some outlook changes. I am fortunate to have a pretty good working knowledge of pharmacology as well as close friends who are stellar physicians. As long as I continue to take care of myself and make my health a priority, there is no reason why I won't be able to live a productive life and accomplish all of the things I have purposed myself to do. This post is a bit cathartic in that it allows me to public declare my comfort with something that used to cause me much pain, angst and shame. It's almost as if it is a second coming out and one that allows me to be free from my own judgments about what I considered a shortcoming. It allows me to function in complete honesty and candor about myself. Such is the case with self-acceptance and for that I am completely grateful.

Another reason I chose to write this post and expose myself is related to the stigmatization that accompanies HIV disease. People still think of it as something that people get when their behaving badly and to some extent, those people may be right. However, the same can be said of lung cancer patients who are chronic smokers or the morbidly obese who suffer from hypertension and diabetes. Others see HIV as a disease that prompts an almost permanent relegation to victim status. They feel that HIV positive people shouldn't have to be held to the same standards as anyone else who lives with and trudges through adversity. Let me be clear though, I still believe in the need for programs that are dedicated to improving the lives of HIV positive people. However, I think that after 30 years of this epidemic, that the programs need to focus on improving the lives of PLWHA through reinforcing the right to self determination, depriving them of it. 

When I used to work in HOPWA housing too many people developed an over-inflated since of entitlement about many programs. As a result, those who truly needed the help had to be turned away because those who could lead more independent lives chose to do otherwise... and were convinced that they were consummate victims and that their HIV diagnosis precluded them from being contributing members of society. I resented them for it because I have lived with the same disease for over a decade. I managed to put myself through college, matriculated with a BS degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry, worked full time, maintained my own apartment without assistance from any program and did so because I'd have felt guilty siphoning resources that were already scarce and need by someone else who desperately needed them. I have seen people lose housing vouchers for failing to pay their portion of HOPWA rent, abuse food stamps and food voucher programs, or lie about their income to qualify for resources that weren't eligible to receive in the first place. And whether you agree or not, these things reinforce HIV stigmatization more than any person's belief about the disease.

HIV can be a disabling condition, but it does not have to be. And my diagnosis as an HIV positive person does not abrogate me from my responsibility to society to do everything I was doing prior to getting infected - to be a contributing functioning member of my community. It also means that I take a special interest in trying to prevent the spread of a disease that has devastated the lives of  so many people. So while I commemorate World AIDS Day on Thursday, December 1, 2011, I do so hoping that HIV positive people take the lead in making changes to many of the programs that support HIV positive people by empowering them - not hobbling them by stigmatizing them as victims.

Same Sex Marriage LEGAL in DC!!! Get your License Tomorrow!!!

My Brothers and Sisters SAME SEX MARRIAGE will be LEGAL in DC T O M O R R O W!!!! Go get MARRIED!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/01/AR2010030102479.html

Racism and the Perceived Immunity of the Gay Community

HRC has decided to host a webchat addressing issues of race and racism within the Gay Community. *GASP* You mean gay people have the capability of being consumed with the same racist ideologies as their heterosexual bretheren? Of course they do... and in some cases they are WORSE than there hetero sexual bretheren. Take this letter to the editor of the Washington Blade for example in response to a qestion about if this country would ever get an openly gay Supreme Court nominee,

One of your readers said the country was run by “old white men” — but just where is the proof of that? We have a black president, a black attorney general, a female secretary of state and many cabinet chiefs or senior posts are filled by non-white males. Whites are now the minority in four states, including California.

In 20 years,17 states will be minority white. Most big city mayors are non-white male. As a gay male, even I know that those so-called “old white men”(read:straight) have passed many laws that have benefited minority groups. Ask yourself, can you honestly see a Supreme Court totally black, female and Hispanic? I shudder at the thought. What’s next? A chairman of the Joint Chiefs bringing his sheep to work? A few cross-dressing senators on the floor filibustering? A group of drag queen representatives in the House? A blind 747 pilot? A deaf music critic? Lifeguards who cannot swim? Why not, isn’t it their human/civil right? Just how far will the envelope be pushed before we implode?

As far as your reader who worried about “old white men,” he does not have to worry for long. The last real generation of whites are lying beneath the sands of Iwo Jima and Normandy. Now, most are pink with yellow stripes running down their backs.  Rome tried multiculturalism and look what happened to them. It’s only a matter of time. I would prefer straight whites making command decisions. Heaven help this country if we don’t.

Now, to this reader's credit I can understand his point about the ever increasing inclusiveness of the gay community. How many other letters will be used to ensure that every person who simply identifies themself as an abberation to the accepted social norm will we allow to be recognized? However, the reader's racism begins to rear its ugly head and all of his points disintegrate into a tirade that exposes his racial prejudices, heteronormative bias, AND - dare I say it, internalized homophobia )for which blacks gays are VILLIFIED in both mainstream and gay media)!

The following information can be deduced from the reader's letter:

• He must have failed history because he completely ignored the preceding 389 years or so of systemic racial segregation, deprivation of equality, and legalized discrimination.
• He assumes that one election of the FIRST black president in the 230-year history of the United States had more to do with timing than the influence of what I previously mentioned
• He assumes that ONLY whites, particularly white men possess the temperament to make good decisions (dissmissing the fact that whites DECIDED to institutionalize the items mentioned in the first bullet)
• He assumes that the playing field has been leveled by white men's "passage of laws that have benefitted minorities", while ignoring the fact that they selectively chose to ingore enforcing those laws - after all, how fast does one move when they are desegregating at "full deliberate speed"?
• He feels entitled to the USA being his and whites' ALONE. No other people born in this country are as AUTHENTIC as the whites "beneath the sands of Iwo Jima and Normandy" (a POV commonly expressed by whites at McCain and Palin POTUS campaign rallies. More recently from the whites who comprise the BIRTHERS movement)

The rest is just too crazy to even put any thought into, but he definitely hates the fact the he's GAY.

I sincerely wish I could say that this letter represents an extreme POV on behalf of members of what is considered the mainstream gay community, but it doesn't. In fact, if you look at historical accounts of the Gay Rights Movement you'd be hard pressed to find any significant mention of the Black and Puerto Rican drag queens who were tired of being harrassed by the NYPD and decided to fight back by hurling whatever they could get their hands on at the officers.

When people think of the term "Gay" seldom do they think of the banjee boys made popular by James Earl Hardy, the Butch Queens Voguing in "Paris is Burning" or the hundreds of transgenders who compete in the Ms. Thailand pageant. No, the first image of what gay is that comes to mind is a well-dressed, witty, shallow, white male with a rich, bitch type female friend who lives in NYC, has no real profession of his own, but can afford to live in Manhattan in a FABULOUS apartment.

With gays who are a little less shallow and somewhat educated, Gay means a handsome gentleman who is typically white, professional, owns a remodeled home that he may or my not have completed himself, may be partnered, considering adoption, but DEFINITELY owns a dog or a cat. Again, you seldom see an image of gay that INCLUDES any person OTHER than a white male. Even if the image is female, she typically has taken on a gender specific look that isn't neutral. Gay - typically means white and male.

Look at the leadership of the HRC, GLAAD, and the NGLTF. The leadership is typically top heavy with white males. Ask yourself, was the National Black justice coalition and its predercessor the National Black Gay and Lesbian Ledership Forum formed out of necessity or opportunity? While HRC's National Conversation is a good idea in theory, I am not sure how effective it will be at reaching the people who need to be heard the most.

This post will be in TWO Parts.

Author E. Lynn Harris Dead at 54

E. Lynn died this morning during his West Coast Book tour. DEATH can be a very sad thing, but E. Lynn made money off of pathologizing black men who had sex with men.
Author E. Lynn Harris Dead at 54

Shared via AddThis

It's Not Unusual to be Loved by anyone... is it?

After having a conversation with one of my Aunts last night, sobering reality decided to stop tapping me on my shoulder for attention. Instead, it sucker-punched me and knocked me on my behind. Another holiday goes by and I have no one special (in the amorous/romantic way) to spend it with. It gets particularly rough for me during the holiday times of the year because I sincerely want to be in a relationship, but as many of you don't know (or you might), gay men can sometimes become weird creatures when approached about the subject of commitment.

I have been single for 7 years now and I'm starting to feel it. I have been on several dates with several different men and none have had that "spark". I am either more interested in them than they are in me or vice versa. Not willing to compromise my principles, I have resolved that I will probably be alone for the rest of my life. That prospect didn't seem so real until last night. My Aunt is in her 50's and has never been married. She is well-educated, well-off (although she started a second career to avoid boredom), and retired at a very young age. She has a sharp mind, is attractive, and is comfortable in her skin but she's single. As we talked at length last night, she reminded me that her rearing compels her to want to be married or at least be in a LTR. Mine, too. I want to share my life with someone who complements who I am.

I don't have a litany of requirements, no idealized type, and no deal-breakers (except for marriage or someone who is already in a relationship). So why am I single? Wish I knew the answers. Part of the reason I think, is my inability to become vulnerable to people early on so they can get to the real me. I mean, let me be clear, I don't hide my personality behind a facade, but I also keep my innermost feelings guarded. Emotional hurt is very real and quite painful. The other reason is that I haven't met a man that I have very much in common with. Those that I do, we typically become friends.

The one person who I do have so much in common with and we complement each other so well is one of my very best friends... a heterosexual woman! We even jokingly call each other husband and wife and our mutual friends agree. In fact, at a family reunion, some of my cousins (who apparently didn't get the memo that I'm homosexual) asked me when were we going to get married. I laughed, she laughed, but my cousins didn't get it. She and I could never be intimate (which is one of the ways love is expressed) because I am simply not stimulated by women.

It's also interesting to note that I have a number of friends who are in the same category as I am and while they are single, they aren't lonely. They at least appear to be happy with who they are at this point in their life and I admire them for it.

So, to all of my fellow single folks out there gay, straight, or other, I hope 2009 brings you all that you want, including that special someone to love.

In the meantime, continue loving yourself.

BET features new Black Gay Pride Section... No Verdict From Me Yet!!

I have a hate relationship with BET, their leadership, founder, and supporters. BET has single-handedly manipulated the aesthetic image of black americans for profit since its inception and NOT at all in a positive way.

The have debuted a new Black Gay Pride section this past weekend. View it here. I need to review the site a little more before rendering a verdict.

FLA. Teens Charged in Brutal Rape of 13-year old Boy

It seems that brutal gang rapes are a thing of normalcy in Florida. Many of you may not be aware of the Dunbar Village Rape Tragedy or the Florida Everglades gang rape. Tampa, not to be outdone by other Florida cities where rape and lawlesnnes. In Tampa, 4 boys kidnapped, physically restrained, beat, and raped a 13 year old boy with broomsticks and hockey sticks. The boys were 14 and 15 years old, hardly old enough to be that sadistic, unless of course you believe as I do, that people can be born without a soul. Some people are just born rotten and should be locked away to keep the rest of us safe.



*sigh*

BLKSEAGOAT vs. ATTORNEYMOM - The Thrilla in Manila, Clash of the Blogging Titans -Gay Marriage Debate!!!

Conservativeblkwoman (http://www.conservativeblkwoman.blogspot.com/) will host a debate between two very passionate and opinionated bloggers Blkseagoat (http://www.blacksapience.blogspot.com/) and Attorneymom (http://www.charactercorner.blogspot.com/). Each will state their very compelling cases for and against same-sex marriage.

Place: Blogtalk Radio
Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009
Showtime: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM EST
Call-in Number: (646) 716-6204
Click here to join the debate

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBBBBBBBBLE!!!

It's On and Poppin'!!! BLKSEAGOAT vs. ATTORNEYMOM - GAY MARRIAGE DEBATE!!! Hosted by ConservativeBlkWoman

Conservativeblkwoman (http://www.conservativeblkwoman.blogspot.com/) will host a debate between two very passionate and opinionated bloggers Blkseagoat (http://www.blacksapience.blogspot.com/) and Attorneymom (http://www.charactercorner.blogspot.com/). Each will state their very compelling cases for and against same-sex marriage.

Place: Blogtalk Radio
Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009
Showtime: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM EST
Call-in Number: (646) 716-6204
Click here to join the debate

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBBBBBBBBLE!!!

BLKSeaGoat on Gay Marriage vs. Religion

The below quote was a response to a posting on Character Corner in which Attorneymom asserts her disdain with Christianity being associated with bigotry.

Add me to the list. YOUR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MY LEGAL RIGHT TO EQUITABLE TREATMENT UNDER THE LAWS YOU'VE TAKEN AN OATH TO DEFEND AND PROTECT.

The same legal right that you have to enter into a binding contract with your husband, to legitimize and codify your partnership is the exact same thing I want. Period.

I want to be able to legally visit my lover on the ICU without too much legal wrangling.

I want to know that if anything were to happen to either of us, that NIETHER of our next of kin could exploit legal loopholes to usurp property purchases and survivorship rights if we have children.

I want my gay tax dollars that are currently being used to support ANTI-GAY measures to be just as valid as yours. I want to NOT BE FIRED for being gay (currently still LEGAL in many states, GA is one of them).

I want Christians to stop being so damned hypocritical when it comes to the selective application of their morality and tenets of faith. Congress made no rule respecting any religion; the influence of the Christian Church MUST GO!

Finally, Perez Hilton is a GOSSIP columnist. He sensationalizes everything. I wouldn't dare call Ms. CA a bitch for expressing herself. She is entitled to believe what she wants and practice whatever she wants. However, when the practice of that religion or belief is used to disenfranchise a group of people already marginalized, by many laws that clearly have a religious basis, it goes against justice and equality Shwana.

You cannot obfuscate the fact that the Bible was NEVER intended to be a policy document. That's why the Constitution was created.

Now regarding the release of those pictures, WHY would a moral and upstanding teenager take racy photos in the first place? Her photos are being used to undermine her by Hilton, in the same way that Hilton's tirade against her is being used by NOM to undermine him and the supporters of gay marriage.

Again, you have the right to practice your freedom of religious exercise, speech, and belief system. It shouldn't be used as it has in the past, to deprive groups of marginalized people equal rights. BTW, We can do that podcast if your ready to argue it from a legal and civil perspective. After all, your marriage was licensed by the State on NJ as a civil contract. It was consecrated as a religious sacrament by having your wedding in a church.

I'm working on a post about this now which completely reverses my passive approach to the gay marriage debate. Nationally, Americans support Gay Marriage 49%-51%, a significant gain from polling numbers in the past. As more states vote to affirm and courts uphold gay marriage laws, those numbers can only increase.

On my way Back...

I am on my way back, but I've been busier than a beaver! Of course you know that I have an opinion about some of the latest bullshit that's been happening, from Burger King's subliminally pedohilic kid's meal commercials to the blight of the Somali Pirates, to the scores of people killed by loved ones in murder suicide rages.

I'll be going out of the country tomorrow and I'm probably gonna unplug for the vacation, but I'll be keeping a journal.

I'll be bringing the fire whenI get back!

State of the Black Gay Union... Oh wait... There ISN'T one!

On the final day of Black History Month, the creme de la creme of negrodom and blackness converged on the city of Los Angeles to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union. Admittedly, I used to be a fan of Tavis Smiley. I thought he had some great things to say (which I thought he would actually act upon) and when I heard about this gathering of Black America's best and brightest (term loosely used) I thought this would be a great thing. Upon further review, the SOBU turned out to be a supped-up version of the now defunct Black Expo. Some things never change.

Like all people I evolved (read - shook myself from my stupor) and that evolution resulted in my questioning of the courses of actions taken by our self-appointed and community acquiesced leaders. 10 years ago black people had problems and the SOBU was purported to be a formal meeting documenting those problems. The SOBU was also supposed to be a forum in which solutions to those problems, accompanied by action steps to address those problem (i.e. covenant with Black America) were vetted. It's 2009 and just in case you haven't been watching, black folks still have problems.

I try not to think of us in collective terms, but old habits are very hard to break. Is it a wonderful and historic thing that we have our nation's first black president? Absolutely! Is it a beautiful thing to see a black first family who isn't some figment of our imagination or families who haven't insulated themselves from the rest of us because they believe in the classism perpetuated by white hierarchies? It's a great thing and I'm glad for it. However, the majority of the collective hasn't gone to college, much less professional school. Doesn't make them bad or abnormal. The rates are in accordance with any group whose systematic and legalized oppression made things that way... and as they are. So please don't get too pissy with me for not recognizing our collective progress even if what I'm recognizing are the successes of individuals. I don't see the progress of black gays; the lack of presence at the SOBU confirms it. I digress though.

The purpose of this post is the beginning of a discussion about the colossal failure of the SOBU and to talk about the typical and peculiar absence of discussions related to the State of Black GLBT folks. Aside from some random patronizing quote by Cornel West, where was the Black LGBT representation on any of the panels? And please don't attribute homosexuality to some academic who people assume may be down, because they don't count. I'm talking about full, unfettered, representation (What kind of Community Report does one need VIP tix for?) I was expecting to see the usual suspects, Kieth Boykin, Jasmyne Cannick, Phil Wilson... hell, ANYONE would have sufficed - (then I probably would be bitching about the lack of substantiative conversation). It's not as if there weren't topics that could have been brought up. In the past year LGBTs have been thrown under the bus by every group - even those groups thought to have been allies. Black LGBT folks caught hell from our heterosexual, churchgoing counterparts for being against Prop 8 and the larger, predominately white gay community for the actions of our heterosexual churchgoing counterparts. HIV/AIDS is still rampant among young black gay men and even higher among Black women, not a single doctor on any SOBU panel mentioned ANYTHING useful about HIV/AIDS.

As a matter of fact Tye Tribbett, a homophobic gospel singer performed at one the SOBU events. If that doesn't speak volumes about how little the black community values us, I have no idea what does. (Hold this thought though... I'll be writing another post in the future about homosexual homophobes.)

Even with the purposed and deliberate exclusion of Black LGBT folks, the SOBU has stated NOTHING new and has done nothing different. I was expecting this SOBU to be different. Turns out that the SOBU is nothing ore than a meeting for Tavis to peddle his books. I see this as a pattern in our community. Symbolic, showbiz, public displays of activism are wonderful as long as no real work is ever done. Some blacks folks are still waiting on the second coming of M.L. King and some believed that to be Barack Obama. The masses aren't any wiser and the adoption of this single messianic leader ideology is infecting younger generations.

So what should Black LGBT people do? Should we unify? Should we work to identify a person or group of persons we deem capable of articulating our positions? What if we don't agree with that person? Should we form our own SOBGU or attempt to be included with the rest of the SOBU? Do we even know what our problems are or what we want?

I have ideas and I'll start posting them soon. However, I am listening.

Danielle Belton aka The Black Snob gives the SOBU a very thorough review.

5 Million Dollar Marriage Intiative: Taking Gay Taxpayer Money to fund Anti-Gay Initiative

So the Federal Government has gone back into the business of invading people's person relationships in an attempt to dictate how they should act towards each other. Given the sorry state of our economy, the Feds have figured that there's no better time to launch its Healthy Marriage Initiative to persuade folks to get together to save money. This initiative is going to cost 5 million dollars and was actually authorized under Bush's now defunct administration. President Obama thought it might be pretty cool to continue the program I suppose. They even have a neat little quote from his book, The Audacity of Hope, strategically placed on the home page for the initiative.

Now, I am all for people being taught how to be in relationships because many folks don't know how to relate to other people. HOWEVER, I am miffed at the fact that this initiative is inherently discriminatory in that it completely ignores any monagamous, mutually exclusive relationship that isn't heteronormative. The proponents of this program cite benefits such as economic security and family stability as evidence that marriage works. If that's the case, why not extend that same benefit to gays? Why use gay taxpayers' money to fund an initiative that selectively excludes them because of moralism?

If one were to carefully examine all of the programs implemented by the previous administration influenced by the shallow morality of conservative ideologues, one would conclude that those programs are ineffective. Abstinence only, marriage education, promise ring type faith based programs which received federal funding, HAVE NOT WORKED. Supporters of these program lament about them not having enough time to work, when they have had ample time to work and be evaluated. The data obtained from multiple evaluations is the same. More teens are still having sex and some are still getting pregnant. Black girls are still getting STDs at rates higher than whites and the GOP, the party of the moralists, had to embrace teen pregnancy as a "normal American Family Value" during Palin's rise to national prominence during the Presidential campiagn.

Probably the most important statistic to demonstrate that moralism fails is the National divorce rate... it's still OVER 50% and has remained that way for a few decades.

So what are gay, tax paying americans to do? It is completely disrespectful that my taxes are being used to push an ineffective agenda that will no doubt result in people getting married to each other who will undoubtedly end up divorcing each other. Fifty percent is an "F" and a really bad one.

I'm not an opponent of heterosexual marriage. Coversely, I an opponent of ANY program that discriminates against a group of people whose taxes are being exploited to further the oppression of another group. This case is no different.

Bummer: Pig Sex Orgy Party to celebrate the inauguration cancelled

If one decides to publicly advertise an event, are they entitled to a certain level of privacy? Take a trip with me to last week. Apparently during the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, the Mid Atlantic Leather conference was conveneing simultaneously.

One attendee of either or both events, official or not, decided that he would be like everyone else and capitalize on Change cummin' to Washington (pun intended) by having an Obama Pig Sex Orgy Party. Apparently some conservative group which despises gay people got wind of the event and contacted the hotel that was supposed to host the event.

Long story short, the event was cancelled. Folks were pissed, namely the party organizer, citing rights to privacy and sexual freedom. For me, this is where I kinda disagree with the gay rights movement. Marketing equality for all would probably be a little easier if gays weren't so willing to reduce their collective identity to sex. Yes, I know that heterosexual sex clubs and parties exist, but they are the controlling majority. They can make the rules such that they only apply to the minority. The bigger issue for me though is the perception that everything in the gay community boils down to an erection and injection.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy getting my groove on, but if I were going to attend a sex party at a hotel or other private, but really public venue, I'd be preoccupied with the thought of being arrested. Sorry, I just don't get it.

Source

Update: Day w/o Homos not so Good

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I was a bit leery about how effective massive, unorganized, well-intentioned, but poorly planned protests can actually be.

Seems like I was right, but this isn't an "I told you so" moment. It's more like a "insanity = utilizing the same methods every time, but expecting a different result each time" moment.

In CA, the belly of the anti-anti-gay protest beast, participation in the boycott was spotty. Here in DC, many gays (those with jobs) who took off from work chose to participate in a $5.00 12 noon - 5:00pm sex party (I am not kidding). So while they may not have been at work, per se, some folks were definitely "putting in work" and getting their groove on.

Perhaps I should have attended the latter protest. *wink*

I will say this though; when I talked to my boss about why I wanted to be off, she was extremely receptive and supportive. I guess I'm pretty damn lucky to be working for some very cool people.

A Day without a Gay!!

Today, in response to the passage of anti-gay extremist ballot initiatives, gays all over the country have been encouraged to call in to work and then volunteer in their respective communites.

Given the current economic climate of our country, I am not sure how effective this sick out will be. As I was walking to work this morning, gay stores in Washington, DC's. Dupont Circle were open for business. I understand the symbolism, but the jury's still out on how effective these types of protests are.

Free to be ME

I'm a black man who is also gay (and probably in that sequence if I were forced to pigeonhole myself into a certain dichotomous key). Much of what I write will come from my experiences growing up as a black male child who knew he was gay. The "active" gay part came much later--not that it was a huge surprise to me or my parents.

I'm in my early 30's, was born in Los Angeles, CA, reared in NYC and Atlanta, Georgia. My mother's family is from the south (Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas) and my father's family is from the Dominican Republic, CUBA, and Honduras.

I consider myself socio-politically independent, spiritual, and I'm a little arrogant. I have no children, but I am the eldest male of seven children and I did assist with the rearing of some of my younger siblings (emotionally and financially). I hold Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Chemistry and I'm applying to Law School for Fall 2009 entry. Currently, I am indulging my idealism by working for a DC Non-Profit Agency.

My interests include but aren't limited to: Men, Politics, Culture, Religion, Sex, Music, Food, Wine, Books, etc. All of the "normal" shit most people who like to write are interested in. I love life no matter how difficult it can be beacuse it sure beats being dead!

I'll be writing more substantive posts in the near future. Stay Tuned.

And Then There Were 2!

I decided to start this blog because I am A.) an ego-maniac, B.) refuse to attend psychotherapy, and needed an additional outlet to rant about randomn bullshit. (Just kidding about A&B)

My other blog, Black Sapience... My.02 was supposed to be about me rambling about how we as black folks have lost our collective minds - from the perspective of a gay black man.

It took on a life of its own and just isn't the appropriate forum to discuss issues that are equally important, but definitely more personal. I'm gonna be playing with layout for this blog so don't get used to anything for too long. In the meantime, thanks for reading!