Brista2Brista Call For Submissions

Call for Submissions—Brista to Brista: Letters of Affirmation
by Black Gay Men

Edited and with an Introduction by Darius Omar Williams
(Dandaluka Vanga)

Call for Submissions:

21 years after the groundbreaking anthology Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men, edited by Essex Hemphill and originally conceived by Joseph Beam, in a bold literary-critical-political response, Dr. Darius Omar Williams (Dandaluka Vanga) seeks submissions for a new anthology in celebration of the kinships shared, abandoned and lost among black gay men: the cultural, sexual and gendered framing of both brother and sister fused together as “Brista”, a popular form of sentiment coined in contemporary same gender loving tradition. The anthology will specifically include provocative personal letters of affirmation written by and to black gay men to encourage, uplift and empower one another through their individual and collective quest for companionship and political autonomy while also highlighting the intersected identities of lovers, brothers, sisters and friends in this codified world of sexual essentialism.

Topics might include:

-Personal letters to historical black gay icons including but not limited to James Baldwin, Bayard Rustin, Joseph Beam, Essex Hemphill and E. Lynn Harris

Personal letters of affirmation from black gay men to their bristas both past and present: biological and non-biological brothers, “sisters”, colleagues and friends (ie. words of healing, loving, forgiveness and ‘water under the bridge’)

Personal letters examining, investigating and contemplating the severing/loss of bristahood

Personal autobiographical letters (from the author to himself) as a self-portrait of redemption, power and self-love

Personal letters from and to black gay men whose relationships have evolved from bristas to lovers and the liminal spaces in between (a measuring of the stakes involved insofar as the degrees of bristahood are concerned)

Personal letters to loved ones living or who have transitioned because of HIV/AIDS

Essays in the form of personal letters on the rising of Brista(s) as a term of endearment and its
linkage to the nature and politics of race, sexuality, spirituality and gender

Submission Guidelines:

Cover Letter

Brief Biography

MSWord electronic submissions 12” Times New Roman Font (11 pages maximum) to:
brista2brista@gmail.com (all documents should be saved and submitted as your last name_Brista to Brista) Your submission may include a single or series of letters to one or more different bristas, again, totaling no more than 11 pages. Also please include the date and time in which your personal letters were written.

Title Example : My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the 100th
Anniversary of the Emancipation by James Baldwin from The Fire Next Time (1962)

Warmest Regards,

Dr. Darius Omar Williams, editor
Brista to Brista: Letters of Affirmation by Black Gay Men

Deadline: August 7, 2012

Contact, inquiry and submission information:

brista2brista@gmail.com

Words Hurt, Words Heal....

There's a video I've seen posted on facebook and I suppose it's been circulating on the internet titled, "Children singing Ain't No Homos Gon' Make It To Heaven"

I haven't watched it and don't plan to watch but that video coupled with the one showing the Pastor talking about killing off gays by putting them behind an electric fence touched something very deep & visceral in me. In my essay, "Let The Healing Begin" included in the anthology, "Mighty Real" I talk about how I didn't receive many personal abomination messages but by their actions and the secrecy of the way things were handled, you knew being gay was something to be kept under wraps. The church back then (and today)is full of Same Gender Loving people and it's unfortunate and sometimes fatal when they hear messages that not only will they not have a place in heaven, but while they are living here on earth they should be placed behind an electric fence and left to die.

The bible and its multitude of mis-interpretation has been used for so long to explain so many things that I feel have nothing to do with a divine plan for us individually and as a society. Even ideas about heaven, hell, devil, and other things are open for questioning for a liberated believer.

About 6 weeks ago I was up late and was doing some searching on youtube and ran across about a movie called, "Prayers For Bobby". I'm not sure if I'd heard of the movie before. Full disclosure it was a movie that originally aired on the Lifetime Channel and to be honest I am biased and occasionally prejudiced about movies/shows on there. I think they are mostly cheesy, very weepy, woe is me kind of stuff. I don't mind a good drama but not something that is formulaic and intended to tug at your heartstrings. I was fully awake and ended up watching the entire movie.

It was a story of a teenager, Bobby is who just opening to the idea that he is Same Gender Loving. He lives in a suburban area small town in the Bay Area. A city named Walnut Creek. It could be anywhere USA and even though I thought I wouldn't be able to relate to it because the family was very white it turned out since the story is so well told it none of that mattered. Bobby experiences some liberation but could not turn off the messages drummed into his head from his very religious mother, which of course makes him devalue his self worth. He eventually kills himself and the latter part of the movie is the story of his mother coming to grips with not only the role she played in her son's death, but also understanding human sexuality as it relates to spirituality.

The movie is set in the early 80's when the city of Walnut Creek is considering having a Gay Liberation Day celebration. Mary attends the City Council meeting along with some other members of PFLAG and delivers this moving & very touching speech about how what we say can have an impact that we don't consider:



Thankfully there is hope. I saw another video of a young boy reading a speech on a local news station in NY that he wasn't allowed to give at his school. His words don't give me hope for the future, because tomorrow is not promised, it gives me hope for now because if he can get it, anyone can.....



He and his mother have received some negative feedback but I believe that the goodness of his intentions will far outweigh any negativity that will come his way.

Always remember Words Can Hurt but thankfully they also have the ability to heal....

Joy In The City 5th Sunday Concert Series Returns....

You Don't Want To Miss The Opportunity To Celebrate The Return Of Our 5th Sunday Concert Series!!!

Guests Include The Incomparable Rev. Daryl Coley

The Dynamic Min. Ernest Larkins & The Messengers of Hope

Also Hear The City of Refuge Mass Choir Under The Leadership Of Minister Charlene Moore

City of Refuge UCC
1025 Howard Street
San Francisco, Ca 94103

6:00pm
Tickets Are $15.00 Available After Sunday Afternoon Services & At The Door

Get Yours & Invite Your Friends & Contacts To Be A Part Of This Awesome Celebration In Praise & Worship.

City Of Refuge United Church of Christ is a ministry of restoration. We are intentionally radically inclusive, welcoming all persons regardless of race, color, ancestry, age, gender, sexual or affectional orientation. We celebrate the Creator's diversity. We Worship Christ, and we welcome persons from all faith paths which harmonize with the ministry of Jesus Christ. Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder, Presiding Bishop of Refuge Ministries, and the Pastoral Team thank you for worshiping with us today.

City Of Refuge Men's Department Breakfast

You are invited to join the Men's Department of City of Refuge UCC San Francisco for breakfast. Come fellowship with us and help lay the foundation for our discussion group. The discussion group will take place on Sunday mornings every other month and will be an opportunity for us to share with each other outside of Sunday afternoon service.

Breakfast will be held in the

Flunder Center
1025 Howard Street
San Francisco, Ca 94103
(Entrance on Harriet)
11:00am (Sunday Afternoon Services Begin At 1:00PM)

City of Refuge United Church of Christ is a ministry of restoration. We are intentionally radically inclusive, welcoming all persons regardless of race, color, ancestry, age, gender, affectional orientation, and those who are specially abled. We celebrate the Creator's diversity!

We will also be taking orders for Easter Lillies. The potted lily plants will line the stage during Sunday afternoon service. Plants can be dedicated in the honor of a loved one that has passed on. After services the plant belongs to you and can be taken home. Cost is $18.00 all proceeds benefit City of Refuge programs.

No Tears For Trayvon Martin....

No Tears For Trayvon
by The Literary Masturbator

I have no tears for Trayvon Martin

I fear if I start crying, I may never stop

If I start crying I might remember the many who have been killed and since there has been no justice, I am not at peace....

There is no reason for him to be dead other than a twist of fate that placed him in the same time and space as someone with twisted thinking at the other end of a weapon, and I'm not exactly sure why a volunteer neighborhood watch person needs to carry a gun....

I’ve wept for mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers that have felt the sting of loss in this situation

I’ve wept for lives that are left in the limbo of what could have been, what should have been

I’ve wept because people want to trivialize, or politicize these deaths for their own purpose like when an occupier said they were protesting the Oakland Police Department for the killing of Oscar Grant when it’s a fact, common knowledge, and if you are unsure a quick & easy google search that he was killed by the bullet from the gun of a BART Police Officer, and while it shouldn’t matter who committed the injustice, please do not use the situation to promote your own agenda

I have no tears for Trayvon Martin

If I start crying, I may never stop

I might weep for senseless killings everywhere

Gated communities in Florida
BART Platforms
On African soil
Afghan villages
Iraqi oil fields
High school campuses

I may even cry for the homicidal tone of politics by people who want to regulate what is considered moral




I’ve become de-sensitized to our reality centric view of life, because if I care I will cry, and if I cry I may become angry, and if I become angry I may become afraid, and if I’m afraid I may continually think, this may be the last time I see my nephew, the kid in my building, or one of the young men at my  church, and it was because he went to get some candy, I heard George Zimmerman's brother said that he's suffering from PTSD, I'd have more compassion if six weeks later Trayvon wasn't suffereing from D E A D

I have no tears for Trayvon Martin

If I start crying, I may never stop

I should not have to fear for their lives, or mine for that matter because for all intents and purposes I can be profiled, and so can my brother with a kufi, and my sister in a hijab

I’m a believer that life is eternal, that love never dies, that we are spirits housed in physical form

So I am releasing Trayvon’s name into the Universe in the hopes it will become an echo reverberating through time and space

A whisper to a scream

And maybe, just a tear will fall

And I will find the strength to cry....

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theliterarymasturbator@gmail.com
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Twitter: @litmasturbator
Copyright©Jair 2012

Healing: My Yearly Pilgramage To See The Alvin Ailey Company....

I'm always trying to remember the first time I became aware of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. I'm sure it was on PBS in the, "Dance In America" series but I don't know exactly when. I've always been a fan of dance whether social or professional all my life. One of my family stories is they would put me on a table when I was very young so I could dance. There's just something about it that takes me to another place. I've spoken and written liberally about how seeing The Ailey Company was a conduit for my personal liberation. Most notably in the essay, "Let The Healing Begin" which is included in the anthology, "Mighty Real: An Anthology of African American Same Gender Loving Writing."


Under the direction of Robert Battle, the 3rd Artistic Director in 50 years (following Alvin Ailey & Judith Jamison) the company seems to have gotten a new polish. Everything seems sharper and fresher. It's wonderful to see.

Last night's program included, "Arden Court" choreographed by Paul Taylor and first performed in 1981. Mr. Battle said he included it just because he liked the dance and I totally agree. It was beautiful in every way and the dancers commanded the stage from the first moment the curtain went up.



The second dance of the night, "Takademe" was choreographed by Mr. Battle in an apartment in Queens. The staging confirms that the space was small but it does not take away from the power of this dance. Blending sharp & sinewy movements, comedy, and adept performance it is a short enjoyable piece that has quickly become a new favorite for me. The music is from an Indian Kathak dance and performed by vocalist Sheila Chandra. The music seems to flow through the dancer moving him around as if they have melded into one force.



"The Hunt" also by Robert Battle I saw for the first time last year and HAD to see it again. I am not sure how to describe but I just know it touches me in a place so innate. It's beautiful and primal all at the same time. The power and intensity of this dance is amazing. I would love to have a dvd copy of the full dance so I could dissect it. I'm not even totally sure what it's about, I just know it gives me goosebumps!!!



Of course no Ailey performance is complete without the classic, "Revelations" a dance that has celebrated more than 50 years in existence. Again as always it did not disappoint. I think one of the things that keeps it fresh is that there are different dancers at each performance so it never gets old. No one is saving anything because they have to perform this dance night after night. They have space in between to rejuvenate. It can't be easy to perform something so identified with the company and not have people have preconceived ideas. Last night the dancers danced through each movement and savored each moment as if the entire audience was seeing it for the first time...



I enjoyed the performance so much. I am contemplating getting tickets for balcony seats before the company leave this weekend. You can't see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater too many times. See them is a place of healing for me...

He... (A poem by participating members of BeComing Settian the Poetry and Literary Writings of SGL Black Men on Facebook)

Occasionally I come up with a line for a poem that I think it's fierce but nothing comes after it. What I've been doing is sharing the line with other poets either in person, on twitter, and this time on facebook. I asked some brothers in a poetry group on facebook to add a line to create a thread poem. What you read here is the result. The first line is mine and each succeeding line is by a different contributor. I read this piece at an Open Mic called, "Culture Fuck" and it went over really well. I've titled the piece, "He...."

He felt like well worn jeans with frayed edges at the hem

His beautiful hands like warm words from a friend

His needs was tucked in his pocket when morning's thoughts floated by, about nine, maybe ten

Looked like guys in cobalt trunks muscling

Intertwined in each other's arms like David and his sling

He walked softly on the balls of his feet, making the earth sing

The vapor of his breath wafted like a cloud on the crisp cold air...

The faint scent of pomegranate lingered in his hair

And he smelt of rain, and of leaves, and of sweat, and of snow

Contributors:

Roger Williams
David Patton
Nigel Barto
Wallace Bass Boyd
Brandon Wallace
Ronnie Davis
Charles Gervin
Jair, The Literary Masturbator