NBJC

After a summer hiatus, we're excited to resume the NBJC E-Digest. We have much to share with you.

From kicking off our LGBT people of color economic empowerment tour to petitioning the President to award Bayard Rustin with the Medal of Freedom, NBJC has certainly set the tone for the upcoming season — and we couldn't have done it without you by our side.

In this issue of the E-Digest: ENDA witness is tapped to lead transgender project; new developments unfold in murder of openly gay Mississippi mayoral candidate Marco McMillian; and more.

New Civil Rights Generation Recognizes Bayard Rustin

The National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights organization that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender African Americans, has launched a commemoration project around [Bayard] Rustin that will coincide with the events in Washington marking the Aug. 28 anniversary of the march. The commemoration will include a viewing of the 2003 documentary film Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington on Aug. 26.

"We are advocating the preservation of his legacy by removing the barriers that didn't allow society to get to know all of Bayard Rustin," because of prejudice against openly gay individuals, said Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC executive director. "His legacy deserves its due."

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This Black, Gay, Badass Pacifist Mastermind of the March on Washington Is Finally Getting His Due

Although prejudice kept [Bayard] Rustin behind the scenes — and out of history books — his name is finally making headlines. In August, President Obama awarded Rustin, who died in 1987, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The National Black Justice Coalition, a black LGBT civil rights organization, launched a movement to celebrate Rustin on what would have been his 100th birthday in 2012 and created the Bayard Rustin 2013 Commemorative Project, which highlights his contributions to the March on Washington.

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Jesse Jackson, Julian Bond Share Thoughts on 50th Anniversary March on Washington 

"One of my mentors once told me, 'In order to be truly free, you must give to [causes] greater than yourself,'" Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of the National Black Justice Coalition, said from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday [August 24].

This civil rights leader was one of many of today's generation of activists invited to speak at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington in Washington, D.C., which attracted almost 200,000 attendees.

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On behalf of the National Black Justice Coalition and the black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, I applaud President Barack Obama for giving the late Bayard Rustin the national esteem and recognition he deserves by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As one of the chief architects of the Civil Rights Movement and the brilliance behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Rustin's indispensable contributions to the ethos of our country continue to reverberate and push us toward a more just and fair society. America is indebted to Rustin, and our nation is right to finally honor him for his stalwart courage and leadership.  

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On August 28, 2013, we witnessed history in the making on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was the first time ever that a sitting president, let alone the first-ever African-American president, spoke at a commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Two former U.S. presidents, President Jimmy Carter and President Bill Clinton, were also in attendance. Earlier that month, on August 8, the White House released the names of the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. This is the highest civilian honor bestowed by the president. We applaud President Barack Obama for including civil rights icon Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) on the list.  

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The National Black Justice Coalition, an LGBT advocacy organization, and the Albert Shanker Institute, which advocates for public education and labor issues, announced last week that they are joining forces to create an educational fellowship named after the late civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, who was gay. Both organizations are based in D.C. The two groups announced the launching of the new fellowship during a tribute to Rustin held at D.C.'s Lincoln Theater during the week of the 50th anniversary commemoration of the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, of which Rustin was the lead organizer.  

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This is an important year for our community and our nation as a whole. We've picked up tremendous momentum during President Obama's [term] in office. Support for LGBT people is at an all-time high. We are at a tipping point. It is critical that, as Black LGBT people, we continue to own our collective power and bridge the gaps between the racial justice and LGBT equality movements. It is time we implement an empowered, intentional and Black LGBT national agenda. Will you join us?

NBJC will continue to work closely with elected, appointed and community leaders to ensure that our intersectional identities are not overlooked. In the meantime, I charge you take your seat at the table and not wait for anyone to offer it to you. Get informed. Get equipped. And get to work. 

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"Her comments are why there has to be a separation of church and state," says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director and CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the nation's leading black LGBT civil rights organization. "The country has gotten to the point where we're beginning to have the conversation that black LGBT people exist; just look at new documentary The New Black and the president awarding Bayard Rustin the Medal of Freedom. It's happening, but change is not an easy thing."  

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The effects of discrimination in the workplace have been particularly harsh in LGBT communities. The Williams Institute, a national think tank at UCLA School of Law, found that 15 to 43 percent of gay and transgender workers have experienced some form of discrimination on the job solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Furthermore, between 8 to 17 percent of gay and transgender workers report being passed over for a job or fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. With the "Many Faces. One Dream." tour, NBJC officers hope to create sustainable economic opportunities in the LGBT community.  

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National Black Justice Coalition Applauds Bayard Rustin Recognition by Obama

Bayard Rustin, one of the most important, yet unheralded, figures in the civil rights movement, will be posthumously receiving the highest honor an American civilian can get — the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The announcement that President Barack Obama would be honoring Rustin, along with many other luminaries such as Oprah Winfrey, former president Bill Clinton and Ernie Banks, was applauded by the National Black Justice Coalition (NJBC), the nation's leading black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.

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'We Need a Bayard Rustin Today' by Jonathan Capehart 

Ever since 250,000 people descended on the Reflecting Pool and the grounds surrounding the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, other movements at home and abroad have tried to replicate its power. But none of them had Bayard Rustin, the organizing genius who pulled the extraordinary event together 50 years ago today.

STAFF ANNOUNCEMENT: NBJC Appoints Sheila E. Isong as Legal and Public Policy Advocate

NBJC is proud to announce that it has named Sheila E. Isong as its Legal and Public Policy Advocate. Throughout her academic and professional career, Isong has pledged her life to becoming a vehicle of change for oppressed and marginalized communities.  Born in Benin City, Nigeria, and raised in the great state of Maryland, Isong embraces her many identities and is proud to serve as the newest member of the NBJC leadership team.

Isong has a wealth of experiences in both the private and non-profit sectors, and most recently clerked at Shipley & Horne, P.A. in Largo, MD.  She has also served as an Event Organizer through the AFL-CIO, a Support Specialist through Public Allies Pittsburgh, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Chair through the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA).

"We are excited to welcome Sheila to NBJC," says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO. "Her legal experience and political acumen will undoubtedly bolster our policy advocacy efforts to raise awareness around Black LGBT legislative concerns."

NBJC Executive Director Sharon Lettman-Hicks Speaks at March on Washington

Photo courtesy of Washington Blade

NBJC Executive Director and CEO Sharon Lettman-Hicks joined civil rights leaders and public officials speaking at the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington.

"Every day I educate, advocate, and celebrate the contributions of the Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community because if any of my brothers and sisters are not equal and free none of us are truly equal and free," said the self-proclaimed "sister in the movement." Lettman-Hicks was among a number of the rally speakers who acknowledged the contributions of openly gay civil rights activist and organizer of the March, Bayard Rustin.

"Rustin was a radical visionary, a Black gay activist for freedom and justice during a time when the conditions of both of these identities were perilous," she said. "Rustin was as unapologetically black as he was gay and by his very presence challenged the evils of homophobia and racism throughout his life."

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE SPEECH

Many Faces. One Dream. Kicks Off in Detroit Then Heads to Atlanta

Photograph courtesy of KICK/Christopher "Tall Guy" Sutton

On July 22, NBJC launched its LGBT people of color tour, a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration. "Many Faces. One Dream." seeks to bring focus on the communities' economic power, innovation and creativity in the small business sphere.  In Detroit, Curtis Lipscomb, executive director of Detroit's KICK Agency for LGBT African Americans, led the local group organizing the conference. Eugene Cornelius, deputy associate administrator of the SBA, and Gerald Moore, the district SBA director, started the day off with an opening panel discussion. The day wrapped up with a speed mentoring session with representatives from local economic development agencies.  

NBJC then touched down in Atlanta (August 11-13), where participants learned about how to start a for-profit business and fiscal fitness for existing businesses. Bishop O.C. Allen, III of The Vision Church of Atlanta; R. Darlene Hudson, Founding Member of the Atlanta Black LGBT Coalition; and Dr. Kenneth L. Samuel of The Victory for the World Church served as the Convening Partners for the Atlanta leg of the tour.

Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed issued a welcome message to participants stating: "I am pleased to join the U.S. Small Business Administration and the National Black Justice Coalition to welcome the 'Many Faces. One Dream.' LGBT Economic Empowerment Tour to the city of Atlanta. Atlanta has long been known for encouraging entrepreneurship and embracing all people, regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. As such, it's appropriate that our city host this event to foster economic opportunity among LGBT people of color. Entrepreneurship and innovation in this community helps our entire city thrive and remain competitive."

NBJC's next stop is New York City, October 20-22. Details here  

NBJC Joins LGBT Advocacy Groups to Speak Out Against Racial Profiling

NBJC was proud to join national and international LGBT organizations — including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Lambda Legal, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and GLAAD — to highlight the harms of racial profiling to New York City legislators.

In a joint statement, the coalition maintained, "[e]very person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety, including fear of police profiling and discriminatory policing practices. Profiling — whether it's based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity — has no place in our society."

Read the full statement here. In August 2013, a U.S. judge ruled the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk crime-fighting tactic was unconstitutional.

Details here.

NBJC Signs onto Letter Calling for Justice for Trayvon Martin

NBJC was among the 34 national LGBT advocacy organizations that signed onto a joint statement issued on July 15 that said Trayvon Martin "deserves justice and his civil rights." "[W]e will honor Trayvon Martin by strengthening our commitment to end bias, hatred, profiling and violence across our communities," the statement said. "We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies. Our community has been targets of bigotry, bias, profiling and violence. We have experienced the heart-breaking despair of young people targeted for who they are, who they are presumed to be, or who they love."

Full Statement

NBJC Staffers Join the Black Youth Project's BYP100

NBJC's Programs and Policy Manager Michael J. Brewer and Programs and Outreach Associate Je-Shawna Wholley were proud participants of the Black Youth Project's BYP100, a convening of 100 young Black activists from across the country working to mobilize communities of color beyond electoral politics. In response to the George Zimmerman "not guilty" verdict, the BYP100 released the following statement: "Our hope and community was shaken through a system that is supposed to be built on freedom and justice for all. We are your sons and daughters. We are the marginalized and disenfranchised. We are one hundred next generation leaders. We are the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100)."

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NBJC Applauds the U.S. Supreme Court Marriage Equality Rulings

When the U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings in favor of loving and committed same-sex couples in two landmark marriage equality cases, NBJC commended the Court for standing on the right side of history. "Antiquated laws like Proposition 8 and DOMA disproportionately harm LGBT people of color, and ultimately our nation," said Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, noting it was a victorious day for "our community, our families, and our love."  

Full Statement 

NBJC Reacts to Voting Rights Act Decision

NBJC was proud to join LGBT organizations in pointing out the importance of voter protections: "As recently as last year's elections, political partisans resorted to voter suppression laws and tactics aimed at reducing the votes of people of color. Voting rights protections, which have long served our nation's commitment to equality and justice, should not be cast aside now. The court has done America a grave disservice, and we will work with our coalition partners to undo the damage inflicted by this retrogressive ruling."  

Full Statement 

ENDA Witness to Lead the Task Force's Trans Project

The first-ever transgender person to testify before the U.S. Senate on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act has been tapped by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force to become head of its transgender initiative. Kylar Broadus, a transgender man who founded the Missouri-based Trans People of Color Coalition, was named head of the Task Force's Transgender Civil Rights Project, which provides strategy assistance for groups working to enact pro-trans policy and laws.

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Embarking on a New Life, Transgender Woman Has It Brutally Taken

The transformation of Islan Nettles over the last year was something her friends and relatives discussed with barely concealed awe. After years of often being hungry and on the verge of homelessness, Ms. Nettles, 21, had recently moved into her own apartment, found a job at an H & M clothing store and was designing her own fashion line. Most important, she had begun to live publicly as transgender. Seemingly overnight, friends and relatives said, she had metamorphosed from a shy and insecure youth into a radiantly confident young woman. And then she was killed. Just after midnight on Aug. 17, a young man knocked her to the ground after learning she was transgender and struck her with his fists until she was unconscious and battered beyond recognition, according to accounts from the police and friends. She lingered in a coma for less than a week before being taken off life support.

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Domonique Newburn, Transgender Woman, Found Dead In Apartment 

A transgender woman was found dead in her Fontana, Calif. home Tuesday, August 20 and witnesses say they saw the suspect take clothes, a computer and the victim's car to get away. Police found Domonique Newburn's body at around 4:30 p.m. after responding to domestic disturbance reports. Inside, they came across a grisly scene: there was blood on the porch and the door was left wide open, reports CBS Los Angeles. The position of Newburn's body also indicated to investigators that she appeared to be trying to escape through a front window before she died.

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Upcoming Trans*H4CK Bridges Technology with Trans Advocacy

Research shows that trans people are unemployed at twice the national rate — four times for transgender people of color — and have incomes of less than $10,000 a year.  Trans*H4CK, an upcoming hackathon in Oakland, CA (September 13-15), seeks to address these disparities by creating technology that socially empowers transgender individuals. The community convening will allow programmers, developers, graphic designers, entrepreneurs and community members to share ideas and skills to develop new software projects. Speakers and judges at the inaugural event will include author and activist Janet Mock, trans blogger Monica Roberts, and more. ELIXHER got the chance to chat with Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler, founder of Trans*H4CK.

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Judge Hears Details in Slaying of Clarksdale Mayoral Candidate Marco McMillian

A Mississippi judge has allowed prosecutors to proceed with their case against a man charged in the death of Clarksdale mayoral candidate Marco McMillian.  The Clarkesdale Press Register reports that Circuit Court Judge Charles Webster heard details of the investigation during a preliminary hearing Friday, August 2 for McMillian's alleged killer, Lawrence Reed. Sheriff's office investigator Marene Jones said phone records indicate McMillian and Reed knew each other before the aspiring politician's nude, battered body was found Feb. 27 near a Mississippi River levee.

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McMillian Murder Trial Likely to Take Place in Quitman Co.

Lawrence Reed, the man accused of killing mayoral candidate Marco McMillian, will likely stand trial in Quitman County. Tuesday, [August 20], Circuit Court Judge Charles Webster signed an order that transfers the prosecution of Reed to that county because the alleged murder happened there. At a preliminary hearing earlier this month that determined probable cause, a Coahoma County sheriff's investigator testified that Reed told her that he'd killed McMillian outside of Marks, somewhere in Quitman County and then driven the body back to Coahoma County. Reed allegedly then dumped the body near the levee and tried to set McMillian's body on fire.

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REVIEW: Films Document Same-Sex Marriage Campaigns

In 2012, voters in Maryland chose to support same-sex marriage, and in North Carolina voted against it. Among the films shown during the North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, which [began August 9] at the Carolina Theatre, [were] documentaries showing the lead up to the historic votes. "The New Black," directed and produced by Yoruba Richen, is a thorough examination of the black church's role in the campaign leading up to marriage equality in Maryland, which was passed in 2012. It is a comprehensive look at African-American people of faith who support and oppose same sex marriage.

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The New Black and Other Docs Ask, "Why Has Black Been Made the Face of Homophobia?"

There's a gorgeous moment in Yoruba Richen's documentary The New Black, currently playing the film festival circuit, in which two young black lesbian activists canvass an inner-city black neighborhood to drum up support for the gay marriage initiative that was on the ballot in Maryland's 2012 statewide election. The women approach a group of young men hanging out in front of an apartment building to talk to them about voting and-more specifically-supporting gay marriage. "I ain't voting on that gay shit," says the most vocal of the guys. "I ain't with that." What follows is an amazing back-and-forth.

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What Lee Daniels Means to Black Gay America

As Lee Daniels' The Butler opened in theaters, audiences across the country watched to see a slice of history as told through the eyes of African-Americans who were both participants and front-row witnesses. But the audiences also made history themselves as they gave their support to Black openly gay filmmaker Lee Daniels.

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Film Documents Lives of Queer Black Visionaries

A new documentary series seeks to tell the stories of queer Black visionaries in an accessible and compelling way. Series creator Katina Parker formerly worked as a media strategist for GLAAD, where she focused on helping to get the stories of LGBT African-Americans into the mainstream media. She said that during that experience she became aware of how few opportunities were really available to tell full, engaging stories of the people she was meeting. "I became aware of all these really compelling stories about, not just coming out, but coming into self, and realized that there was not really a format or venue for those stories to be told," Parker said.

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D.C. Black Pride Leader Fowlkes Elected Chair of DNC LGBT Caucus

The Democratic National Committee's LGBT Caucus voted unanimously to elect D.C. gay Democratic activist and Black LGBT Pride leader Earl Fowlkes as the caucus's chair.  The election took place during the DNC's annual summer meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was among several guests speakers at the LGBT Caucus meeting in which Fowlkes was elected.

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The Queer Politics of Writing on Race

When Sue O'Connell, the publisher and editor of the Boston-based LGBTQ newspaper Bay Windows, penned her piece "Sharing our experience: White gay men and black men have more in common than they think," a firestorm erupted. Evidence of the conflagration was not only seen on the paper's website but it was also buzzed about around town. Responses to the piece created a deluge of criticism ranging from thoughtful advice to damning personal attacks. The fury O'Connell's piece ignited raised for me this query: "Can white LGBTs suggest or give advice to communities of color from their own experiences of discrimination?"

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Black, LGBT, American: A Search for Sanctuaries

The structural forces that impede or advance our lives will always shape the many ways that one exists as black or gay

–whether he (or she) is praised by the president, shot to death by a stranger, lauded by celebrities, or doused with a gallon of kerosene. There is no single way to be black and gay in America, but it is clear that there are too few spaces for most black gay men to exist safely. And if that is true, there are even fewer sanctuaries for black queer youth, lesbians, and trans people to exist in their entirety as well.

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Read all of The Advocate's Black and LGBT in America essays here  

The New Black Screening at OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit

As the culminating event for the 4th Annual OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit, NBJC invites you to a special screening of The New Black.

This award-winning documentary takes viewers into the pews and onto the streets, and provides a seat the kitchen table as it tells the story of the historic fight to win marriage equality in Maryland and charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the Black community. This film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage and examines homophobia in the black community's institutional pillar-the black church and reveals the Christian right wing's strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda.

Through Tugg.com, a web-platform that enables moviegoers to choose the films that play in their local theaters, NBJC is bringing this award winning film back to the nation's capital.

This screening will only happen if 137 tickets are sold by September 16.

Purchase your tickets TODAY!

Many Faces. One Dream. New York City

Sunday, October 20 – Tuesday, October 22

New York, NY

Many Faces. One Dream. (MFOD) will touch down in New York as one of 13 cities throughout the country that have a significant LGBT presence in communities of color, including Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale/Miami, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Newark, Oakland/San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.  In its inaugural year, these 13 cities serve as a pilot for the initiative. As the initiative grows and LGBT people of color across the nation begin to own their power, MFOD will expand to include cities with a large population of LGBT people of color. NYC community partners include Harlem Pride, LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent, and Global Black Pride Network.

REGISTER HERE