Confessions of a Black, Radical Homosexual Writer…..
Some friends have said ``You Can’t say that.’’ Well I’ve said it and I have lived it. The fact that I am a homosexual cannot be hidden and should not be. But it is only part of my identity and should not, in America or anywhere else, be used to hold me or any other such person, back. Just about any and all people who know me know I’m all these things--in the headline here and more. James Baldwin once said you disarm your enemies by telling them what most people sweep under the rug. (And believe me, most people have things under the rug. Plenty of things.) I am an SGL (Same Gender Loving) Black man, but that is only part of my identity. I am also a good uncle, a writer, a lover of Black history, a reader, a former and soon-to-be-again landlord, a businessman, a friend to my companion, a son to my still-living father, a brother to my sister, a Brother to all my people and all who would call me BROTHER, a part-time scholar, a man who loves all types of people, a movie lover, a lover of Jazz and R & B music, a thinker and philosophizer, a believer in Black people, a person who would and will overturn oppression through words & deeds, a believer in GOD & the ancestors, a lover of Black men and Black women, a nephew, a Father figure of the world—if the world will have me, a lover of Africa and All good things African, a humanitarian, a believer in mankind and woman kind, an Adodi Brother, a man who remembers what has been done wrong and never forgets—but is able to forgive, a hard worker, an authentic Proud Black man and a gentleman.
I live without much fear. It is not useful. This is something I have had to learn. What a man fears controls him to some degree. I will take risks, but only limited risks. I remember my Mother, Mrs. Jessie M. Gibson, as a woman who instilled virtue, good values and good ethical decision-making skills in me from early on. When I once stole $5.oo from her, I was punished in a way that made sure I would never do it again. I learned a lesson. My father, Mr. Charles S. Gibson, taught me a strong work ethic, the power of money and wealth and the value of hard work. Once, and I think I told this story elsewhere in this volume, I was walking home from grade school and the devil got a hold of me and I palmed a littler boy’s head with my hand. I must have been about 8, but I was big for my age. I did this right outside Lea Elementary School in West Philadelphia at 47th and Locust Street. It was just to be bold and brash and to get the feeling that I was better than he was. As soon as I did this, a young Black male parent palmed my head and asked how did I like being treated like that. I felt all at once embarrassed and silly—forever sorry that I had done that to someone—especially someone smaller than me. I learned an enormously important life lesson from that small experience. I try to never take advantage of others and kick around the weak or those smaller than me, or the disenfranchised, disabled or poor. In fact, I have dedicated my life to helping the down trodden, weak, disabled, and those—such as Black people—who I feel are oppressed, discarded, disgraced or left out of the main stream of major society and culture in North America and throughout the world. I love Black people and I know our pain. I also know we have done, are doing and will continue to do great things that often don’t get recognized as such...
Part of the reason I wrote this book was to make a breakthrough to the other side. I want everyday, ordinary Black people to read this book and think about some of the concepts and precepts that I have explored here. I also wanted this book to be short and sweet—not 500 or 1000 pages that gets put on the shelf and never read, but a volume that is read and referred to frequently. My hope is that this will be a living testament that I was here and that the Black experience is and continues to be important on the world stage.
It is time for Black people to let their hair down and demand more—I hope and pray this book will be a venue to allow that to happen. So, read on and try NOT to judge me, but if you do, think of some of the things you have done in life that you may not be proud of and ask yourself if GOD knows what you have done and ask for forgiveness and then read on some more. There are a few things in life I have done that I’m NOT proud of, but most of the stuff I have done and continue to do was good stuff and I think my opinions & research are sound. Otherwise, I would not share them with you—the valued Black reader. . . So I hope you will enjoy this book because it is especially written for you if you are a Black thinking person. If you are anything other than that, you might enjoy it also. So sit back and enjoy!!
Some friends have said ``You Can’t say that.’’ Well I’ve said it and I have lived it. The fact that I am a homosexual cannot be hidden and should not be. But it is only part of my identity and should not, in America or anywhere else, be used to hold me or any other such person, back. Just about any and all people who know me know I’m all these things--in the headline here and more. James Baldwin once said you disarm your enemies by telling them what most people sweep under the rug. (And believe me, most people have things under the rug. Plenty of things.) I am an SGL (Same Gender Loving) Black man, but that is only part of my identity. I am also a good uncle, a writer, a lover of Black history, a reader, a former and soon-to-be-again landlord, a businessman, a friend to my companion, a son to my still-living father, a brother to my sister, a Brother to all my people and all who would call me BROTHER, a part-time scholar, a man who loves all types of people, a movie lover, a lover of Jazz and R & B music, a thinker and philosophizer, a believer in Black people, a person who would and will overturn oppression through words & deeds, a believer in GOD & the ancestors, a lover of Black men and Black women, a nephew, a Father figure of the world—if the world will have me, a lover of Africa and All good things African, a humanitarian, a believer in mankind and woman kind, an Adodi Brother, a man who remembers what has been done wrong and never forgets—but is able to forgive, a hard worker, an authentic Proud Black man and a gentleman.
I live without much fear. It is not useful. This is something I have had to learn. What a man fears controls him to some degree. I will take risks, but only limited risks. I remember my Mother, Mrs. Jessie M. Gibson, as a woman who instilled virtue, good values and good ethical decision-making skills in me from early on. When I once stole $5.oo from her, I was punished in a way that made sure I would never do it again. I learned a lesson. My father, Mr. Charles S. Gibson, taught me a strong work ethic, the power of money and wealth and the value of hard work. Once, and I think I told this story elsewhere in this volume, I was walking home from grade school and the devil got a hold of me and I palmed a littler boy’s head with my hand. I must have been about 8, but I was big for my age. I did this right outside Lea Elementary School in West Philadelphia at 47th and Locust Street. It was just to be bold and brash and to get the feeling that I was better than he was. As soon as I did this, a young Black male parent palmed my head and asked how did I like being treated like that. I felt all at once embarrassed and silly—forever sorry that I had done that to someone—especially someone smaller than me. I learned an enormously important life lesson from that small experience. I try to never take advantage of others and kick around the weak or those smaller than me, or the disenfranchised, disabled or poor. In fact, I have dedicated my life to helping the down trodden, weak, disabled, and those—such as Black people—who I feel are oppressed, discarded, disgraced or left out of the main stream of major society and culture in North America and throughout the world. I love Black people and I know our pain. I also know we have done, are doing and will continue to do great things that often don’t get recognized as such...
Part of the reason I wrote this book was to make a breakthrough to the other side. I want everyday, ordinary Black people to read this book and think about some of the concepts and precepts that I have explored here. I also wanted this book to be short and sweet—not 500 or 1000 pages that gets put on the shelf and never read, but a volume that is read and referred to frequently. My hope is that this will be a living testament that I was here and that the Black experience is and continues to be important on the world stage.
It is time for Black people to let their hair down and demand more—I hope and pray this book will be a venue to allow that to happen. So, read on and try NOT to judge me, but if you do, think of some of the things you have done in life that you may not be proud of and ask yourself if GOD knows what you have done and ask for forgiveness and then read on some more. There are a few things in life I have done that I’m NOT proud of, but most of the stuff I have done and continue to do was good stuff and I think my opinions & research are sound. Otherwise, I would not share them with you—the valued Black reader. . . So I hope you will enjoy this book because it is especially written for you if you are a Black thinking person. If you are anything other than that, you might enjoy it also. So sit back and enjoy!!
No comments:
Post a Comment