Black, Gifted and Gay

I have been working (in my head and scraps of paper and emails to myself) on a blog about technology for a while. Trying to figure out what do I want to write, what is the purpose and what do I want to take away from it, is the reason it still isn’t up and this is not it. However, I did feel compelled to write about something else this week.

Reflections of an Overly Reflective Person
April (technically started a week or so before my birthday, so let’s say March and April) has been the most topsy turvy month. I felt I was constantly planning for something big and doing something different- very little routine. And I LOVE routine. So that may have something to do with my inability to put that tech blog together- but moving on…

I got a book in the mail the other day titled Black, Gifted and Gay. It was not what I expected- I expected more narration and storytelling about the lives of people, who those three words describe. It’s more like a coffee table book. So, I am flipping through it, as I wait at a bar, reading the first few pages and my mind makes a connection and I start thinking of Barbara Jordan’s Keynote Address to the DNC in 1976.

I read about Ms. Jordan a few years ago when I was looking for a speech to recite at Adelphi’s annual African American Read-In. I read that speech and was in love- because her vision of America was the same as mine. But what triggered her as I was sitting at the bar was that recently, I learned that Barbara was a lesbian. In the opening of her address she states “There is something special about tonight. What is different? What is special? I, Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker.” And at that moment at the bar I realized OMG she wasn’t only referring to being the first African American woman to give the key note address, she is also a lesbian African American woman giving the DNC keynote address. And I was just instantly proud, but mostly encouraged.

After a month of feeling out of control and a week of feeling incompetent- I had that realization that I am not the first to be here- but greatness is possible. I am strong. I am capable. I am smart. I can be a Barbara Jordan or find myself on the pages of Black, Gifted and Gay volume 4.  And this is why books like this exist. Reminding us that greatness has to be achieved by someone, why can’t it be us.

In the America Ms. Jordan describes we are a community. A community uplifting and supporting each other, that is how barriers are broken- and rereading her speech reminded me that I believe in that too. Not only for me but for the many communities I belong to.

I am just happy to take a moment to reflect on this and share my reflections.

I wish this was like a more interactive blog- I would love to ask and hear of some of the people that others relate to, that make them see that the world is full of “endless possibilities”.