Black

Holiday emotions while quarantined a queer of intimacy and ritual.

Holiday Emotions While Quarantined: A Queer Reconsideration of Intimacy and Ritual

By pwsbuilder / December 18, 2020 / Comments Off on Holiday Emotions While Quarantined: A Queer Reconsideration of Intimacy and Ritual

Believe Out Loud Fridays is a new series of spiritual reflections—pieces that connect our identities and lived experiences with sacred texts and spiritual guidance. In this week’s reflection, Union Theological Seminary students and BOL interns Kimberley Gordy and Sulkiro Song draw on Scripture and ritual to embrace the moments of “wilderness” many of us experience…

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For they know not what they do.

“For They Know Not What They Do”: Re-examining the tenuous relationship between the LGBT and Christian worlds

By pwsbuilder / July 8, 2020 / Comments Off on “For They Know Not What They Do”: Re-examining the tenuous relationship between the LGBT and Christian worlds

In 2007, the sitting President, George W. Bush, was an evangelical Christian Republican who professed the belief that marriage “is between a man and a woman,” and had in recent memory backed a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage at a national level. President-to-be Barack Obama, an upstart liberal Democrat, would soon state on…

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Graffiti on the brooklyn bridge.

Intersections International’s Statement on Racism and the Current Civil Unrest

By pwsbuilder / June 14, 2020 / Comments Off on Intersections International’s Statement on Racism and the Current Civil Unrest

Please find below Believe Out Loud’s parent organization’s statement on racism and the current civil unrest. “Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:16 (NLT) Our nation is hurting. We are hurting. We are praying and we are marching. We are crying and shouting from…

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An image of an eclipse with a quote on it.

Portal to a New World:
An Earth Day Reflection

By pwsbuilder / April 22, 2020 / Comments Off on Portal to a New World:
An Earth Day Reflection

There are so many lessons to learn in this time of COVID-19, and specifically throughout Eastertide, the 50-day period between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. On a positive note, we have witnessed the uniting of humanity. We have seen people come together, quickly to combat colossal issues. On a challenging note, we cringe at the…

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A portrait of a black woman in an orange circle.

Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Labi Siffre

By pwsbuilder / February 26, 2020 / Comments Off on Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Labi Siffre

Claudius Afolabi “Labi” Siffre is a singer songwriter, composer and poet from London. He is the fourth of five children born to parents of Barbadian-Belgian and Nigerian descent. Although educated in Catholic School, Siffre has stated that he has always been an atheist. Siffre studied at the Eric Gilder School of Music, and recounted his…

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A portrait of a young man in a green circle.

Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Alvin Ailey

By pwsbuilder / February 26, 2020 / Comments Off on Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey was born in 1931 in Rogers, Texas, and grew up in a time of economic crisis (the Great Depression), racism, violence and segregation. His father abandoned his mother when Ailey was only three months old, forcing the family to work in cotton fields and as domestics for white households. Yet with the support…

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A cartoon of a woman wearing pearls.

Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Josephine Baker

By pwsbuilder / February 25, 2020 / Comments Off on Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker’s life story was unbelievably queer, boundary-defying and transgressive. The first indication of this is found in the St. Louis city records. Baker’s mother, Carrie McDonald, became pregnant while working for a German family, and was admitted to the exclusively white Female Hospital. This was 1906: America was segregated and patriarchal, and typically Black…

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A black woman with glasses in an orange circle.

Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Audre Lorde

By pwsbuilder / February 24, 2020 / Comments Off on Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde described herself as a “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” She was a native New Yorker, the daughter of West Indian immigrants who grew up in Harlem and went on to become an influential black feminist theorist, essayist, memoirist and novelist. Lorde focused her prose and poetry on the complexities of sexual and racial…

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An illustration of a woman wearing a flower crown.

Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Marsha P. Johnson

By pwsbuilder / February 21, 2020 / Comments Off on Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Marsha P. Johnson

Outspoken transgender activist, fashion icon, drag performer and LGBT rights pioneer Marsha P. Johnson began to wear dresses at the age of 5. As it so often happens, other children teased, harassed and bullied her to the point where she eventually stopped. Not until she graduated high school and moved to New York City—with $15…

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An illustration of a woman holding her hands up.

Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Willi Ninja

By pwsbuilder / February 18, 2020 / Comments Off on Highlighting Black + LGBT Pioneers: Willi Ninja

Willi Ninja, born William Roscoe Leake, was an American choreographer and dancer known for his iconic dance style, made famous in the film Paris is Burning. Ninja’s distinctive dance style was inspired by Fred Astaire, young Michael Jackson, Olympic gymnasts, Asian culture and haute couture. During the 1980’s in Harlem, ball culture was a huge…

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