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They caught me on a moonless night

Bearing a grocery bag

As I walked along the maze of streets

That I had mastered in youthful days.

Safe, secure fantasy quickly vanished as

Frightening figures emerged from shadows.

Clutched from behind

Grasped from up front

Slurs and chants rang all around!

Help was called, he did not answer

Prayers were sent, to never be delivered!

I thought to myself this must be a mistake,

I could not possibly be this “nigger”

This “faggot” they sought so violently.

The minutes left wounds of tormenting years

Reminders of such a terrifying event.

Whelps and stings overwhelmed my body,

Tears and sweat my only comfort.

They snatched no chain

Nor picked any pocket.

The relic they stole was much more valuable.

They quickly disappeared,

Returning to haunted shadows.

Leaving me sprawled in misery,

Thinking, hoping that it couldn’t be

That this nigger, this faggot was me.

MLK Weekend: A time for Partying

I saw the above flyer in one of the groups I am a part of on Facebook and immediately caused uproar among the members. I understood where a few of them were coming from but me being me I had to get more feedback. Post the flyer in the various other groups I am a part of there seemed to have been a general consensus that the flyer is disrespectful to King’s legacy.

As always I’m the understanding one when it comes to the subject, and I don’t necessarily consider the flyer to be purposely disrespectful but more so done in bad taste. To give you the background on the flyer it was made by a club promoter advertising for MLK weekend. As some of you may know, in the LGBT community MLK weekend is a big party weekend especially in Atlanta. A lot of people find fault with this, but I can assure that the weekend is just as overly hyped among heterosexual party goers. I understand that the creator of the flyer is just doing his job, but it was truly disrespectful to add Dr. King’s image, especially such a monumental picture, next to an image of strippers.

 But I digress, why is it that when it comes to the black gay community whenever it is time to celebrate an occasion the celebration revolves around sex and partying? What does this say about our community when we flock to the clubs and show our appreciation for the legacy of a man who fought for the rights of all by promoting strippers and drink specials; It seems to me that some of us are forgetting the reason behind the holiday and what had to be sacrificed to achieve it.

Memoirs of a Writer pt. 1

Writing has always been a passion of mine. My earliest memory goes back to when I was 9 years old in the 4^th grade. I formulated this journal where I was determined to express myself and write down every aspect of my life. After that, I remember being in the 5^th grade when I progressed from using loose leaf paper to my first real journal!!

I got it from the school's book fair and when I saw it I knew I had to have it! It was blue, with the image of a full moon and two wolves standing on a mountain. It was so alluring and special to me, it got me through a lot of hard times.

It was in my journal that I wrote my very first poem entitled All Eyes on Me. Unfortunately, I don’t exactly remember how the poem goes but it was about the constant negative attention I felt I was receiving because of my skin tone. Thanks to this new outlet I submitted my poem in the school’s poetry competition and of all people I placed second!! Yes, I would have liked to have won but I was satisfied with just placing and being acknowledged!

From that point, I poured my heart out every chance I got, writing my way to a new chapter in my life.

To Be Continued…

Think & Respond: Waiting For Marriage

"I need advice...Ok...Here's the deal...I want to wait til I get married for sex. I have been told that I WON'T FIND anyone in the gay community who will wait. Is that TRUE? Do we really think with our URGES and not our heart?" 

My initial response to this guy’s question, which I still stand by, was that it seems unrealistic but there may be someone out there with the same ideals... I mean I am sure there are plenty of individuals in the world who are virgins committed on remaining so until he or she is married. My only point, which makes this young man goal’s unrealistic to me, is that I feel that the men and women who are saving themselves until marriage are predominately heterosexual.

Let’s be honest, the idea of a gay man saving himself until marriage is quite hysterical being as we as homosexuals can not legally marry in 44 states. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an optimist and believe that universal marriage for all humans will occur someday, but he isn’t waiting ‘til the day everyone can get married, just himself. Not wanting to look down on his belief I had to know exactly what his mind set was:

“It's something I always wanted to do...I wanna b PURE for him.”

Just to clear things up, yes the young man is a Christian but it just struck me as if he is trying to live his life parallel to that of a heterosexual couple, and that’s where I have the problem. Why is it that so many gay men try to emulate heterosexual relationships? It’s bad enough that society often equates being gay as wanting to be a woman, but what does it say about our culture when we actually take steps and conduct ourselves as such. Not to say that the young man truly wants to be a woman, but I feel as if he believes being in a relationship with a man is the equivalent to a man and woman and that is not the case.

My advice to this young man is to concentrate on waiting for love. He seems to be a young man who places a lot of meanings behind sex and because of this I’m sure he won’t have sex until he finds the person he feels is truly right for him. I chop his aspirations up to youth and inexperience. To all readers, go out and enjoy life. There’s much to explore and learn.