July 2006 Archives

Yes, I had severe trepidations after the original shade that LIFEbeat threw at us, but I knew LIFEbeat board member Mel Cheren, the co-founder of the Paradise Garage, wouldn’t let this particular benefit be anything but a phenomenal success. And it was - for so many reasons, it was! I applaud LIFEbeat for honoring not only the genius and life of Larry Levan, but also for honoring the lives of those dancers, singers and other DJs that AIDS has taken from us. I felt them all around me. Thank you DJs Joey Llanos, David Depino, Danny Krivit and Kevin Hedge for your love.

I don’t know Jimi Izrael and am not familiar with his writing. A commemorative stamp of James Baldwin greets you on his home page. He claims some further connection to and/or knowledge of the kids by saying “Oh, I used to DJ for y’all, so I know the T …” but he issued a statement regarding our recent victory against hate-mongerers Beenie Man and TOK that seems to reveal a disconnect rooted in the same rampant patriarchy-laden bullshit that allows virulent hate to fester in both dancehall and hip-hop and instantiate murder.

It’s outrageous: Beenie Man and TOK regularly sing songs which advocate the murder of gays and lesbians. Those songs have contributed to the murders of Black gay men and lesbians in Jamaica including J-FLAG co-founder Brian Williamson and Lenford ‘Steve’ Harvey - the very men doing the HIV/AIDS awareness work in Jamaica! Now Beenie Man and TOK are scheduled to perform in a concert presented by LIFEbeat, a national HIV/AIDS awareness agency with substantial connections to the music industry.

NO! No Beenie Man, you can’t perform here. You call for the lynching of lesbians in your songs. No TOK, you can’t perform here. You call for the incineration of anyone who walks into a gay bar! And no LIFEbeat, your trajectory away from gayness doesn’t diminish the presence of LGBT people affected by and infected by HIV/AIDS nor does it minimize the need for diverse sexualities on all levels of your HIV/AIDS awareness work, from your organizers and volunteers to your audiences and constituents. To sacrifice Black LGBT lives in the hopes of creating more HIV/AIDS awareness in the lives of straight people is travesty and a slap in the face to Black gay men and lesbians worldwide who serve EVERYONE affected by this virus.