SGL Café

In One Week ...

Yeah. I'm closer than you think. And I'm tired. Didn't get in 'til 3am, after spending the day in Trenton with Out IN Jersey editor Toby Grace - thrift store hopping for frames, then the arduous process of matting my prints for the Jersey City Artist Tour next week. Toby was a life saver, because the cost of doing what I'd planned had shot through the roof and my little wallet had developed a bad case of the shakes. So now, instead of spending $200 per print for the matting and custom frame, I spent a total of $25 bucks. They are not perfection, but at this point I don't have the strength to be anal about minor details. And truth be told, I don't give a damn about selling pictures - 'cause its all about the book. In one week. Remember that Obama speech 7 days before he was elected? It gave me chills. I'm running a revised version in my head now, 'cause in 7 days the first hurdle between DANCING WITH THE DEVIL and the film version will be cleared. And we'll keeping sprinting, leaping toward the finish line cuz its closer than you think. And for me, the goal is all that matters. Everything else is bullshit. ~

Featured Video ~~ Here's some fun from Team KLB - (to the beat of Lady Gaga)

Fifteen Days ...

This is the rewind. An old look for a new me. I stupidly deleted my entire blog template. I thought I'd saved the file, but I'd saved an old one - this one. *sigh* Oh, well. Everything old is new again. Those who've peeped SGL Café.com over the last few years know my 'Lasciviously Political' tag-line. Well, I retired that some time ago, got tired of it really, along with the politics that I used to rant about. I'd campaigned for Obama, made friends, lost friends (who never could except Hillary Clinton didn't win), but after Obama and all the hoopla, I was over politics. I needed a breather. I needed to do me for awhile. I'm still as lascivious as always (and proud of it), just less political. But that's what I'm doing now - me. I don't concern myself with activist causes that once made my blood pressure rise and caused me to get into a bar fight or two. Yeah, little gay boys tormented into suicide still make my head explode, but the best way to make a difference in this fucked up world is to do me, do what I do best, and take it from there. By being successful at what we do (critics, homophobes, and haters be damned), that's how we make change happen. I know I promised to talk about the difficulties of taking DANCING WITH THE DEVIL from the page to greater places (first stop on this journey, the LeX Leonard Gallery Oct. 3rd & 4th noon-6)... but there is no time to whine. And since the passing of The Man, my idol, E. Lynn Harris, there's a hole in the heart of black gay artistic expression. We all have to step out of our little boxes in order to fill it. So let's do this. Fifteen days to go. Damn. ~ "Dancing..." on MySpace Press from across the pond ... "Dancing..." on ka-os | theory

Is Pro-White Anti-Black?

There's been a dust up over this post on ka-os Theory -- You Only Count if you're Black, which bristled at this post on Darian Aaron's blog praising Black Gay Bloggers, suggesting reverse exclusion. The ensuing dialogue ripped old battle scars like an East Coast/West Coast rap beef that won't die when Darian responded using the method all beefs employ these days -- Facebook. As one responder on Darian's facebook page asserted, "Pro-black isn't anti-white". Okay. But does the opposite hold true? Does America's racial history preclude the mainstream rise of Pro-White groups without them being nefarious like the one above? Great questions; tough answers though. In such cases, I try to look at things from the other guys perspective. If you haven't checked out the link above and the connecting links do so now and then come back. I must admit there are valid points all around. Ka-os was on point with his observation, though, possibly, he was unaware that he was stepping into a minefield littered with the corpses of many who just wanted to do the right thing. Fair is fair, correct? Using that simple formula I butted heads with Jasmyne Cannick over the right of Shirley Q. Liquor (below) to exist in a world where the Wayans brothers make millions by putting on white-face and portraying 'White Chicks'. Naturally, I gathered a host of enemies who to this day still grumble at the mention of my name and use Charles Knipp's character as a retort for everything. **Oh, of course, somebody who defends Shirley Q would say that!!** Whatever. Fair is fair. And that will never change. Using that same formula, I've also decried the rise of Black Gay Prides (and added a few more to the list of those who don't like me). Now, I truly understand why we have needed them, and why, possibly, in certain areas of our nation we may still need them. But I think the ultimate goal for a rainbow flag waving community is to be all-inclusive -- like a resort. Isn't it? Branching off into individual prides will only lead to further division. Having said that, NYC should not have a 'regular' Pride and a Black Pride and a Latino Pride and an Asian Pride -- what's next, Special Pride, Little People Pride, Big-Boned People Pride, yada yada muthfukin' yada. With all the opposition against us, is it 'historically' wise to willingly divide ourselves? Wouldn't working with these entrenched organizations so that they live up to the dream and vision of the rainbow be much better? Tooting our horn is cool, Darian Aaron did nothing wrong in doing so. And yet, I agree with Ka-os wholeheartedly. See, there's that minefield, and why racial politics will always be so very complicated. So, is Pro White anti Black, and vice versa?

Newark Pride Week -- June 8 - 14th!

NewarkEssexPride.org

Pride 2009

"Pride 2009" - in celebration of GLBTQ pride and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the birth of gay pride. From the upcoming CD "Pride at 40" (JGLsongs LLC). Performed by Jon Gilbert Leavitt featuring Kevin Hannan Music and lyrics by Jon Gilbert Leavitt ©2009 JGLsongs LLC (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. Special thanks to: (photographers) Daniel Greene, See-Ming Lee Footage includes: "Two Men Dancing" - Thomas Alva Edison (1895); "Dizzy Red Riding Hood" - Betty Boop cartoon (1931) "Call Her Savage" (1932); Tel-Aviv Pride; Manchester (UK) Pride; Bangkok Pride; Toronto Pride; Copenhagen Pride; Christopher Street Day, München (Munich).

SGL Café review ~ Basketball Jones, by E. Lynn Harris

The world of professional athletes is ceaselessly fascinating. Because of this we shower our stars of sport with every accolade, but just as quickly devour them for crossing our ever shifting foul line. In his latest page-turner (or button-pusher for us KINDLE owners!), E. Lynn Harris drifts toward basketball and the events surrounding a star player—Dray Jones. Dray, it seems, has a secret. Aldridge James Richardson is the keeper of that secret and our deeply flawed narrator. In the first pages we learn that Aldridge and Dray are a couple, have been for many years, since college actually, before the NBA and the fame and the money and the societally-driven need to slam the closet door shut and bolt it tight. Soon—and, in the prophetic words of Benjamin Franklin, “Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead”—Dray’s secret is uncovered by parties unknown with blackmail on the brain. What ensues is a virtual soap opera of drama, with true E. Lynn flair, which left me exhausted and smiling in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this romp, and for me it harks back to the E. Lynn we all met in his earliest novels. However, it’s a must-read for fans old and new. With this title, E. Lynn Harris has achieved something no other African American author has to date—10 straight New York Times Best Sellers! Huge kudos are in order. Huge!

DIVAS ~ Tenshi no sasayaki

Okay, this is way different. I listed it under Black Gay History because when this classic performance of "When Will I See You Again" (below) aired on the Christmas 1974 edition of Top of the Pops by the lovely Three Degrees -- you know the "children" were lovin' Miss Fayette, Valerie and Sheila, all glistenin' and shimmerin' as they sang their smash hit! Pure class! They were the Michele, Kelly and Beyonce of the day, and I'm sure every drag-queen worth her salt in '74 had this song down to the last "OOOooh... AAAaahh". However, the first video (above), the divas sing the song in Japanese! I wonder how long it took to get the lyrics right? Or did they get them right? The title loosely translates to "Whispers of Angels" - which leads me to believe the entire song may mean something way different when sung my three black divas in beautiful, but probably inarticulate, Japanese. Ya think?

Black gay History Moment: The Entertainer

Who was Jean Williams? From Flickr This mugshot from 1938 inspires more questions than it answers. Described as a hermaphrodite entertainer (with "maroon" eyes), I wondered what led to his "disorderly conduct" arrest. Was he really disorderly or just defending himself, yet he was the one arrested because he was unusual? I wondered why he would leave NYC for Scranton Pennsylvania. Was Scranton more accepting of difference than NYC in '38? I highly doubt it. Was he really hermaphrodite? Transgender? Just a drag performer and the officer in question just labeled him any ol' way he wanted? Was he a good performer? A great one? Questions, questions. I don't know his story, but I'm gonna guess its sad. Jean, if still alive, would be 98 years old today. What I wouldn't give to hear his stories.

Photo du jour ~ Black & Gay like Me

Wanda Sykes became the face of Black Gay Hollywood when she came out after Prop 8. I love this woman more than a blizzard, and Advocate.com has a great piece on her. Check out Black and Gay Like Me. ~~

DIVAS ~ David McAlmont

Thanx to my new friend from across the pond at the ka-os blog for introducing me to this artist, and inspiring a new catergory - DIVAS (which are sorely lacking in Out Black Entertainers). For details, check out Discographic: Diamonds Are Forever ...

Oh ... Bitch better work. I can't briefly express all the reasons and sub-reasons why I love this so much. I won't try. Use your imagination. Just know it leaves me weak. Thanx again, ka-os [u seXy muthafuka]...