You May Sit Beside Me: Visual Narratives of Black Women and Queer Identities, is an exhibition of intimate photographs accompanied by spirited conversations that explore the complexities of living as queer Black women.
When
March 30 to May 24, 2014
Gallery hours: Wednesday – Friday, 11 AM – 6 PM, Saturday, 1 PM – 6 PM
- Thursday, April 10th, 6:30 PM Panel discussion with women from the exhibition
- Thursday, May 1st, 6:30 PM Queer community film screening
- Thursday, May 22nd, 6:30 PM Closing reception and queer film screening
Where
1368 Fulton St Brooklyn, NY 11216 | Phone: 718-636-6900
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza’s Skylight Gallery
A/C train to Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.
“You do realize this is the faculty parking lot, right?”
Roxane Gay has heard this question before. When people on campus assume that she is stealing a faculty parking space and entering Eastern Illinois University to perform janitorial duties, they are mistaken, but are they more than mistaken? Do they ask why Roxane is parking in the faculty lot because they are territorial or because the large, brown woman pulling into the lot could not possibly be who she is – a Haitian daughter, a friend, an author, an elephant enthusiast, a writer for Salon.com, and a professor at Eastern Illinois University.
I can not presume to know what thoughts trickle through the minds of people who encounter Roxane. What I will do is recount some of the words that rang in my ears long after I left the New York City WAM! event where Roxane spoke this month.
Here’s Roxane Gay on the nature of being a minority woman in the publishing industry:
As a woman of color in publishing there is consistent encroachment upon your dignity in small ways. People in power want to remind you of your place. As women in publishing, we have to resist the buckets that people try to put us in.
On modifying behavior after gaining a public following:
The more you have a platform, the more responsible you have to be about what you say. You leave a bigger footprint and reach a bigger audience. I just try to be mindful.
On bringing more minorities into the publishing field with you after you get in:
You shouldn’t be able to name the writers of color on one hand all of the time. It’s not good enough to be the exception, until we’re all the rule instead of the exception. We’re not doing enough to open up the pipelines when we get in, but white guys are. I want to study them and figure out what kool-aid they’re drinking.
On Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg’s lauded (and lambasted) Lean In philosophy:
People like to talk shit about this Lean In book, but I love it. I recognize its faults, but it talks about the imposter syndrome where women think: “I can’t be good enough. How’d I get here? Do I deserve to be among all these smart people? Are my accomplishments fraudulent?” What I did find irritating about Lean In is, it essentially says act like a man (and not just any man, but an asshole man). Shouldn’t there be a different measure? Maybe they should be more like us?
On reading (and now avoiding) the comment section beneath stories:
When I read comments on things I had written, people said I was ugly, stupid and fat (ok, I’m fat), but I cried and thought “You don’t even know me. I like elephants.. I’m a real person!” I don’t read comment sections anymore.
On blending in with ‘bro’ culture and fraternizing with frat boys:
Don’t bend so much that you break. If the bro culture doesn’t suit you, change it without letting them know that you’re changing it. I golf now and I love it. All these people say “There’s a big black woman on the golf course,’ and I say “Yep, here I am. Deal with it.”
On mentorship:
Mentoring is not about age. It’s about what skills does this person have, that I can learn from. Find a mentor.
On never giving up:
Ask for what you need. If you get a “no”, then ask again and again, both inside your organization and outside of it. You are in charge of your own growth.
That last sentence described what I took away from this talk. We are not in charge of what others may think of us, assume about us or despise about us. While we can and should find safe spaces to talk about our frustrations and make new headway, we are ultimately in charge of our own growth and must go up, over, around or through human obstacles to get what we need. Let’s get going.
Roxane Gay’s writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Bookforum, Time, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Salon, The Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy culture blog, and many others. She teaches writing at Eastern Illinois University. Her novel, An Untamed State, will be published by Grove Atlantic. To view her book tour schedule, click here. You can follow the author on Twitter @rgay.
Show up at the Bowery Poetry Club on April 6th from 1-3pm for Collective Courage: A Conversation on Cooperation in African American Communities. The talk features political economist Jessica Gordon Nembhard, African American feminist and economic justice organizer Farah Tanis, and cooperative organizer Esteban Kelly. They will be exploring the role that cooperation and solidarity economics has played in maintaining beloved communities in the U.S. South, Brooklyn, and beyond.
Doors open at the Bowery Poetry Club at 1:00pm and program begins promptly at 1:30pm. This event is free but seating is limited and you must have a ticket to enter. Light refreshments will be served. Click here to register!
Move Forward Music Presents: Rugz D. Bewler, Nemo Achida, Kush Kelz, and BreezePark. Tuesday, Mar 25, 2014 9:00 PM EDT (8:00 PM Doors), at The Studio at Webster Hall, New York, NY. Admission for people 19 years and over. Tickets are $10. Snag yours tix here. Stream Rugz D. Bewler’s latest project ‘Bené’ below, and peep one of Nemo Achida’s always-creative videos.
Nemo Achida
Rugz D. Bewler and Dice Raw Kick Fire Freestyles on Sway In The Morning
Sunday, Mar 23, 2014 7:30 PM EDT (6:30 PM Doors) at the Marlin Room at Webster Hall, 125 E. 11th Street, New York, NY. Lineup includes Talib Kweli, Tanya Morgan, Nemo Achida & 88 Keys, Soul Khan, Phony PPL, Yc the Cynic. The evening will be hosted by Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey and Jarobi of A Tribe Called Quest. Tickets are $25. Click here to snag yours.
Do you know HTML? The New York Chapter of Black Girls Code needs a few good people to teach basic coding skills to a room of fabulous little girls and young ladies on March 22, 2014. The Build a Web Page in A Day workshop takes place at Pace University in Manhattan’s financial district. Ready to volunteer? Sign-Up here http://ow.ly/uDYpt
Entrepreneur and cultural curator, Beverly Bond has teamed up with the Kennedy Center to produce the first installment of ROCK! LIKE A GIRL which will highlight women’s contributions to hip-hop. The concert and panel event will feature Miri Ben Ari, Ana Tijoux, Ms. Lauryn Hill, MC Lyte, Jean Grae, and the Bela Dona Band. The even will commence on Saturday, April 5 and is part of the Kennedy Center’s One Mic: Hip-Hop Festival in Washington, D.C. Watch these performances free at the Kennedy Center or online.