Mix Fest, which dubs itself as the "only festival dedicated to showcasing LGBT film + creative arts" debuts in Atlanta this weekend with a full lineup of films and artist showcases.
Dedicated to highlighting women and youth as well as new voices, Mix Fest is hoping to "establish itself as the preeminent destination film +arts event for the LGBT community, family, friends & allies."
A decade after a Morehouse College student beat another student with a baseball bat because he believed the other young man was gay, the all-male historically black Atlanta campus is set to offer its first class in LGBT studies.
It was in November 2002 when Morehouse student Aaron Price viciously attacked fellow student Gregory Love with a baseball bat because he perceived Love to be gay.
Love, who said he was not gay, suffered a fractured skull and nearly died; Price was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Price had his sentence reduced to seven years in 2006 after a Fulton County judge deemed 10 years behind bars too harsh.
Real Bois Talk, a program of the Health Initiative, released a public service announcement today urging masculine identified African-American gay women to make sure to get check ups, including Pap smears and mammograms.
"The PSA addresses the need for masculine-identified gay females to get chest and cervical exams. We don’t see ourselves in traditional messaging for things such as breast cancer awareness, so we often don’t see those things as our issues," said Real Bois Talk program manager Amber Moore in a prepared statement.
Je-Shawna C. Wholley, a Spelman alum who has been recognized for her works on behalf of LGBT people by the Human Rights Campaign and the National Black Justice Coalition, will be the keynote speaker at the State of Black Gay America on Sept. 1 as part of Atlanta's Black Gay Pride's community events over Labor Day weekend.
A special guest appearance will be made by Keith Boykin, a New York Times best selling author, BET columnist, contributor to CNBC, MSNBC and CNN, and former White House aide to President Bill Clinton. He is also editor of the anthology, "For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough."
In my job, I am fortunate to meet many people. I tend to remember most people I've talked to over the years, but some people definitely stick out.
In March 2010, shortly after GA Voice opened and I started working again, I went to Morehouse College to cover the university's first gay Pride campus celebration.
While there, I met Kevin Webb and Daniel Edwards, co-presidents of the college's Safe Space program.
Openly gay, proud of it, and just smart and kind and articulate in every way, these young men impressed me.
I've also met and talked to Yolo Akili, formerly of Atlanta, who impresses me not only as a poet, but as a young man strives to be the change he wants to see.
So it was a nice gift this morning to see in my email box a Google alert that just happened to include a blog by Akili in which he interviews Edwards.