Colorful Diaspora

This little description is going to keep changing because I am human. Humans change. I live and teach in New Orleans. I am black and very queer. Gay might not be the word to describe my emotional ranges on the daily. I hope you enjoy some of my musings. If not, then oh well.
~ Saturday, February 4 ~
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I name myself “lesbian” because this culture oppresses, silences, and destroys lesbians, even lesbians who do don’t call themselves “lesbians.” I name myself “lesbian” because I want to be visible to other black lesbians. I name myself “lesbian” because I do not subscribe to predatory/institutionalized heterosexuality. I name myself lesbian because I want to be with women (and they don’t all have to call themselves “lesbians”). I name myself “lesbian” because it is part of my vision. I name myself lesbian because being woman-identified has kept me sane. I call myself “Black,” too, because Black is my perspective, my aesthetic, my politics, my vision, my sanity.
— Professor Cheryl Clarke , from “New Notes on Lesbianism” 
Tags: Cheryl Clarke lesbian QWOC QPOC Rutgers University professor LGBTQIA
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