#josephbeam

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#Repost @theaidsmemorial (@get_repost) ・・・ . . #JosephBeam (December 30, 1954 - December 27, 1988) was gay right activist and author who died of AIDS three days before his 34th birthday. . “When I first started telling people I was gay, publicly, in my late teen and early 20s, and imagining the possibilities of my life as an openly gay black man, I came across Beam. . Beam gave me the courage to continue to speak up, to continue to fight, to continue to show up with all my parts whole and find beauty in the work. . So when I "became" a campus activist, and one of my friends decided it was more important for him to be an Alpha than be friends with me, I returned to Beam. When the group I found my voice in and safety crumbled beneath us because the home institution decided to fire our leaders, I returned to Beam. When I was 22 and I found myself helping to plan a memorial service for my friend who was 27, I returned to Beam. . The words of Joseph Beam put into language my deepest desires and inspired a vision within me that I'm still committed to. I was reborn through his essays. . Joseph Beam, a black gay men who stood in solidarity with Black Feminists, a black gay man that called out white racism, a black gay man that called out the heteropatriarchy in black communities offered me a model to define myself against, and an example. . Years later when I would discover his heartbreakingly beautiful letters he would continue to teach me. He would teach me about loneliness. He would teach me about despair. He would teach me about being vulnerable. He would teach me about the cost we pay. And yet in his honesty, even in the sadness, in his unbearable misery I was able to be reborn through his words yet again. I would learn that the things I felt, the hurt and the sadness was not unique, it was not specific to me, but its something that many of us share. . His example continues to shine a light on all I do. His brilliance still stands decades after his untimely death. The urgency of our present moment, calls for a voice like Beam, to provide insight, perspective, and healing energy.” - by Charles Stephens @charlesdotstephens . #whatisrememberedlives #theaidsm

Found Joseph Beam's anthology "In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology" @artaidsamericachicago. Beam "began collecting the material after years of frustration with gay literature that had little mention of Black gay men." Never seen this book in person before. #artaidschi #artaidsamerica #artaidsamericachicago #JosephBeam #IntheLife (at Art AIDS America Chicago)