Grand Park’s social media coordinator edited together this amazing video of Proud Stories. I am so honored that I was part of this inclusive and affirming event. My hairy mug makes an appearance at 1:26.
Q Youth Foundation’s SOGIE Human Library
Tag Archives: Black and coming out
Proud Stories @ SOGIE Human Library
The Q Youth Foundation curated the SOGIE Human Library at Grand Park’s Proud Stories on October 3, 2015. At Proud Stories, the community was invited to hear stories of love, acceptance, and joy through the powerful voices of L.A.’s LGBTQ and ally community. The PROUD Series celebrates the LGBTQ experience with readings, kids’ activities, and theater performances.
During the SOGIE Human Library experience, guests were invited to flip through the catalog, read book summaries, check out a human book, and learn more about them. The human books’ role was to engage the reader to start a dialog in hopes to gain better understanding about alternative perspectives in the SOGIE/LGBTQIA+ community.
Aaron Saenz, a founding board member and current President of the Pasadena Pride Center, was one of the human books. Along with Amaury ‘Ketzal’ Reducino (behind East LA Art Walk), Claudia Rodríguez (writer/performer), Omowale Oniyide, Juan Castillo Alvarado (Latino Equality Alliance), Jesse Gutierrez (film director), Kyle Sawyer, Karene Daniel, Arturo Hernandez, and myself.
Page from the Catalog
There was also a SOGIE Stories Recording Booth, were guests and human books recorded thoughts about, “Who they are proud to love?”
The event just happened to take place on the same day as Amber Rose’s “Slut Walk” and a sign language event. Therefore, the attendance was larger than normal.
Page from the Catalog
Q Youth Foundation is a start up non-profit organization dedicated creating environments of Safe/Brave Spaces for LGBTQIA+/SOGIE community in Los Angeles.
Writers and performers from In The Meantime, Eastside Queer Storytelling, Asian Pacific Islander LGBTQ, Writ Large Press, Gender Justice LA Theatre, and Better Brothers LA shared their stories on the main stage.
Page from the Catalog
Filed under The Written Word
It happened. Reading at the Downtown Los Angeles Library for ALOUD
Breaking out into a sweat, from running, into the auditorium is how my reading started. I was late for the sound check. Actually, I was the last person to arrive. I sat in my seat in the front row and listened to the first reader read the first five sentences of her piece. Then it hit, it was really happening. I was reading in the ALOUD series at the Downtown Los Angeles Central Library.
I had known about it for about five months and I pushed it to the back of mind. Work (my numerous gigs) came first. Turning in my thesis project for school was a priority as well.
When I sat in the seat, my nerves tightened and made me question everything I had practiced for my performance. I stood when it was time for my sound check and everything came rushing out.
What follows is from later that day. Continue reading
Filed under The Written Word
Interview with Diary of a Natural Gal
For my Diary of a Natural Gal Style Files interview, I worked with an amazing crew to shoot the pictures. The photographer was Garen Hagobian and the stylist was Rico Cherry. I can’t wait to post the full interview here. Here is an excerpt:
Kisha Roby: I would describe your style as sultry school boy, where do you draw inspiration?
Victor Yates: Is that a good thing (laughs)? I use to only wear black and gray. That’s it. Then my best friend started picking out clothes for me that I wouldn’t normally wear. I went from school boy realness to wearing cowboy boots, with khaki linen cut off shorts, and shirts and sweaters from the 80’s. I love 80’s Adidas shorts, vintage designer clothes, and conversation pieces. Today so many things inspire me. I like patterns, textures, and bold colors and mixing things together that the average person might think is strange. Since moving to Los Angeles my thrift store obsession has grown. Buffalo Exchange and Wasteland are my top thrift stores in L.A. But out here thrift stores are like coffee shops.
Kisha Roby: When did your passion for writing begin? What is your ultimate dream for your writing career?
Victor Yates: I started writing poetry at 14, after reading Maya Angelou’s work. I loved libraries and would read a lot. Also, my mother loved books and she would buy books for me as well. I remember trying to read The Firm, by John Grisham, and not being able to understand it. I hope to write quality fiction books and venture into short stories and writing plays.
Credits:
Photographer: Garen Hagobian
Website: http://www.motonicausa.com/photo.html
Number: 323-459-6100
Stylist: Rico Cherry
Email: rico243@yahoo dot com
Interviewer: Kisha Roby for Diary of a Natural Gal
Filed under Art, The Written Word
Frenchie Davis, The Voice, The Courage
Check out the teaser video to my interview with Frenchie Davis for GBM News. She talks about everything from her new single and the video for, Love’s Got A Hold On Me, to the Voice vs. American Idol, to questions about sexuality. Stay tuned for the interview.
Frenchie at 12th annual GLAAD Tidings Event (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
black lgbt artsy event: orlando: june 5: books and brunch literary workshop @ orlando vista hotel
Books and Brunch, Orlando Black Pride
June is the official Pride month. Each week there seems to be a Pride celebration happening across the states. Orlando Black (gay) Pride is May 31 – June 5. The event I’m most excited about is Books and Brunch, hosted by Kat Williams, host of Sipping On Ink radio show (Blog Talk Radio). Books and Brunch is a literary workshop featuring G. Winston James, Fiona Zedde, Cheril N. Clarke, Spoken, Ortis Randolf, Sherry Michelle, Skyy, and Kat Williams.
Kat William’s Sipping On Ink Interview With Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene
Event Description:
Kat Williams will be moderating a discussion on writing and how to get published and each of the featured authors will talk about their experience getting published. Guests will have the opportunity to chat with the authors and purchase books for signing. The event is a teleseminar. If you can’t be there you can see it as it happens at Orlando Black Pride.
Fiona Zedde On Gender/Race/Sexuality For black./womyn.:conversations
Location: Orlando Vista Hotel, 12490 Apopka Vineland Road
Date/Time: Sunday, June 5, 2011, 11am-2pm
Price: Only $20 entry and brunch or $10 entry only (The brunch will include: Mimosa, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Chicken & Vegetable Kabobs, Home Fries, Texas Rice, Caesar Salad, Rolls, and Coffee)
Go out and meet all the authors. Tickets for the event can be purchased http://www.orlandoblackpride.eventbrite.com or http://www.orlandoblackpride.com. Please purchase in advance as space is limited.
Filed under lgbt resources, News, save the date
everything sounds like confrontation (today)
Image via Wikipedia
the screen on my cell phone is cracked. i can’t tell who’s calling until i flip it open. his name pops up. “happy birthday,” i say. “thanks,” he says. “how was your weekend?” the way he says thanks is a question itself. i have wanted to tell him on some many different days that i am gay. reactions scare me. the thought of someone knowing and not being able to deal with it is part of the scary things. the things that make me not get to close to my coworkers. the thing that makes me push my family away. my sister has called me at least fifteen times last week and twice today.
when i was 16, my sister told my mother if any of her brothers were gay she’d kill them. i was laying next to her at the time. it sounded like a question. sometimes, as a gay man, everything sounds like confrontation.
“i went to the bar with my cousin. i had a good time actually,” i say. “cool,” he says. “then we went to the club. i love the music they play there.” “cool,” he laughs. i wonder if his laugh changes with his girlfriend. it’s cute. a chuckle with part of it held in.
“i’m pulling up to her house. we’ll talk later.” “have a good night.” “good night.”
i go back to typing. the phone rings. it’s him again. “hello.” “i’m coming up,” he’s singing. i hear a ripping sound or a sound that sounds like ripping. he’s adjusting something or pushing something in or out. more rustling. the call ends.
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Filed under The Written Word
3 new query letters or my vision board sucks
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I read “The Secret” about a year ago. In Secret, the author suggests that the secret to everything you want in life can be yours and the way to get it is to change your mind. Or change the way you see yourself.
Bend yourself, not the spoon.
If you think you’re a writer you will be a writer. You have to visualize, conceptualize, and do things necessary to get your writing published.
One step is to create a vision board. Put the things you want most in life on a board (my board is a wall). You’ll see the board everyday and it will make the universe realign and give you what you want.
The things I want:
- I want a literary agent
- I want to be published
- I want to pay off my credit cards
- I want to move to Los Angeles
- I want to visit Brazil
It’s getting harder and harder not to get discouraged. I sent a query letter to an agent at 10:30am today. She wrote me back in 5 minutes.
Apologies not for me.
I want a life without waiting for someone else to tell me I’m worthy. I want a life without worrying how I am going to pay my rent. Some days, as a gay black man, it seems easier to escape everything. Move away from the city. Move to Spain or Brazil and start running drugs or stripping or surfing or selling ass on a webcam.
Filed under The Written Word
When does the editing process stop
Image via Wikipedia
I think getting rejected by literary agents has made me a better writer.
My first rejection came two years ago. I was waiting on my editor to send me his inked up thoughts on the last five chapters. I had the publishing bug. I couldn’t wait any longer. I wanted to be published no matter what my editor thought. I submitted a query letter to an agent at Writer’s House. I studied some website I googled on how to write a query letter and wrote what I thought was brilliant.
Hardcore rapper 50 Cent meets Zane and realizes he’s gay
Dear agent,
Xitonce (pronounced existence), my novel, is an urban story about a young African American male caught in a love triangle with a man who suffers from panic attacks and a politician on the down low (dl) running for public office. From their story, a gripping story unfolds from a love letter that catapults the reader through an unforgettable tale of Detroit’s Black upper class community, homophobia in Peru, faking a marriage to gain citizenship, and two detectives trying to find a sadistic killer.
Like all urban novels Xitonce includes personal reflection, sex, crime, and revenge. However it veers from other works such that five very different characters reveal through their own stories how there are no coincidences in life but a single line of events that connect people.
Xitonce is one of few down low fiction works that is literary first, where many down low books falter and written to appeal to the mainstream literary audience. The result is a roller coaster showing how emotions can lead people to the lower depths of society.
As a young writer, I am looking for an experienced agent and I am thoroughly impressed with your agency.
The novel is 48,338 and fully complete. I am sending you the first five pages of Xitonce as stated in your submission guidelines.
I thank you for your time and consideration.
The agent responded less than five yours later.
Thanks, but I’m afraid this isn’t right for me.
By the way, the manuscript looks too short. Most novels should be closer to 70,000 words at least.
I was upset at first but relieved too. It wasn’t time for my book to be released.
I started sending out a new query letter two years after I sent my query to Writer’s House. I have received about five rejection letters. With each letter, I have thought over some of the dialogue and descriptive paragraphs that didn’t flow or fit well with the rest of the story. I have revised almost 20 chapters since I thought I was finished with the book.
Last week, I sent off an updated query letter to my editor. My last query letter was a little boring. I let my editor reader it. He said it wasn’t suspenseful enough. I rewrote it and rewrote it. The final current version is more suspenseful than the other versions have been.
I wanted to get my editor’s approval before sending off the new query letter to another agent. One agent I was interested in sending a query letter too requests that new writers send her the first 50 pages of their work. I reread chapter 3 (pages 30-49) and realized that I didn’t love the chapter.
Filed under The Written Word
alkebulan: a poem
Fred Holland
(for Rodney)
he poses in the bathroom mirror
head tilted left
benson and hedges cigarette pressed
against dark lips
white towel around his waist
he smears foam shaving cream
little strokes, cut
memories of our mothers
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Filed under poetry
Riding in Cars With Girls
I’m a listener. Listening is a natural ability I have. The sound of another person’s voice. The subtlety of a hand dropping a pen to a legal pad. Language. Body language. I hear the things most people don’t catch.
My friends, Tracey and Becky, are sitting in the backseat. Tracey says Psalm 37. I tune out “Que Me Coma El Tigre” and listen. I getting a tattoo of Psalm 37 on Sunday. Psalm 37 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
God will give you everything you want Tracey says.
In prayer, God or the deity you pray to, is the listener. Does God listen to gay people? I ask myself that question sometimes. Churches draw a line between the bible and gay sin. You can’t be gay and believe in God. As a gay man, I can’t distinguish the two. I’m a spiritual person. I pray. I meditate. I workout. I think spirituality has more than one appearance – what happens in church. There are so many more layers to it.
Image via Wikipedia
I have a great respect for the bible. I think it’s very romantic like poetry, especially Psalms. The Psalms are my favorite. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Only a poet could write that. The desires of your heart – to desire is to listen to that inner voice within.
I wish I could desire women. It would make life so much easier. I love looking at beautiful women. Beauty is beauty. My heart, that inner voice, desires another man to listen to me complain about nothing in particular.
Filed under Art, The Written Word
All About My Mother: A black man not on the DL tries to come out to his mother
Coming out is an intimate confession. I’ve come out to myself, my friends, and to complete strangers the first time meeting them, but not to my mother. I keep conversations with my mother about work and food. The last time my mother asked if I was dating was seven years ago. I was in college. I had a canned spiel ready. I’m waiting till I finish school I said. I don’t know if she believed me or not. Read Psalm 23 before you go to bed she said. I finished college, went on to grad school and got a job. In between finishing college and getting a job, I had one boyfriend, five pseudo-boyfriends, three Web romances and a number of unremarkable dates. My mother knows nothing about any of them. Our relationship is more like co-workers than mother and son. Four of my friends have come out to their mothers. They talk openly about their dating drama with their mothers. Imagining my mother and I talking about how difficult it is to find a guy I want to date, I cringe. That sounds too personal. I visited my mother recently. We live in the same city but I rarely go see her. She asked if I was gay without directly asking. She proceeded to read Bible scriptures to me and ended with “but I still love no matter what.” I looked her, looked at the ground, and across the room at the blank TV screen. I saw the picture of me as a baby on top of the TV. I played dumb. She changed the topic. Now when I get the courage to call my mother, my heartbeat will speed up when she pauses abruptly or starts a question with “Tell me. Tell me, ‘Are you gay?,’” I think she’s going to say. I can’t imagine telling my mother I’m gay. Even though I know she knows. Mother, I’m gay. It sounds so simple written. Mother I’m gay. I could write “I’m gay, Mom,” in a Hallmark card and mail it to her. Most likely, it’ll come out through an argument, on a holiday or a birthday—the way my true feelings come out with my mother.
Yates, Victor. “All About My Mother: A black man not on the dl tries to come out to his mother.” Windy City Times, June 25, 2008, Pride Literary Supplement.
Filed under Art, The Written Word
victor yates 