Leadership Follies

By Keith Boykin, in sexuality
Thursday, October 10 2002, 9:56AM

What began as an email to the community last week ended up as an online debate between three well known black LGBT leaders on the west coast.

It all started with an email message from Brenda J. Crawford, the outgoing board chair of the National Black Lesbian & Gay Leadership Forum. Crawford mentioned "several articles" she had seen in the gay press questioning "the relevance of the Forum" and challenged the readers of her email to answer the question by helping to make the Forum better.

"It is up to all of you to determine if the organization is relevant," she wrote, "and if you decide that it is, how can you reform, refocus and reshape the Forum in ways that it can become effective in the black LGBT civil rights struggle."

Sidney Brinkley, a black LGBT journalist who had written an article about the Leadership Forum, responded. He called Crawford's letter "self-serving, disingenuous, and at times insulting."

One of the original readers of Crawford's email responded to Brinkley, who then responded to her. Crawford then responded to Brinkley, as did Alvan Quamina, the current executive director of the Forum. It was an extraordinary back-and-forth exchange. Here now are the actual emails.

Round 1: From Brenda Crawford
I have waited several weeks before writing this note because I wanted an opportunity to think about what I wanted to say. Many of you are aware that I have served as chair of the National Black Lesbian & Gay Leadership Forum Board of Directors for the last four + years. I assumed the role during a period of time when the organization was experiencing leadership transitions and programmatic shifts. The organization had a huge debt load and a local AIDS program where the staff had rebelled and tried unsuccessfully to disaffiliate with the Forum.

I certainly do not intend to recap all of the problems that the Forum has faced in the past and since I began my tenure as the chair. However, I would remind those of us who have been involved with this organization of both the magnificent accomplishments, and also some of the missteps that have occurred over the years.

In the Forum's glory days many of us would look forward to the yearly conferences as a place where we could network, socialize, play a friendly game of bid whist and have heated, and passionate discussions with black LGBT folks from all across the country. It was indeed a yearly family reunion and homecoming for many of us.

As with many organizations the Forum has gone though changes. Many Organizational Development (OD) professional view these changes that occur as a normal part of the evolution, growth and life cycles that occur within organizations. Some OD folks label these stages of growth and change as: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. Once an organization had gone through these four stages something usually occurs that causes a storm or upheaval and the organization if it survives finds itself in a new stage of reforming.

In my opinion that is exactly where the Forum is today it will either reform and refocus or it will cease to exist. I have seen several articles lately in the gay press about the relevance of the Forum. It is up to all of you to determine if the organization is relevant and if you decide that it is, how can you reform, refocus and reshape the Forum in ways that it can become effective in the black LGBT civil rights struggle.

I resigned as the Board Chair of the National Black Lesbian & Gay Leadership Forum shortly before the conference in Detroit. I had intended to attend the conference as my last official act, but got ill shortly before and was advised by my doctor not to fly and to stay home and rest.

I resigned because I could no longer provide the kind of energetic and committed energy that is needed and required when an organizations is in the process of reforming and refocusing.As a pre-women movement out lesbian of thirty-eight years it is time to hand over the mantle of leadership to the younger folks.

I would encourage all of you who have shown an interest in the Forum in the past to get involved. Work to make the organization more representative of your needs. Thank, all of you for your support over the years, and I am sure I will run into some of you as we travel the road toward full inclusion and equal rights for black LGBT people in this country. Take care.

Black Blessing

Round 2: From Sidney Brinkley
As the author of one of the articles you referred to which questioned the relevancy of the Forum - mine went deeper than that and questioned your leadership. The way this "resignation" has been conducted only deepens my belief that you were a poor leader and what has always been wrong with the Leadership Forum has been poor leadership.

You did not wait "several weeks" to announce you had resigned as board chair. You waited "several months." I have never heard of an organization where the chair, the board of directors and the executive director, kept such crucial information as this - secret. For over three months! This is a true first.

This is also inexcusable.

The Black community you profess to care so much about deserved better than this. I'm not about coddling leaders. Your self-serving, disingenuous, and at times insulting letter - the attempt to palm this off on "Organizational Development" is weak - may garner sympathy from your friends and supporters, but by journalistic standards, it does not pass the smell test and you, the board and the executive director should be held accountable as you now bail out of a mess, largely of your own making - leaving it to the
"younger folks" to clean up.

And you have the nerve to end with "Black Blessings."

This letter is phony and contrived from start to finish. It's also a bizarre - and sad - end of an episode that should have never begun in the first place.

Sidney Brinkley
Editor - Blacklight
http://www.blacklightonline.com

Round 3: From Susan S.
Sidney, my goodness. You must be a young man.

I pray that it is age that would have your tongue be so harsh. I also pray that when and if you stumble in your life there will be those who catch you by the elbow, make sure you don't injure yourself and have a steady grip before letting you loose. Then, I pray they provide you with the support of advice and a sharing of their learnings from the times they stumbled. Because you too will stumble and I pray that you learn valuable lessons that you share with
your world so that the stumbling becomes a stepping stone upon which our people grow and build.

Susan S.

Round 4: From Sidney Brinkley
Susan,

Contrary to your belief, I'm not a young man. I'm a 52 year-old Black man with AIDS. I could teach a course on stumbling and getting back up - with and without help. And I literally don't have time for BS.

I have also been in and around the Black Gay movement for over 25 years and I've seen how the Black Gay community's unwillingness to hold its leadership accountable - to not air dirty laundry - has been an ongoing problem that has produced nothing but more poor leadership.

That you are a forgiving soul is really admirable. As a journalist, that's not my mission. At at time when "all" leadership is being re-evaluated and questioned - Black Gay leadership is not exempt. What you call my harshness, is in direct proportion to the severity of the matter at hand. You can gloss over it if you like, but the way this organization has conducted itself is totally unprofessional and would not be tolerated in any other quarter.

Sidney Brinkley

Round 5: From Brenda Crawford
Sidney:

To say that I am shock and appalled at your response to my note to my community is an understatement. However, I refuse to get in a battle of words with you, or play the blame game. The reason that it has taken me as long as it has to announce publicly my resignation is because I was not interested in perpetrating the emotional blame game and pointing of fingers that other past chairs and Forum board members have engaged in when they have resigned. I think this kind of activity is a disservice to our community. I did not want my pain and disappointment with the organization to color what I truly believe is an organizational development issue. I have learned over the years that when I am angry and emotional it is best to go to my knees in prayer and ask for guidance.

I prayed before I wrote the note and asked God to open my heart and my spirit and give me the words to express what I truly feel about the Forum. I am sorry that you felt my statement was disingenuous, but God knows what is in my heart and I am ultimately only answerable to him.

I stand on my public record as black lesbian activist for over thirty years

Black Blessing

Brenda J. Crawford

Round 6: From Alvan Quamina
Sydney:

I am not bailing out of my position as executive director of the Leadership Forum, nor is the Board of Directors. Although our search for organizational redefinition continues, our commitment to the organization remains unwavering. After extensive consultation with our community (through our Chicago and Oakland conferences of 2000 and 2001), this is no longer a public process -- it must be undertaken by the Board and staff of the Leadership Forum. The community will be reengaged once our internal strategic redefinition process has been completed.

Brenda Crawford has served the Leadership Forum long and well, through a difficult period in the organization's history. Her tenure deserves a more balanced assessment than your email provides. If you intend to turn your email into a journalistic piece, I am willing to provide you with information and perspective that will allow for that more balanced assessment. An appointment can be made by calling [my number].*

Alvan Quamina
Executive Director
National Black Lesbian & Gay Leadership Forum

* The actual number was included in Quamina's email but deleted from this version for privacy purposes.