Sign of the Times
By Keith Boykin, in sexuality
Tuesday, April 10 2007, 1:04PM
Walking through Greenwich Village a few weeks ago I stumbled on a familiar face. It was a face that I had seen hundreds of times although I had never met the person before. His name was Rashawn Brazell, and he was a black gay man who had been brutally murdered in New York. In one of the city's most gruesome crimes, his body had been dismembered and strewn throughout the New York subway system. Now his face is plastered on police posters in the Village and Chelsea as authorities look for the murderer.
Last week I was walking through Harlem and stumbled on another familiar face. It was a face that I had also seen hundreds of times, only this person I had met. His name is Robert Mugabe, and he is the brutal dictator of Zimbabwe who has run his country into the ground and spread vicious anti-gay venom along the way. Now his face is plastered on phone booths and outdoor walls throughout Harlem as his supporters try to organize a rally on his behalf. I had never connected Rashawn Brazell with Robert Mugabe before, but suddenly it made sense.
I don't blame Robert Mugabe for Rashawn Brazell's death. One could argue that the vicious brand of homophobia preached by people like Mugabe has contributed to the deaths of countless gay men and lesbians. And Mugabe's government has rounded up and persecuted gay men for their sexuality. But that isn't the message that struck me when I thought about these two posters.
What struck me is that these two different images representing two vastly different world views stood on the same tiny island of Manhattan. It was almost as if the two worlds had never met. Harlem meet Chelsea. Chelsea meet Harlem. And for the people who co-exist between these two worlds, it is a reminder of the difficult road toward full acceptance.
How could a Harlem community that celebrates Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Wallace Thurman and Richard Bruce Nugent embrace a brutal homophobe like Robert Mugabe? How could a neighborhood teeming with such a rich history and beautiful diversity celebrate a man committed to oppression?
Of course, one event does not and should not represent an entire community. I have lived in Harlem for the entire time I've lived in New York, and I've seen the community grow and evolve. I have seen black and white, young and old, straight and gay. I've seen the tension that exists between the various groups. But I've also watched as people managed to coexist peacefully with one another.
And that, in the end, is the final irony. Harlem is a place of paradox. It is a place where Rashawn Brazell might have felt welcome, but also where Robert Mugabe might be welcome too. Harlem is the place that welcomed Cuba's Fidel Castro when he visited the United States and could find no other place to stay.
Harlem, like much of Black America, has a long connection to the underdog. After all, many African Americans supported O.J. Simpson and Marion Barry as well. But Black America should be careful not to be fooled by every underdog just because he has dark skin.
Comments conceal
bubba
April 10 2007, 3:44PM
It's more than connecting to an underdog. It's about a kinship with people who equally thirst for the same power of domination that they were subjected to. A large portion of the black community is gullible on this basis, and Harlem is no different. I too saw those ads posted, but it wasn't surprising. Why the Black Isrealites haven't given Mugabe a roast on 125th Street by now is more shocking, lol.
maxqthrust
April 10 2007, 3:55PM
maybe that is the message that as black gay men and women we need to seperate our self and unite so that we can move forward and get our dreams. the fact that the black church doe not except us and preaches hate from the pul pit but still use our services in the music department and expect us to pay offering is even more reason to seperate. we are a nation inside a nation inside a nation and if we cant see that as a people we are doomed. the fact tha youth are taught kick dat faggots azz directly or indirectly speaks volumes. what one should do is chck out the situation and act appropiately. 1 there is a marshal art called (and i know i have the speling wrong craft mag) that can be learned in short order and should be the first order of business. be cause a life worth living is worth fighting for. SELF LOVE, MENTORING, AND BREAK THE DIVISION OF THE AGES SO THAT LESSONS LEARNED IN THE PAST ARE PAST FORWARD. WELL THAT IS ALL PEACE TO YA KEITH I DON'T MEAN TO SOUND LIKE MARCUS GARVEY BUT YOU FEEL ME?
nahtan serious
April 10 2007, 5:16PM
I think that you need to fully explore your views on Mugabe instaed of presenting the simplistic overview of 'his dictatorship.' I personally think that he has gone too far but Ithin his actions have to be presented in the context of the history of Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular. I think you are doing a disservice to Africans by reducing Zimbabwe issues to simple soundbites!
I think that we gay people are capable and able to fully understand international issues that don't only focus on Gucci vs Prada, or who is the latsest hotboy from Brazil!
Luke
April 10 2007, 5:43PM
Keith, interesting comparisons, but, this is one of those issues that needs to be in the context of human suffering in Zimbabwe, not just his homophobic rants, misinformation and hatred. His brutality is not just with gays, its with heterosexuals,old folks, children, infants, the people are literally eating trees and weeds to try and survive, this is to the point of a black government killing its own people to keep one THUG in power and make the 10000 whites left look as if they are getting the big payback, when they still have all the money, other then him, his family and cronies who have milked the county.
Just like the Sudan, and the USA the truth be told, a black life isn't worth too much, which is why I found it somewhat odd that they would be looking for the murderer of Mr.Brazell in Chelsea, a place I've heard gay blacks are not even welcome, so, just who could help the police there?
Ron Lee
April 10 2007, 8:19PM
I too Keith, believe there is some irony to the comparison of the two posters and there location. There are many gay whites in Chelsea who have no idea of Mr.Brazell nor do they care. By that same token there are many harlemites who haven't a clue of Mr.Magube and his cronies nor do they care. The sad thing about Brazell is that there is some sick killer or killers on the loose in New York and the Black SGL Community is SILENT. On the other hand the Africans have gotten wise and realize they needed a P.R.Campaign to fight whats being said about one of their leaders. The irony is that young Black leaders Str8 & SGL are looking up to the white community for leadership. The fact is the British backed Mr.Mugabe as they did with Amin of Uganda. Think about it Keith,if Magube was truely independent would the whites still be there. If the British or America cared about DEMOCRCY in Zimbabwe they would have encouraged it there long before the South Africans got their one man one vote system. PEACE OUT.
Nathan James
April 11 2007, 7:31AM
When I participated in the last Rashawn Brazell Memorial March, the weather was beautiful, the subways and buses were running on time, and the NYPD (!) was actually on our side for a change. Yet, on this gorgeous, warm Saturday afternoon, only about 150 people showed up! For an issue that directly affects the gay community in NYC, of all colors and ethnicities, that poor turnout was SHAMEFUL. It seemed as if our gay community was more interested in the nbext party than catching Mr. Brazell's killer!
Now, in the case of Mugabe, like all dictators, he holds on to power through a combination of terror and trust. People in Zimbabwe are terrifiedto oppose him, but they trust him to see some things as they do. In the case of gays, a group made "easy to hate", no one cares what Mugabe does to them. The sad part is, here in NYC, gays are also sometimes easy to ignore--even by the gay community itself. We remain silent when we should protest. In Zimbabwe, they can't protest. we can here, but DON'T!
Andres Duque
April 11 2007, 3:34PM
Re: Rashawn Brazell's flyers posted in Chelsea
The Brazell flyers were probably posted by members of the New York City Anti-Violence Project (which also headed out to some Brooklyn bars after the last vigil took place to distribute the same flyers). The West Village, the West Side piers and Chelsea has always been a beacon to Latino and black gay youth for decades and it makes sense for the flyers to be posted there. As the piers have undergone renovation and remodeling and as wealthier people have moved into the area, tension has racketed up between building and apartment owners and tenants and the large number of LGBT youth of color that still hang out in the area.
Andres Duque
April 11 2007, 4:20PM
In 2002, the black and hispanic caucus of the NYC Council - led by Brooklyn Councilmember Charles Barron - organized a reception for Mugabe at the Council chambers. Former Harlem councilmember Phil Reed, who is gay, HIV+ and black, was the only one to publicly criticized the event.
As a member of the Out People of Color Political Action Club we held a meeting with Barron when he was seeking the club's endorsement in his last bid for reelection. We expressed our longstanding dismay at his support of Mugabe's dictatorship, not only due to Mugabe's anti-gay policies but also for keeping political dissent under control and for his HIV policies at the time.
Barron, who had just returned from an "exploratory" trip to Zimbabwe (costs covered by the Zimbabwe government) simply said that he had seen no evidence of anti-gay policies during his trip.
To date he continues to support Mugabe even as other councilmembers have distanced themselves. Barron did not get OutPOCPAC's endorsement.
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