{"id":77843,"date":"2019-02-01T00:27:43","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T05:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/to-be-black-queer-and-visible-is-to-always-be-in-a-state-of-defense-george-johnson-on-jussie-smollet\/"},"modified":"2019-02-01T00:27:43","modified_gmt":"2019-02-01T05:27:43","slug":"to-be-black-queer-and-visible-is-to-always-be-in-a-state-of-defense-george-johnson-on-jussie-smollet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/to-be-black-queer-and-visible-is-to-always-be-in-a-state-of-defense-george-johnson-on-jussie-smollet\/","title":{"rendered":"To Be Black Queer and Visible Is To Always Be In A State of Defense: George Johnson on Jussie Smollet"},"content":{"rendered":"

To Be Black Queer and Visible Is To Always Be In A State of Defense: George Johnson on Jussie Smollet<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cAttempting to claim that it was solely his Blackness, but not his gayness that led to the attack disregards the very real threat that Black LGBTQ+ people face every, single day.\u201d <\/p>\n

That is what George M. Johnson\u00a0so eloquently\u00a0told\u00a0<\/a>Essence\u00a0<\/a><\/em>regarding\u00a0the\u00a0recent\u00a0attack\u00a0on\u00a0actor\u00a0and\u00a0activist\u00a0Jussie\u00a0Smollet,<\/a> \u201cTo be Black queer and visible is to always be in a state of defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

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To be Black Queer and visible is to always be in a state of defense.<\/p>\n

\u2014 George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) January 30, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Johnson has been really impactful in inserting the Black queer experience into traditionally Black institutions (Fraternities \/ Colleges) recently.<\/p>\n

In 2006, Johnson decided he wanted to become a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity incorporated. \u201cAs the oldest Black Greek Letter Organization established for collegiate life, we have long stood on the forefront of civil change, social activism, and upholding an image of the respectable negro. From the beginning, there were questions about my sexuality, which I lied about every single time it came up in conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last January there was a spike in reader comments in an Alpha Group on Facebook that has about 12 thousand members \u201cdiscussing\u201d an article he wrote about \u201cmy experience <\/em>as a Black queer man<\/a> in the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

And by spike in comments he meant a full on comment war.<\/p>\n

Part of what Johnson wrote it in Black\u00a0Youth\u00a0Project\u00a0<\/a><\/em>said: \u201cThere is no such thing as Blackness that doesn\u2019t encompass Queerness, despite the attempts from toxic masculinity and those willing to protect its image at all costs to have you believe otherwise. This cost is paid in the form of\u00a0transgender people murdered<\/a>, young\u00a0boys killed<\/a>\u00a0by their fathers over their gay<\/a> identity, and the violent suppression of an LGBTQ community that has stood in the shadows waiting for safety in the sunlight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy experience within a Black Greek Letter Fraternity has been no different, unfortunately, \u201d Johnson told Towelroad<\/em>, \u201cAs my growing public Queer identity becomes a threat to the foundations of masculinity within my org, it has simultaneously become a bigger threat to my own safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

George pauses thoughtfully before continuing, \u201cSo there is still much work to do in that space, but I do feel like the needle is moving. The biggest thing for me has never been acceptance nor will I just stand for just tolerance. I want acknowledgement that Black queer issues are Black issues. That Blackness cannot exist without acknowledgement. \u00a0Acknowledgement and protection of our queerness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson says this
\nnotion of \u201cliking\u201d someone as a gate keeper to acceptance and recognition of
\nhis rights is straight BS \u201cYou don\u2019t have to like me to know that I deserve the
\nsame things you have.\u201d<\/p>\n

This gatekeeping is omnipresent in all the institutions Johnson has faith in including the church where he thinks \u00a0there\u2019s still a lot of work to do.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Black church as well as Black staples like the barbershop. I also want to make sure that people understand, I don\u2019t feel our community is more homophobic than others although we are often painted in that light. All communities experience homophobia and transphobia. I just want to make sure I do the work that stops it from being a problem in mine<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geore M Johnson\u00a0Reveals\u00a0The\u00a0Secrets\u00a0to\u00a0his\u00a0Super\u00a0powers\u00a0\u201c<\/strong>Sugar, spice with a touch of Jack Daniels lol. In all seriousness,\u00a0That\u2019s something I think about all the time to be honest. It was like one day my friends starting saying \u201chey celebrity\u201d and I was like \u201chow did I get here\u201d, although I don\u2019t feel like a celebrity and my bank account is a reminder of that lol. But in all honesty, Today\u2019s George Johnson is the boy<\/a> that was forever silenced for being too vocal or too effeminate. The boy<\/a> that was told he could make up his own lingo. The boy<\/a> that never got the chance to live<\/a> in his gay<\/a> identity in middle school and high school and even college. My origins were of the boy<\/a> who never truly fit in, but was always present. I struggled with my Black community because of my effeminate nature, and with white community because of my proud Blackness. So the freeing of George Johnson ultimately became the freeing of a lot of others through my work.\u201d<\/p>\n

ON HIS HIV ACTIVISM \u00a0<\/strong>Johnson\u00a0came out as HIV-positive in 2014 in what he calls<\/a> \u201cbest, worst day of my life.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI had just turned 25 and was about to graduate from grad school. Things were looking up for me \u2014 but I wasn\u2019t feeling well and knew deep inside that something was wrong he wrote in the <\/a>Body<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s come a long way since then telling HIV Plus<\/a><\/em> magazine this past World AIDS Day: \u201cWorld AIDS Day is an important reminder that the epidemic never left certain communities, one of them being my own. As a Black Queer man<\/a>, I recognize the importance of the shoulders I stand on that allowed me to be alive today, living and thriving with the virus. Even more, it serves as a day of unity, sharing, and learning, because if HIV harms one of us, it harms all of us. HIV is truly a civil rights issue, a social justice issue, and will remain one until the day we can stop new transmissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve written eloquently on diverse subject matter ranging from tattoos to afro punk to high literature.\u00a0I believe you\u2019ve referred to your existential quandries as \u201cliving on the edge of Black queerness\u2014what do you mean by that?<\/strong>These facets reveal the totality of what it is to be fully human and fully invested in that. I\u2019m not just a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. I\u2019m not just a journalist, or an HIV and Black LGBTQ activist. I\u2019m not just a person with over 20 tattoos and two degrees. I am all of those things and I don\u2019t allow myself to be solely defined by just one of them. When I write, I want to ensure that people see the full picture of who I am. The good and the bad. The pretty, the ugly, and the ugly pretty. I strive daily to not allow myself to be confounded by stereotypes and boxes that society attempts to dictate my existence. I\u2019m always in a state of becoming, so I live<\/a> my life with that. The certainty of the things I know and uncertainty when I push through boundaries of places I was always fearful of going. I truly know that I am the sum of all parts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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I SIGNED A BOOK DEAL!!!
So thrilled to be with @fsgbooks<\/a> and work with the amazing @GraceKendallLit<\/a>, and my amazing agent @ericsmithrocks<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/fy5xHaVhhS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) April 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

George M Johnson is a Black Queer journalist & activist located in the NY area. He has written for <\/em>Essence, Teen Vogue, VICE, and over 30 National publications. His debut YA novel <\/em>ALL BOYS ARENT BLUE will be released Winter 2020 through FSG<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The post To Be Black Queer and Visible Is To Always Be In A State of Defense: George Johnson on Jussie Smollet<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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To Be Black Queer and Visible Is To Always Be In A State of Defense: George Johnson on Jussie Smollett, Being Queer On HSBCs, and HIV<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n