Old School New Kid 32
“School Daze” Recently, a group of my classmates was in a meeting, planning for our 50th high school class reunion. As we reminisced, the subject turned to high school crushes. For the first time, without naming names, I shared my own crush. To a certain extent, times have changed due to the greater [...]
HartStrings 15
“Piano in the Background” Guest Writer: Bishop Hartsel Clifton Shirley Aaron Bridgers was once called one of the “last remaining links with the sophisticated, elegant musical world of Duke Ellington and his collaborator Billy Strayhorn.” Sophisticated and elegant he was. Born January 10, 1918, in Winston-Salem, Bridgers grew up studying classical piano, having an affinity [...]
That Black Force of Nature
Essex Hemphill. That groundbreaking, uber-talented, and openly and unabashedly gay/SGL (same gender loving) African-American poet and author—truly was a force of nature. Ahead of his time, Mr. Hemphill blazed the way for talents including James Earl Hardy, E. Lynn Harris… …And myself. Today is the birthday of this sensational scrivener. Therefore, I pay homage to this [...]
No Means…NO! April Is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM)
I’ve made it my ongoing–and fervent–mission to continue to shine a bright light on a certain demoralizing, insidious and horrific cycle of behavior that continues to be a growing concern within the LGBTQ Community. This dysfunctional and potentially life-threatening syndrome is Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPV/A), which is domestic violence and abuse within the LGBTQ community. Often, [...]
Old School New Kid 31
“To Thine Own Self: Darrell Lives His Truth” For all of you who have been following my column, you have seen both the book cover and read an excerpt of To Thine Own Self, to be released later this year. As we LGBT/SGL brothas know, coming out isn’t a finite event. It is an ongoing [...]
mr. Pam—Savvy, Award-Winning & Celebrated Filmmaker
Mark the date: Saturday, March 12! That’s the return date of WYATT!— the engaging, thought-provoking, and scintillating radio show! WYATT! does a deep dive into those timely and critical issues that impact Gay/SGL (Same-Gender-Loving) men with a diverse set of LGBTQ movers, shakers, and change agents. The podcast is absorbing, informative, provocative…and sprinkled with sly, spicy [...]
The “Bootylicious” Condom
Intense strokin’--with no worryin’! The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved a condom for use during anal intercourse for the first time. Now, this doesn’t mean that a new prophylactic has been created specifically for this use; rather, an existing condom can be marketed as reducing one’s risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during anal sex. Late last month, [...]
Old School New Kid 30
“Still in Love with You” What we give is what we receive. As those of you who check out my column know, I am all about Black Love, and my favorite recreational reading is romance novels. It thrilled my heart when I came across love stories written by LGBT/SGL authors such as E. [...]