M.Adams' "Ferguson to Madison: A Black Queer Synopsis"

[jesse_the_k]

M. Adams, writing in Madison's free LGBTQIA monthly "our lives," offers three great reasons why Ferguson (as well as the police murders before and after) demand a response from queer people: Ferguson to Madison: A Black Queer Synopsis

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1. Anytime there is an issue of body safety and the right to live free of violence, it is a queer issue. The murders of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Tarika Wilson, and Aiyana Jones are all the result of historical, cultural, and systemic violence against Black bodies, in these cases by the police, that devalue and dehumanize Black folks.
[... snip ...]
2. Anytime there is an issue of gender performance or presentation, we queer folks must undertake it as our own. Though it may not be explicitly stated, many of the Black men killed have been thought of as being overly masculine or hypermasculine, and therefore aggressive. The dress and demeanor of Black men is also made criminal, and that is seen as warranting their murders or policing.
[... snip ...]
3. Queer people are Black, too. Perhaps this is the most obvious of the points, but it is worth stating. All queer folks have race, class–identities. None of us stop being any of these other identities and exist only as queer.

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Such excellent combination of eye-witness politics and theory that's easy to follow. Go read the whole thing!