The second-floor ballroom at William Way LGBT Community Center was filled with organized folding chairs in neat rows, a table of light refreshments in the back and a projector screen displaying an image of three black men marching, holding a banner that read “Black Men Loving Black Men Is a Revolutionary Act.”
This was the setting Nov. 2 for Black Genius, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the publication of Philadelphia native Joe Beam’s groundbreaking book, “In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology.” The Counter Narrative Project, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization committed to social justice that advocates for issues impacting black gay men, organized the event, along with cosponsors Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room (where Beam worked for a period of time), Philadelphia Black Pride and The Colours Organization and others.
The event featured an eclectic mix of artistic expression. It began with a drum solo on bongos by well-known drummer Karen Smith of Weez the Peeple. The impressive performance was followed by poetry readings, one of which featured Ruja Ballard. A talented young poet, Ballard is part of the Philly Youth Poetry Movement.
“I feel like there’s so many people that need to know about this, need to know about what’s going on here,” Ballard said. “It’s an amazing journey to just be here and experience what everyone else is experiencing.”
The poetry reading was followed by an insightful panel discussion by William Way executive director Chris Bartlett; Tyrone Smith, a community activist and friend of the late Beam; the Rev. Jeffrey A. Haskins of the Unity Fellowship Christ Church of Philadelphia; and community activist Sharon Cooks.
The keynote speaker for the night was acclaimed science-fiction writer and former Temple University professor Samuel R. Delaney, whose work was among those featured in Beam’s book.
Dr. Kevin M. Moseby, a sociology professor at Drexel University, was eager to hear Delaney speak.
“Well, for me, [the event] meant a space to celebrate with others how important Joseph Beam’s work was, and also it was a thrill to me to be in the same room as another great black American gay writer-intellectual as Samuel Delaney,” Moseby said, “and to see how the work that had been so meaningful to me as a graduate student decades ago really affects so many others in a very similar way — as being a place for a confirmation of who you are and who we are is OK. It was just a really special moment for me.”
Bartlett echoed Moseby’s words and added that, in addition to celebrating the groundbreaking writer and his work, the event was also a way to explore current events through the lens of history.
“In the light of LGBT-community racism and the conversation that is going on in the community, [a goal was] to show that all these problems existed 30 years ago and Joe Beam and the writers he invited to contribute to ‘In The Life’ were already thinking about what needed to be done.
Bartlett added that he hopes the event “created some new lovers of Joe Beam and lovers of his book and that through buying the book, reading the book [and] talking about the book with their friends, they’ll get new tools and new ideas for how to confront racism in the LGBT community and also how to build strong black LGBT communities. There’s no one who tells us how to do that better than Joe Beam.”