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Wednesday, September 30, 2009
This just in regarding the newly married black gay couple mentioned earlier on loldarian.com.
The internet has been abuzz with pictures from the recent lavish marriage ceremony of popular Minneapolis hairstylist Michael K. Cole and his husband Jamil Smith Cole; and not everyone is throwing rice at the newlyweds.
SOVO's Matt Schafer reports of a very disturbing e-mail circulating on the campus of Morehouse College that is being traced back to Sandra Bradley, an administrative assistant in the office of Morehouse College President Robert Franklin.
The e-mail was sent to Southern Voice after making the rounds through several Fulton County offices, including the following lines from Bradley.
“I can’t believe this wedding. It’s 2 men. They don’t smile in a lot of pictures and they look like a few brothers I’ve seen in the streets looking STRAGHT. Black women can’t get a break, either our men want another man, a white woman (or other nationality that’s light with straight hair), they are locked up in jail or have a “use to be” fatal disease. I’m beginning to believe Eve was a black woman and we Black women are paying for all the world’s sins through her actions (eating the apple)," Bradley wrote.
Vanessa Crites, who does not work at Morehouse, received the email from her partner, who works for Fulton County, and said she was shocked by the comments.
“I almost started to cry. I almost could not believe what I was looking at, and I thought that Dr. Franklin needed to know,” Crites said. “I think she covered all biases, she’s discriminating against gay black men, she’s discriminating against white women, she’s discriminating against people with HIV.”
Crites sent an email to Franklin, which she copied to Southern Voice, to inform him of the situation.
"I am beyond horrified and deeply saddened that a staff member working so closely with you could think that this type of blatant bigotry would be acceptable or tolerated by your offices, especially after your address earlier this year to your student body," she wrote.
You may recall reading a post on loldarian.com in May about a groundbreaking speech given by President Franklin to his student body urging them to "learn more about the outlooks and contributions of gay men." The speech was given on the heels of intense criticism of the homophobic and often violent climate for gay students at Morehouse.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are investigating and will take appropriate and prompt action,” Franklin wrote in an e-mail responding to Crites & Southern Voice for comment.
And if you think the anti-gay comments from Morehouse College employee Sandra Bradley are bad, then you probably don't want to read the comments on this "urban blog" that posted photos of the couple under the headline, "What In The Hell Is Wrong With These Pictures??".
I've given this advice to my heterosexual black sistas before and I'm gonna dish it out again. Stop wasting your energy getting all riled up about something that could never be yours to begin with.
Thanks Ryan, Matt, & Merrick
13 Comments:
Some people are SO sad...I saw these pix and thought that it was nice to see men making that kind of commitment to each other...
September 30, 2009 5:33 PM
This Sandra person is pathetic. She needds to get a clue and realize that she doesn't have a man because of her nasty attitude, not because every man is gay, or wants someone of a different race.
What in the hell is acting or looking straight? That is just ignorant. And I know, that there are some gay people who play into those same types of stereotypes, but it's still sad.
I don't know what she was looking at, but they look like a happy and beautiful couple to me.
Cadence
September 30, 2009 5:48 PM
I have to agree with Cadence. Hmph. It doesn't surprise me that this Sandra woman has her homophobic feelings sent via email. But really MOREHOUSE is just one school with one biased employee...I have yet to look to them FOR ANY SUPPORT.
September 30, 2009 6:33 PM
Since the veil email was sent from Morehouse server and office of the president, let us call Ms. Sandra Bradley and her superiors' and ask exactly what part of this wedding she just can't believe. That's just how I do thangs at The Pulpit!
President's Office
For general office information:
Sandra Bradley
Administrative Assistant
404-215-2645
Fran Phillips-Calhoun
Chief of Staff
404-215-2645
Pia M. Forbes
Executive Communications Writer
404-215-2701
For appointments with the President:
Angela Yarbrough
Executive Scheduler, Administrative Assistant III
404-215-3482
September 30, 2009 10:02 PM
Im just happy for the couple. It feels good to see those pictures and see all the many people involved in the wedding showing their support.
Dont let the actions of these bigots overshadow the happy union of this loving couple. Im sure these evil people are happy to take the shine away from the married couple's moment.
They get no attention from me.
September 30, 2009 10:25 PM
It is sad that she has to hit every negative stereotype there is and put it on this couple. I'm sure its from that pain of not having her own man. Also...she is in Atlanta!!! She lives in the black gay capitol. She did have some observational truths up in there as biased as it was.
September 30, 2009 11:17 PM
"Also...she is in Atlanta!!! She lives in the black gay capitol. She did have some observational truths up in there as biased as it was."
I didn't see any "observational truths" at all in Ms. Sandra's homophobic outburst.
My being a black gay man has absolutely NOTHING to do with the problems some (many?) straight black women have finding and keeping a man.
The problem is with straight black men and the fact that so many of them seem to be falling off a cliff in terms of education, jobs that pay a living wage, etc.
Let me just finish by saying that black men and black women DO NOT OWN EACH OTHER.
October 01, 2009 5:45 AM
Will they be featured on the next Coupled Up, so we can hear the positive side of their story?
October 01, 2009 8:29 AM
@Cash S
I'm working on it.
October 01, 2009 8:42 AM
WOW... CHILD THE WOMEN AT THE HAIR SALON TRIED TO BRING UP THIS WEDDING AND GET ME TO MAKE A NEGATIVE COMMENT ON IT. I SIMPLY SAID ITS THEIR LIFE, THEY MUST BE HAPPY, AND WOULDNT WE ALL WANT TO FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE.
I GUESS THE FEMALES THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DISCUSS THE HAIR AND THE WARDROBE...SORRY LADIES, MY NAME IS NOT ANNA WINTOUR NOR ANDRE LEON TALLEY...
October 01, 2009 9:58 AM
Many people will ask how anyone who works at Morehouse, with all its gay students AND staff, could hold such ignorant views.
Here's how: Ignorance comes from not knowing.
I used to work at Morehouse, IN the President's Office, WITH Sandra Bradley. She was a sweet womyn, a grandmother. We talked about everything.. except my sexuality.
Sandra has been surrounded by Gay men for years. Sadly, none of us were out to her. When I worked there, I had just moved into a new loft, and had boyfriend and ton of bills to take care of.
Just a few years before landing a job in the President's office, I helped lead a media campaign that brought the near-fatal beating of a Morehouse student to the attention of the national media.
Now, as new staff member in the President's Office (I can't believe they even hired me), I could have been setting an example for so many students, but instead I was worried about losing my new job.
This is why being out ALL the time is so important. What we keep, money and jobs, is never worth what we lose in the end.
After a few months a Morehouse, I "came out" on campus and helped support the Gay students association, Safe Space. I wish I would have done more.
I believe that God made me this way, but back then I didn't trust God enough to make a way for me to live in my truth.
But I can testify today that God can do that.. and more. Today, I pray for a spirit of understanding, and courage, at my old job.
October 01, 2009 4:54 PM
I remember seeing him at a Safe Space meeting and then hearing that you left. Thank you for coming to that meeting, I was a nervous, closeted freshman, and you just looked at me and said hello, and that did a LOT to help me loose some of my nerves.
Morehouse is heading in a strange direction, as many gay students are prominent in christian and other campus organizations, but we also have a small contingent of students that are gender ambiguous/more feminine, and they are now the target of efforts by the administration to make them more "appropriate" through dress codes and other less direct forms of oppression. this college has done a lot to encourage my growth as an individual, but as a confused young gay black man, I can't say it has aided me developing into a more confident adult in my sexuality. I have been through a LOT here, and I'm glad to almost be leaving, THAT's FOR SURe
October 02, 2009 1:22 AM
She's bitter because she's lonely....now who's little apple cart is that to pull? Hmmmmm
October 02, 2009 10:25 PM
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