Act Now! Stand With Atlanta's LGBT Community!

From time to time we are compelled to stand up for what is right and condemn what is wrong. Swirl is a committed ally of the LGBT community. Therefore we felt compelled to voice our outrage about the recent Atlanta Police Department raid of the Atlanta Eagle, a long-standing LGBT establishment in the Atlanta community.

Dear Citizens:

As directors of the Atlanta and Philadelphia chapters of Swirl Inc, a national multi-racial organization focused on challenging notions of race through community building, education and action, we are outraged by the Atlanta Police Department's raid of the Atlanta Eagle on September 10, 2009. We are troubled by the lack of transparency from City Government and Law Enforcement, as there has been little clarity about the charges filed against the owners of the Eagle or those who were arrested.

While Atlanta's neighborhood communities are overcome with fear of armed robberies, home burglaries, carjackings (all of which have also befallen at least 3 elected officials and political candidates) and lack of sufficient neighborhood police patrols, Vice was able to dedicate resources to organizing a raid on The Atlanta Eagle, one of Atlanta's longest standing LGBT establishments. We question the priorities and motivation behind the raid of the Eagle.

Officer Danni Lynn Harris, The Atlanta Police Department's Liaison to the LGBT community, has received a significant number of complaints from who suffered verbal abuse with "anti-gay overtones" as well as several racially tinged remarks. Due to the overwhelming response and complaints resulting from the raid, Officer Harris believes that the vice squad's behavior warrants an internal investigation, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. However, she also stated that this may be the kind of situation that blows up before all facts are known. We are incredibly concerned about the breakdown in communication between the Vice and Officer Harris. As the LGBT community's liaison, it is troubling that she appears to be so unaware of the actions that were planned to take place at The Eagle. We, along with others, add our voices to the chorus urging the Atlanta Police Department to conduct a timely and thorough investigation, as well as ensure that the complaints prompted by this raid are adequately vetted to rule out malice or homophobic motivations before moving forward.

Attorney Allen Begner, who has stepped forward to represent The Eagle, has expressed that patrons' rights were likely further violated when the Atlanta Police Department searched patrons multiple times. A head count found that there were 70 people present at The Eagle, 8 of which were staff members. Patrons were made to lay face down on the floor for over an hour while APD searched each person individually, yet officers did not recover any weapons or drugs. On anyone! When this search turned up nothing, APD insisted on running every individual's IDs, all the while using disrespectful language and acting with pure intimidation, instilling of fear, and reckless procedure. This behavior, including APD's alleged use of derogatory language in regards to multiple minority communities including LGBT and racial minorities, is unacceptable and disturbing.

Members of the LGBT community continue to live in fear of violence and persecution in our city and countless other cities throughout this nation. We are once again forced to highlight the injustices perpetrated against a community by the same law enforcement personnel who are sworn to protect one and all. Our energies need to be combined to ensure that all communities receive adequate protection of the law, not from it. This incident underscores the need for robust hate crimes legislation in Georgia and for legislators to take more deliberate steps to guaranty equal protection under the law for the LGBT community. Guarantying civil rights protections for only some of us undermines and erodes the foundation of civil rights for us all, a principle that guides Swirl's very mission.

Finally, we applaud the growing list of Atlanta politicians calling for a thorough and transparent investigation including City Council members/candidates and Mayoral candidates Alex Wan, Kyle Keyser, Lisa Borders, Kasim Reed, Mary Norwood, Kwanza Hall and many more. We would especially like to commend Shelitha Robertson and Miguel Gallegos, candidates running for City Council, for their swift actions to ensure the immediate release of the 6 Eagle staff members who remained in custody. We hope to continue to see their steadfast dedication to standing up against injustice in all communities.

It is imperative that we impress upon Atlanta law enforcement and elected officials that their actions are unacceptable. Please join us in raising our voices against prejudice and injustice:

• Call Richard J. Pennington, Chief of Police at 404.546.6839
• Call Officer Dani Lynn Harris, LGBT Liaison for the Atlanta PD at 404.695.7408. Her mission is to “improve the relationship between the GLBT community and the Atlanta Police Department.”
• Call Shirley Franklin, Mayor of Atlanta at 404.330.6100
• Donate to Georgia Equality, the political and advocacy voice of Georgia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens and their allies. No donation is to small!

In unity,

Jennifer Bhagia, SwirlAtlanta
Kathrin P. Ivanovic, SwirlPhilly
Swirl Inc Homepage

l.b.j.

Really Creative Loafing??

I came across the photo above a few weeks ago via Creative Loafing Atlanta's twitter feed. I missed the Latino Festival and was excited to see that the Festival had been chosen as my favorite alt-weekly's photo feature. I eagerly clicked on the link, waiting for the page to load. Except, when it did, I (seriously) had a physical reaction to the photo. I jumped back, like huh??

It made me uncomfortable and I couldn't explain it right away. Heck, I've been to plenty of Latin festivals, dance clubs, parties - my stepdad is in a salsa band! I've seen it all. But there was something about this picture paired with this happy little caption:

"Music, food, dancing and cultural pride was the order of the day at the annual FREE Festival Peachtree Latino, which took over Underground Atlanta and surrounding streets on Sunday, August 23, 2009"

that irked the hell out of me. Even still, I retweeted the link saying only something along the lines of "Really CL? Is this a joke? THIS is the picture you chose?" I let it go after that. The day went on, my annoyance wore off and I nearly forgot about it. Until I received this:

1. cl_atlantaHey! Thanks for the feedback on the pic, the edit staff felt it was strong and provocative, which is what we aimed for....8:08 PM Aug 26th

cl_atlanta...and we certainly run provocative photos of people of all races. Your criticism is valid, tho so thanx for sharing it!8:10 PM Aug 26th

Now, presumably, this was supposed to make me feel better and model good customer service. Except after reading it, I became increasingly more annoyed. There was something about "provocative photos of all races" that just didn't sit well. Did I criticize the photo for being racist? No. Did I mention race? No. Wait, did i even explain why I thought it was a poor choice? No. All I had said was THIS photo, CL? Really? But the assumption was made anyway, simply because the photo is of an ethnic minority. Now don't get me wrong, the racial implications of such language paired with a photo, reducing our "cultural pride" to this image truly bothered me. But beyond that, I felt violated as a woman! I opened the image to find anonymous female bodies, close up.. very sexualized. This was the highlight of the entire day's worth of festival happenings?

I don't buy it. But, I also know that when you are inundated with conversations surrounding -isms, your filter can become sensitive. Was I overreacting? I put the questions to my Tweeting Latinos and allies- @SofiaQuintero, @Mami2Mommy, @blogdiva, @ChrisMacDen to name a few. The response was the same. "THIS is what they think of us?" they all said in various ways. I received maybe two out of 20+ responses that didn't think the photo was a big deal one way or the other. But still, an overwhelming majority (of my self admittedly-completely-unscientific poll) felt uncomfortable with the image. Doesn't that mean something?.. I've never felt compelled to write a letter to the editor, but I took that step forward and I'm glad I did.

Below, you'll find the text that I submitted to Creative Loafing, which has also been printed in this week's issue, Sept. 2-8, 2009. I'd love to know your thought and feelings about it!

I am writing to request that you change or delete Joeff Davis' Photo of the Day from the Underground Latino Festival. The photo is extremely offensive especially when labeled as an image of Latinos celebrating their "cultural pride." I've looked through the gallery and several images are quite striking, as well as better representations of our culture and community.

Not only is the current image offensive to me as a Latina, battling stereotypes of being hyper-sexualized and feisty-tempered, but as a woman. The image succeeded only in creating anonymous female bodies, co-signing the longstanding dehumanization and objectification of women and minorities. (Please see The Hottentot Venus for context.)

As I told the person that handles your twitter feed, I do appreciate the acknowledgemnt. But to then suggest that you paper runs "provocative" photos of all races belittles my critique and ignores the fact that the decision to run this photo as the face of the event falls squarely into supporting the status quo of stereotyped portrayals of minority communities. Doing it to all communities only means you equally offend all communities, not that you are absolved of any unfairness.

I am not asking that the photos be hidden or that a photographer "lie" with is camera. I recognize that these are images of true happenings. But as a photographer myself, I know that the photographer's responsibility lies in framing the picture, including and omitting facets of reality as they are perceived. Your photographer, and editorial staff's, decision to run with this photo shows a misstep in awareness of the struggle minorities face to be seen fairly, fully, and outside of the typical negative stereotypes.

I do not aim to accuse anyone of racism, your staff nor Joeff Davis. However, what I hope to convey is that this image was a poor decision for which your paper should take responsibility.You can see my twitter feed to see some of the comments that I have received in response to the photo. I mention it only to illustrate that our community, and allies of our community, do feel similarly to what I am describing here, even if they do not choose to address you formally. Some people just don't have the energy. My only aim is to create awareness and a heightened sense of responsibility to the diversity of your readership.

I appreciate your time and hope to continue this dialogue. I would love to work with CL in leading discussions regarding media representations of minority communities.

lbj

Farewell Michael...

There are too many emotions with MJ's passing yesterday. Many of us have never known life without Michael - 45 yrs of a musical legacy. He provided the soundtrack of my life. Every single song conjures a vivid, powerful memory and fond emotion, all the way back to my earliest days.

Michael gave us his life through his music. There's no question he was a troubled man, but let us remember all that he gave us. Michael PROVED that meaningful, positive, political music could be succesful, powerful. He was the definition of a humanitarian.

Celebrate Michael today and always. If you're not dancing, you're not doing it right. I'll leave this post with a teary farewell and some pics of MJ at his best.

Michael J. Jackson August 29, 1958-June 25, 2009.

King of Pop, Always.

Atlanta Celebrates Daughter's Day!

This Saturday June 6th, Atlantic Station here in downtown Atlanta, will host the Imagination Celebration! Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall will join us to proclaim it officially Daughter's Day. This is a FREE event featuring free pancakes from Young Chef's Academy, Bubble Tricks from The Georgia Bubbleman, hair styling from Salon Red Kids, relay races, story time, face painting and MUCH more! Best of all, it's ALL FREE! Pancakes start at 9:15 and the first 200 people in line will get get into the advanced screening of IMAGINE THAT! Hope to see you all there!

California can kiss my....

Yesterday, California insulted the country again with their ruling on Proposition 8 and made Iowa even more desirable than I ever imagined it would be. Anyhoo, The Cam Dean and I headed over to Piedmont Park to add our voices of dissent at a protest organized by our friends at GLBTAtl.org. The turnout was fantastic and Cam had a great time. Several media outlets were there as well, and guess who got their picture taken! That Cam... ;-)

This picture courtesy of www.projectqatlanta.com

Cameron Lewis, 3, and his mother Jennifer Bhagia, 28, joined the rally. Bhagia says that because she is biracial, she feel a responsibility to support the cause with her son. "There was a time when my parents couldn't get married," Bhagia said. ELISSA EUBANKS/EEUBANKS@AJC.com (Courtesy of AJC.com)

Also, please take the time to check out GLBTAtl.org and their "My Two Cents" Campaign! This fight is far from over-it's just the beginning! Gay, Straight, Black or White, Marriage is a Civil Right.

Pictures worth millions of words..

Everytime I try to put into words my thoughts and feelings around President Barack Obama, and now Sonia Sotomayor, my words fail me and feel clumsy... But then I see pictures like this and remember that pictures are worth a thousand words. THIS is what Barack Obama, and Sonia Sotomayor, means to me..

"President Barack Obama bends over so the son of a White House staff member can pat his head during a family visit to the Oval Office May 8, 2009. The youngster wanted to see if the President's haircut felt like his own. "(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

I imagine the differences I may have experienced in my life if these role models were readily available to me as a child. I imagine how my son's reality will be so far from my own, and how mine has progressed from my mother's. 

I think of my mother, a Puerto Riquena growing up in the projects of the South Bronx, and her dreams to be a lawyer someday. Racism, sexism, family responsibility and socio-economic restrictions kept her from that dream, but what if there had been a "Sonia Sotomayor" for her to look up to then? Furthermore, it is not unlikely that two Puerto Rican girls in 1960's South Bronx crossed each other's paths.... Still, from the South Bronx to the Supreme Court is a rarity, and that's no coincidence. Socio-economically disadvantaged minorities, especially Latinos with their strict gender roles and expectations of conformity- that's a tough cycle to break out of. But I don't have the energy to break that down right now. You know what I'm talking about..

The tears that escaped me yesterday during Sotomayor's nomination, and throughout the 2008 election cycle, culminating in the election of our first self-identified Black president of mixed heritage, were a realization that for the entirety of my life, I've never felt connected. I've always identified(privately) as an American, but it was never a great source of pride for me. It was just a fact. 

Moments, and photos, like these make me feel the weight of American-ness and I see myself in the reflection of a little boy. A little boy realizing the President is just like him.....

(Hat tip to Mixed Race America and Anti-Racist Parent)

Tongue Tied...

I started this blog as a means to speak my mind. This was to be an opportunity to get to know myself as well as be more outspoken. Yet, I sit down and stare at the screen and the words never get written. I have a lot to say. I just don't know where to begin most of the time.

Writing is not something I've ever enjoyed but as time goes on, I realize that when I force myself to put it out there I feel infinitely better. But there is a certain vulnerability in truth, in honesty-in putting it out there. I mean, what if you read it?? 

I tried several names for a blog before settling on little brown jen. I've always been terrible at naming things. The names I pick always tend to be really boring or only make sense to me, which in turn, is really boring. But little brown jen stuck. It is my most basic descriptor. Beyond that it's how I relate to the world and how the world relates to me. When I walk out of my house, I am one person, seemingly small, in a vast city, state, country, world. And walking around this world, my brownness defines me. It includes me with some, excludes me from other, makes me "interesting" to the rest.. But at the end of the day, in my world, in my skin, I'm jen. 

In this space, I'll work to bring the world closer to me and make myself closer to the world. I hope to explore my brownness-what it means and what it doesn't mean, if anything.. And all the rest of the things that make me jen....