Black History Month – James Baldwin

Baldwin’s early years were deeply troubled. At home, he was terrorized by an abusive stepfather; outside the home, he was taunted by his peers because of his diminutive stature and effeminate mannerisms. As an adolescent, he sought refuge in the church, and after an emotionally charged spiritual conversion, he became at age fourteen a minister who regularly preached at evangelical churches in and near Harlem. As a young adult, he held a variety of odd jobs: He was at times a railroad construction worker, waiter, busboy, and elevator operator. It was during this time that he began to write seriously, beginning with book reviews and essays.

During his young adulthood, he also became fully aware of the implications of being black in America. Everyday exposure to racism left him deeply wounded. His increasing consciousness of his homosexuality added to his pain and confusion. To escape what he felt was impending madness, he left for Paris in 1948 with forty dollars in his pocket and no knowledge of French. In France, where he would spend the better part of his remaining years, he became a professional writer.

A prolific artist, Baldwin published twenty-two books during a career that lasted nearly forty years; he wrote formal essays, fiction, drama, and poetry. In his early collections of elegantly written essays–such as Notes of a Native Son (1955) and Nobody Knows My Name (1961)–he combined autobiography with trenchant cultural analysis to create brilliant critiques of American race relations.

Read more about James Baldwin at: GLBTQ.com!

Ganymede: Gay Men’s Quarterly # 6 OUT Now!

Issue 6 can be purchased or downloaded here.



Jason Shaw, Brighton, England!
The Seafront Diaries

New York’s Gay Art/Lit Quarterly Out Again!

NLGJA Selects Students for 2009 National Convention Project

The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) announced today the eight undergraduate and graduate journalism students who have been selected to participate in a week-long, intensive journalism education program in Montreal, Canada, this September.

NLGJA’s Student Project is held in conjunction with the association’s 2009 National Convention & 6th Annual LGBT Media Summit, which will take place Sept. 10-13, 2009.

Within a fully integrated newsroom environment, the student participants will work with seasoned journalists to conceive, create and develop stories flowing from panel discussions and presentations at the convention and summit, and also cover larger societal issues and topics relevant to the city of Montreal and the greater LGBT community. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to build their professional networks.

“These eight student leaders are examples of the bright future of journalism, and we are pleased they will join their soon-to-be peers to learn and grow in a real-world setting,” said Michael Tune, NLGJA’s managing director. “They will gain hands-on experience with accomplished mentors in the field. They will also get to meet nationally prominent journals presenting in Montreal and build relationships that can serve them throughout their promising careers.”

The 2009 Student Project participants are:

* Adam Griffiths of Kent State University, who has been editor in chief/art director of KSU’s Fusion magazine since January 2008. His professional newsroom experience includes Harper’s Bazaar UK, Cleveland Magazine and The Washington Post. He is majoring in visual journalism and minoring in LGBT studies.

* Jared Grigsby, a journalism graduate student at Ball State University. This will be Jared’s second year in the National Convention Student Project. He recently completed a summer internship with the Associated Press in San Francisco.

* Ryan McLendon, a journalism graduate student at New York University. He is a Fulbright Commission Scholarship awardee and the most recent winner of NLGJA’s Leroy F. Aarons Scholarship, which provides up to $5,000 in tuition funding to an outstanding LGBT student planning a career in journalism. His professional experience includes CNN, The Village Voice and CityBeat, an alternative weekly in Cincinnati.

* Blair Mishleau of Columbia College Chicago, pursuing an interdisciplinary major involving Interactive Arts & Media and journalism, with a minor degree in American Sign Language. Blair interned with Tribune Interactive.

* David Reinbold of The Pennsylvania State University, pursuing a BA in print journalism and returning to NLGJA’s Student Project for the second year. He has served as a copy editing intern with the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund (The Charleston Gazette) and the Centre Daily Times.

* Mandi Rice, studying comparative languages and linguistics and minoring in journalism at Earlham College. Among other newsroom experience, she was a multimedia intern with The Palladium Item in Richmond, Ind. This is Mandi’s second year with NLGJA’s Student Project.

* Anthony Williams of the University of Texas at Arlington, majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in Spanish. He interned with The Observer (LaGrande, Ore.) and the Houston Chronicle. He was the fall 2008 president of the UT Arlington chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

* Lauren Wright, a visual communications major at Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga., who is returning to the project for the second year. She has served in a variety of editorial positions the student newspaper and currently serves as a graphic designer in the school’s public relations department.

About the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association

NLGJA is an organization of journalists, media professionals, educators and students working from within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBT issues. NLGJA opposes all forms of workplace bias and provides professional development to its members.

Ryan Field Speaks to GA on BlogTalkRadio

Ryan Field is an openly gay author that has been a published romance writer for the past fifteen years.  Some of his more popular reads include “An Officer and His Gentlemen” and “American Star”.

Critics have said Fields writing is “sweet escapism” and they are “impressed with the quality” of his writing.

Join us each Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. EST on BlogTalkRadio (click here) as your host James Hipps talks about news and issues that affect the LGBT and beyond.  What’s your agenda?

If you missed this week’s show, you can listen to it below!

Find out more about Ryan Field by clicking here!

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