Transformation_v10.no3.1995.05-06.pdf

Title: Transformation_v10.no3.1995.05-06.pdf
extracted text: Property of the Center

Vol. 10 Issue3
May/June1995

•

INSIDE
Reading List
From The Women's
Project Library
-page3
Can the Federal
Government Be a
Victim?
-page4
Women's Watchcare
Network Bulletin
-page 7
The Rise of Meanspiritedness & the
Gay/Lesbian
Movement
-pageB
NEW!
Women's Project
Calendar
-page6

African-American Women and Youth
Conference: Answering the Call
To Eliminate Violence
Janet Perkins
really had to struggle to write this
article to discuss the upcoming
African-American Women's conference which will focus on violence
in the African-American community.
In March of this year an AfricanAmerican female student was found
murdered in some woods in a small
quiet town here in Arkansas. Two of
her classmates have been arrested as
suspects in her brutal beating. There
has been some speculation that one of
the boys liked her, but the affection
was not returned; she just thought of
him as a friend.
One month and a day later another African-American female student was murdered.
This time the
murder victim, a 15 year old, attended
a junior high school in Little Rock.
Again she had been brutally beaten
and her body dumped in the woods.
So far there are no suspects in this
case.
Both of these young women were
described as being good students, well
liked, involved in extracurricular activities, never a problem to their parents or teachers.
I'mafraidforMaylOorll
tocome.
Is there a pattern being developed
where each month another young female student will die that fits this same
description of being the last girl you
would ever suspect to end up like
this?

Two women in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, a town about 35 miles from Little
Rock, were found murdered in their
homes two weekends in a row in
March. The first victim was 89 years
old, the other 45, no suspects have
been identified in either of these murders.
In one month there were four
crimes which involved the perpetrators kicking in doors at various residences to rob the premises, while the
homeowners were present. In one
case the four suspects kicked in the
door of a young woman while she
slept, and then robbed and raped her.
In another case the intruders had not
counted on the owner of the home
being armed when they kicked in the
door to his home. One of the robbers
was wounded in the exchange of bullets. In all cases the possibility of
someone being home did not matter.
Since January 1995 through our
Women's Watchcare Network, a
project which documents bias acts of
violence and the murders of women,
we have already documented the
murders of 24 women.
For this year I have lost count of
the number of African-American teenage males whose lives have been destroyed through drive-by shootings
or who have been wounded from random bullets. I've lost count of the
number of rapes that have been re(continued on page2)

EliminateViolence
from page 1
ported, and we never get a real sense
of the number of women who are
beaten, because so many of those
acts of violence go unreported.
My struggle and dilemma is like
that of most folks out there, I'm
scared and I don't really know what
to do. A couple of years ago a friend
and I were astonished that a teenager had been killed for his starter
jacket.
At that time both of us lamented
that things had to get better, because they couldn't get any worse.
We were wrong, things have gotten
progessively worse, and there
doesn't appear to be any resolution
in sight.
Fear is healthy when it makes
you more cautious and aware and
motivates you to move into action,
but it also can be paralyzing, debilitating and limiting. This is what I
am concerned about. Am I and
others to the point that we are allowing fear to structure where we
go and who we are willing to talk
to? Is fear determining how far we
are willing to extend ourselves to
work on making changes? Is fear
telling us that our primary concern
must be protecting and arming ourselves and our families? Is fear
moving many of us to think that
more prisons, stiffer penalties for
first offenders, longer sentences and
the death penalty are appropriate
responses to the problems we are
experiencing? Are we so convinced
that there is absolutely nothing that
we can do to tum things around?
There are organizations and individuals diligently working in their
communities to stop the violence
we are unfortunately having to face.
But there still are not enough of us
who are out there saying that we
will not tolerate any kind of violence in our communities. We have

to work together to stop it.
On June 2 and 3, the Women's
Project is sponsoring for the African-American community an event
which is entitled African-American
Women and Youth Conference: Celebrating Our Uniqueness, Respecting Our Roots and Building Bridges
for Tomorrow at the First Presbyterian Church at 800 Scott Street in
Little Rock, Arkansas. At this conference we hope to join other African-Americans in discussions relevant to defining our role in working to eliminate violence in the African-American community.
The conference will be an opportunity for African-American
women, men and children to be
involved in dialogues which
strengthen our abilities to work together toward making changes in
our communities.
The first activity of the conference will be on Friday, June 2, 6:00
p.m. to 8:00 p.m. This will be a
forum for women to discuss Reclaiming Our Self-Esteem. The
evening will be dedicated to African-American women understanding who they are and the barriers
that exist for them growing and
developing to their full potential.
We also will attempt to find answers to why we are so angry at
ourselves and at each other. We
hope that through our discussions
we can begin to peel away some of
the layers of hurt and pain which
have played a role in our estrangement from each other. We want to
be able to leave this gathering with
a desire to see each other in a new
light and have a goal of working
together to set a new direction in
supporting each other in developing whole healthy lives.
OnSaturday,June3, the conference will convene for a day of panel
discussions which will consist of
exploring issues related to the Impact of Domestic Violence on the
BlackCommunity, Violence Against
Page 2 • Transformation• May /June 1995

Women and Men's Responsibility
in Ending the Violence, The Impact
of SocialChange on Intergenerational Issues and Issues Related to Health.
We have divided each of these topics into four discussions which will
help us to bring a variety of views
and information related to each area.
The keynote speaker is Loretta
Ross, the national program research
director for the Atlanta-based Center for Democratic Renewal (CDR).
CDR is a non-profit clearinghouse
for information on hate groups and
bigoted violence including the Ku
Klux Klan. Loretta heads the research and program departments
and directs specific projects on right
wing violence in South Africa and
Klan and neo-Nazi involvement in
anti-abortion violence. Prior to joining the CDR staff, Loretta was program director for the National Black
Women's Health Project and director of Women of Color Programs
for the National Organization for
Women.
Some of the best work I have
seen has been through the use of
music to assist young people in
understanding their history and
culture. We are proud that Jane
Sapp from the Center for Cultural
and Community Development will
be joining us in the conference on
Saturday, June 3, to provide a workshop for youth and a concert on
Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. If
any of you attended the 1990 conference, you will remember Jane's
work and will want to be present to
see her dynamic performance. The
concert will be open to the public.
Tickets will be $5.00.
In Lexington, Mississippi there
is a group of young people who
have collected the histories of the
older people in the community and
have taken all of that information
and developed a play which depicts the lives of the residents of
Lexington. Ann Brown, one of the
organizers of the group will also be

with us at the conference to work
with young people in developing
their community organizing skills
and present various models which
they have used with youth in their
community.
Whenever we sponsor an event,
we also make certain that childcare
is available. Throughout the day on
Saturday we will provide childcare
and have various activities for children. Curtis Tate, a well-known

storyteller, will be with the children
on Saturday morning. After lunch
we will sponsor a visit to the
Children's Museum.
The cost of the conference is
$30.00, which includes the cost of
meals, conference materials, the
concert and a year's membership to
the Women's Project. The cost for
youth attending will be $5.00. If
you need further information or
would like to request a registration

form, please call the Women's
Project at 372-5113.
Hopefully you will be able to
join us at this conference. We must
have the opportunities to have the
conversations which will move us
along in stopping the violence in
our homes and communities. If
African-Americans are going to survive, we must find the strategies to
survive together; women, men and
children making social change. ■

Reading List for African-American Conference
Conversation: Straight Talk with
America's Sister President by
Johnnetta B. Cole.
Dealswith the Devil:And Other Reasons to Riot by Pearl Cleage.
I Know What the Red Clay LooksLike:
The Voiceand Vision of BlackWomen
Writers
by Rebecca Carroll.

NONFICTION

Saving Our Sons: Raising Black
Children in a Turbulent World by
Marita Golden.
Life Notes: Personal Writings By
Contemporary Black Women, edited by Patricia Bell-Scott.
Wild Women Don't WearNo Blues:
BlackWomenWritersonLove,Men,
and Sex,edited by Marita Golden.
Chain Chain Change: For Black
Women in Abusive Relationships
by Evelyn C. White.
In TheCompanyofMy Sisters:Black
Women and Self-Esteem by Julia
A. Boyd.

Testimony:YoungAfrican-Americans
on Self-Discoveryand BlackIdentity,
edited by Natasha Tarpley.

Lynn Frost

Gal:A True Life by Ruthie Bolton.
Skin Deep:WomenWritingonColor,
Culture and Identity, edited by
Elena Featherston.
Court ofAppeal:The BlackCommunity Speaks Out on the Racial and
Sexual Politics of Thomas vs. Hill,
edited by The Black Scholar.
Home Girls: A Back Feminist Anthology,edited by Barbara Smith.
FICTION

Racism 101 by Nikki Giovanni.
Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and
Self-Recoveryby bell hooks.
Double Stitch: Black Women Write
About Mothers & Daughters, edited
by Patricia Bell-Scott et al.
TheBlackWomen'sHealthBook:
Speaking/orOurselves(new expanded edition), edited by Evelyn C. White.
Laughing in the Dark: From Colored
Girl to Woman of Color-A Journey
from Prison to Power by Patrice
Gaines.

Page 3 • Transformation
• May /June 1995

Liliane: A Novel
Shange.

by Ntozake

Ugly Ways and Babyof the Family
by Tina McElroy Ansa.
Coffee Will Make You Black by
April Sinclair.
Crossingthe Mangrove by Maryse
Conde.
Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems
Celebrating Women by Maya
Angelou.
Her Own Placeby Dori Sanders.

Can the FederalGovernment
Amy Edgington
Be a Victim?

T

he shock and horror of the
Oklahoma City bombing
is on the minds of all of us
these days. I have been thinking a
lot about this terrible incident in
light of the Women's Project's work
against hate crimes. This was certainly acrimefullofhatred, but was
it a hate crime? First, let's examine
what we know about hate crimes.
Victims of hate crimes are selected
because of their membership, real
orperceived,inagroupthatishated
and feared as a whole by the criminals. The victimized group has reduced economic and/ or political
power within our society and has a
history of having been persecuted.
Unlike ordinary crimes, hate crimes
are meant to punish and control the
whole group by making an example
of the victim. Hate crimes typically
involve overkill-racist
epithets,
humiliation of the victim, extreme
brutality, mutilation. Hate crimes
don't necessarily occur in large
numbers. Especially if the victimized group is small in number in a
given community or they are extremely disadvantaged, just a few
spectacularly violent crimes serve
as ample enforcement. A climate of
prejudice in society at large against
the group targeted encourages the
hate criminal's actions.
Throughouthistory,hatecrimes
have tended to increase in frequency
whenever members of the target
groups begin to gain real prospects
for increased economic or political
power. An example would be the
increase in lynchings following Reconstruction. (I think this also explains why crimes against women

outnumber all other hate crimes in
our Watchcare Log. Compared to
other hated groups, women have
more numbers and white women
especially have made greater strides

Oklahoma City gives
us a prime example
of the way an atmosphere of hatredand
the officialsanction
of prejudicelead to
violent attacks,in this
case, not against
membersof the hated
groups, but against
those perceivedto be
their defenders.

economically and politically.). The
fact or appearance of official approval of prejudice against the hated
group also foments hate crimes.
Note the increase in gay bashing in
Colorado following the passage of
Amendment 2, which repealed local civil rights ordinances that included protection for gays.
Now back to the Oklahoma City
Page 4 • Transformation• May /June 1995

question. Clearly this crime involved extreme overkill. However,
the target of the bombing was not
an oppressed,
disadvantaged
group, butthe federal government,
the very bastion of power itself. At
least that's what the TV and newspapers keep saying, over and over.
That in itself makes me suspicious.
The bombers appear to be involved
with the right wing militia movement which hates the federal government. But the examination in
the media of WHY these people
hate the government has been all
too shallow. Only their fear of being disarmed has been prominently
mentioned. No one ever seems to
ask the obvious: who are these
people
arming
themselves
AGAINST?
It would not be difficult for reporters to discover and disclose the
fact that most members of these
militiashaveorwelcomethosewho
do have varying mixtures of deeply
held racist, anti-semitic, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-feminist, antiimmigration beliefs, although the
leaders sometimes take pains to disguise this, by using code language
describing themselves as defensive
groups against the" crime wave" or
the "threat to the family," or the
"one-world government" (an idea
that seems to be a re-hash of the
"Jewish world conspiracy" or "Papist Catholics taking over" theories
that were used in the past to justify
hatred of immigrants). Members of
these groups are painted in the
media as mostly ridiculous paranoids or as secret terrorist armies in
the making, but little attention is
given to their actual convictions,
which are shared by much larger
numbers of Americans: that white
Christians are a threatened group,
that white men are "oppressed" by
programs like affirmative action,

that race war is inevitable, that foreigners are taking over America,
that the heterosexual nuclear family is under attack, that the "liberal"
federal government has lost touch
with the "real" America and serves
"special" (minority) interests.
Some information has come to
light recently that links the prime
suspectintheOklahomaCitybombing,McVeigh, with right-wing radicals inside the armed forces, who
are incensed by the Clinton
administration's proposal (not yet
implemented) to allow gays to serve
openly in the military and by the
placement of U.S. troops under foreign U.N. command during U.N.
sanctioned missions to third-world
countries. Right-wing groups are
not new in the armed services, but
their resurgence at this time is undoubtedly linked to both the open
rebellion and contempt of highest
ranking officers towards their commander-in-chief when he ordered
an end to the ban on gays in the
military and to the murders of gay
servicemen by their straight comrades.
While the Oklahoma City bombing is not a typical hate crime, it is
vital to keep in mind the evidence
of hate
that the philosophies
groups and the climate of hatred
and sheer meanness in this country led directly to the commission
of this horrendous act. Every effort
will be made by the media and Congress, especially, to obscure this fact.
Why? Because we might begin to
notice that there is all too little difference between the rhetoric of militia spokesmen about the "oneworld government"
and Jerry
Falwell or Pat Robertson on the
"new world order" and almost no
difference between them and Newt
Gingrich/Dick Armey (love that
name) with their Contract with (or

on?) America, full of code words
like "crime control" and "welfarereform" (read: lazy, immoral Black
folk) and "immigration reform"
(read:" disease-ridden, job-stealing
foreign hordes"), etc. And, of
course, we here in Arkansas know
that Clinton always tries to appease
the right-wing whenever they pose
a challenge to him politically.
Oklahoma City gives us a prime

With

its extensive

resources, the
government already
has the means to
gather a mountain of
information about who
the right-wing
extremists are ... what is
and has always been
missing is the
committment to oppose
the radical right.

example of the way an atmosphere
of hatred and the official sanction
of prejudice lead to violent attacks,
in this case, not against members of
the hated groups, but against those
perceived to be their defenders:
the federal government under the
Clinton administration, which is
continuallycharacterizedbythemilitias, right-wing talk shows and

preachers and most of the Republican majority in Congress as liberal,
soft on crime and immigrants, progay, baby-killers (and then there's
that ball-busting arch femi-nazi,
Hillary).
I expect, dread, and already see
in progress a number of consequences of this atypical crime by
right-wing fanatics:
1) An attempt to downplay and
deflect attention from the true, ultimate targets of hate groups: women,
people of color, foreigners, religious
minorities and gays. You might
think the terror induced by this singular, unprecedented (in this country) attack might give broad insight
into the way isolated instances of
violence can frighten all the members of a group targeted by hate
crimes. But I fear that the effect will
be to de-emphasize the much more
frequent, but widely scattered and
less spectacular crimes against gays
or people of color. While horrific,
the picture we see over and over
again of a dead white baby carried
in the arms of an Oklahoma City
fireman does not represent the usual
victim of a hate crime in the U.S.
Can you imagine a picture of the
Ethiopian man bludgeoned by
skinheads or the Lesbian shot down
in the Appalachians getting this
kind of wide coverage and sympathy?
2) An attempt to blame the
Clinton administration for the outrage felt by violent right wing extremists over the "liberal" federal
government's alleged protection of
immigrants, minorities, gays, abortion clinics, separation of church
and state, the criminal element, etc.
and their so-called persecution of
Christians, white men, the NRA,
etc. I expect to see the right wing
publicly condemn extremist militias, while they eagerly push the
(continuedon page6)

Page 5 • Transformation• May /June 1995

FederalGovernment
from page 5
mean-spirited policies of the Republican Contract, which are a tidy,
legal means of arriving at the same
kind of repressive power and control over the lives of women and
minorities that hate criminals seek.
After all, it's neater and more effective to make people feel like
whipped dogs before anyone raises
a hand against them.
3) A rush by everyone, Clinton
and Congress alike, to enact laws
allowing increased "anti-terrorist"
activities, ostensibly to prevent
crimes like the Oklahoma City
bombing, but in fact primarily
aimed at groups of foreigners in
this country. Did you notice how
quickly the assumption was made
that Middle-Easterners were responsible for this attack? Even now
hints are occasionally dropped
about a possible Arab connection,
and the president drums up support for such laws by stressing his
fears of attack by foreign terrorists,
not domestic militias.
4) An increase in the typical kind
of hate crimes against those of foreign descent or those perceived to
be (potentially anyone with dark
skin or an accent). The official policy
of viewing groups of foreigners as a
threat will undoubtedly encourage
such attacks as well as the legal
chipping away of the human rights
of immigrants and other foreigners
in this country.
Please, think carefully about
how" anti-terrorist" legislation may
be used, especially if we wind up
with a Republican controlled Congress and President. Areourmemories so short in this country? Have
we forgotten the revelations of FBI
activities against Martin Luther
King, Jr. (known for his advocacy of
non-violence) and why these restric-

tions on infiltrating and spying on
domestic groups were enacted in
the first place? We must keep clear
heads in the coming days and fight
those who would attempt to use
our outrage over the Oklahoma City
bombing to trick us into impulsively
supporting legislation that will
probably wind up being used
against groups that work multi-culturally, have progressive agendas
and support civil rights, including
rights for immigrants.
You might think that as a member of an organization that fights
the radical right, I would support
legislation that might enable law
enforcement to stop hate crimes
before they happen. However, I am
convinced that these laws are not
the answer. With its extensive resources the government already has
the means to gather a mountain of
information about who the rightwing extremists are, what they are
thinking, doing, and planning: what
is and has always been missing is
the committmentto oppose the radical right. Even the Women's Project
already has more information on
these people than it can process.
Further laws to restrict access to
weapons and bomb materials might
make a difference in the sheer deadliness of hate crimes and numbers
of victims, but since the attempt to
ban assault weapons is being
blamed for the Oklahoma City
bombing, I don't think we're likely
to see further restrictions. The only
real solution to the problem of hate
crimes is to attack and defeat the
underlyingclimateof social and economic injustice, that gives bitter,
alienated people permission to look
for scapegoats.
That is why
Watchcare is an important part, but
only one part of what we do at the
■
Women's Project.

Amy Edgington is a member of the
Board of Directors of the Women's
Project.

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Transformatio
Published six times a year
by the Women's Project,
2224 Main Street, Little Rock,
Arkansas, 72206.
Phone: 501-372-5113
Letters to the editor are welcome.
Editor
Suzanne Pharr
Art Director Melissa Britton James
Proofreader Denise Dorton

Women's Project Staff:
FeliciaDavidson,Lynn Frost,
JanetPerkins,
Suzanne Pharr
*

Printed on recycled paper.
©1994 The Women's Project

Page 6 • Transformation• May /June 1995

*

Property of the Center

Women's Watchcare Network Bulletin
Suzanne Pharr

May 1995

\

l

Let Us Mourn for Them All ...and Act
This nation is in mourning
for the children (& adults) of the
terrible tragedy of the bombing
in Oklahoma. We are mourning
them as we have never mourned
those whose deaths we engineered in Vietnam, in Nicaragua,
in El Salvador, in Hiroshima, in
Beirut. Here at home, we are
mourning them as we have never
mourned the other thousands of
children who die horrible deaths
daily in this country.
For example, who is mourning the deaths of the young girls
under the age of twenty who were
brutally murdered in Arkansas
since January 1995?
Bald Knob, March 11, 1995
Kenyatta Haynes, 18, was found

handcuffed, bludgeoned to death
with a shovel, and partially submerged in a creek in a remote
wooded area. She was a cheerleader, planning to attend college. Twoofherclassmates,James
Derrick Grubbs, 17, and Donnie
Ray Tempel, 18, were charged
with capital murder and kidnapping.
Hot Springs, February 14, 1995
Jennifer Harper, 17, and Ruby
Britton, 21, two young mothers,
were found strangled and.possibly sexually assaulted in a warehouse.
Little Rock, April 13, 1995
Lakesha Chandler, 13,was killed

by a blow to the head and dragged
into woods where shew as found by
utility workers.
Searcy, April 19, 1995
Carla Willmon, 20, was found in

the trunk of her car. She was a
junior at Harding University.
Scotland, April 25, 1995
Baby, 9 months, was born to Tracy
Rowland, 17, who then wrapped
the baby in towels, threw her into a
fire in a garbage pit; when
Rowland's parents arrived several
hours later, they found the baby
still alive but after being transferred
to Arkansas Children's Hospital, the
infant died. The mother later reported that the pregnancy was the
result of a rape.
Gillett, April 27, 1995
Nikki Raye Muse, 17,was strangled
by hand and possibly sexually
abused. She was a straight-A student and academic award winner.
Willie Davis, 19, has been charged
with capital murder, kidnapping,
aggravated robbery and theft. Willie
Spencer, 16, has been charged as an
adult with kidnapping, aggravated
robbery and theft.
How can any country afford such
destruction of its young?
It is time that we begin caring

for and protecting the lives of children throughout this world as well
as at home. Though the media uses
cases of injury to children to tug at
Page 7 • Transformation• May /June 1995

our heartstrings, the protection
and well-being of children is not a
majorpriorityofthiscountry.
We
harm them each day through our
nation's refusal to provide adequate health care, fair wage employment for teenagers and poor
people, welfare benefits and enforced child support payments to
mothers and children-and
the
refusal to control severely the accessibility of drugs and guns in
this country.
Because our concern for these
children keeps deepening, we
have decided to expand our
Watchcare monitoring to cover
more than bias violence. Beginning April 1, 1995,we began monitoring the murders of boys under
the age of 20 in addition to those
of girls, whether the perpetrators
are youths or adults. We are beginning to ask ourselves if there
could be a possible connection
between the extraordinary numbers of murdered adult women
and the large numbers of murdered children? And the larger
question: what does it mean to
live in a society that is literally
littered with the bodies of women
and children?
We cannot live here with
peace of mind and conscience
without speaking out and taking
action. We ask the same of you.
Please mourn these children and
work for the social change that
brings about a world that nourishes them and their lives.

The Rise of Mean-Spiritedness& the
Gay/LesbianMovement
Suzanne Pharr

I]

or weeks, calls were crisscrossing the country to me:
"You need to know how
people are attacking Melinda on
America Online." It took me awhile
to get around to it, but finally I read
the 112 entries posted about
Melinda Paras, the new executive
director of the National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). Itwas
a daunting and exceedingly depressing task. What bitterness,
what rancor, whatviciousness, vindictiveness, and anger from a small
group of gay men leapt from the
screen. When an occasional voice
offered a few words in Melinda's
defense or identified as a woman or
person of color, then that person
became the object of attack. I'm
new to these on-line postings, and
frankly, it took my breath away to
see so much venom on screen.
This experience made me reflect on the mean-spiritedness that
is on the rise across the country
which expresses itself in attacks
against women, people of color,
Jews, poor people, immigrants, lesbians and gay men. It is carried by
a defensive and aggressive anger
that is infecting even the liberation
movements for various identity
groups. It sometimes seems we are
going to eat each other alive as conflicts erupt along the faultlines that
run along issues of race, gender,
class, and sexual identity.
Consider the attack against
Melinda and NGLTF.
As one of those people who
signed a letter in support of
Melinda, I had to wonder what in

the world could have led to such
outbursts of passion, such vehemence, such shrillness in these online messages that came from" our"
people, not the anti-gay and les-

It sometimesseems
we are goingto eat
each otheralive as
conflictserupt along
the faultinesthat run
along issuesof race,
gender,class,and
sexualidentity.

bian bigots. The primary charges
against Melinda were concerning
her financial management at Shanti,
her Left politics, her not having a
true disability. Yelling '"Commie"
seems strange at this time in history. So Melinda, like many of our
leaders, was at one time a Marxist
and probably still uses some Marxist analysis to good purposes in her
politics. So she worked to defeat
Marcos, a despot-are people suggesting that she should have been
on the side of Marcos? So she is a
female, a woman of color, and her
disability is chronic fatigue-does
Page 8 • Transformation• May /June 1995

this mean she cannot provide leadership in the work against AIDS
along with all the other many issues NGL TF takes on?. As a woman
of color can she not also represent
men and white people? And how
many times must people be told
that no one absconded with any
money at Shanti?
What is really being talked
about here?
Frankly, I think some of this
mini-cyclone circling Melinda is
about fears concerning Melinda
herself (and anger at her) but I believe most of it is about other things
that represent the conflicts taking
hold of this society. I am reminded
of Hillary Clinton and the relentless attacks against her for everything from bad hair styles to powermongering among the mighty.
Hillary is a lightning-rod for the
hatred many people in this country
have against women (especially
smart, liberated ones), against feminists, and against progressive
people.
The same is true for
Melinda: a lightning-rod. Even
Mother Theresa would be having a
hard time these days in either of
their positions because her work
among the poor would be seen as
seditious anti-capitalism, I'm sure,
and her clothes as self-damning
poor taste.
The general mood of many
people in this nation at the moment
is to destroy, not to build. We see
this at every level of society but
nowhere any greater than in the
attack against elected politicalleaders, people who are victims of historic injustice (poor people, women,
people of color, Jews, lesbians and
gay men, etc.), and the leaders of
organizations whose job is to work
on behalf of oppressed people.
The sad truth is that meanspiritedness is being nourished by

talk shows and politicians and is
growing across the nation. After
the 80' s decade of focusing on me,
me, me, during which time we
plunged deeper into debt and economic crisis, there is now a cry for
getting mine, for not getting left
out, no matter who has to be hurt.
The individualism of the 80' s has
run amuck, and the backlash is vicious and coordinated against those
seeking justice and equality for everyone, not just the few. It is a nasty
mood that seeks to attack and destroy anyone who gets in the way
or differs in politics or opinion.
Tragically, this vicious mood
and conflict has taken root in many
of our progressive organizations.
Rather than being united in our
commitment to people-centered liberation politics which stand in opposition to the Right' s agenda, we
find that within our movements we
have people who join in the ranks
of the Right in their political vision
of a world that excludes almost everyone but "people like me."
I would like to think that lesbians and gay men are exempt from
this mean-spiritedness, but unfortunately some of our people are
major proponents of it. Leadership
on the national and local level has
been decimated by angry personal
attacks that allow no quarter for
past mistakes, for redemption, for
change and growth. I believe that
some of our Rightwing attacks come
from within. Let's face it: there are
people who would like to see
NGLTF destroyed if it embraces a
multi-issue approach to social
change.
Within the lesbian/ gay /bi/
transgendered population we have
the same conflicts that exist among
heterosexuals. Despite our dreams
of one movement, we probably
share in common no more than the

experience of homophobia and
varying degrees of discrimination.
We stand in very different places
on all other issues. What we are
beginning to comprehend is that
we are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and
transgendered
people, we are
people of color and white women
and men, we are Republicans and
Democrats, and like the general
population, we have a political Left
and Right and lots of middle ground

Despite our dreams
of one movement,we
probablyshare in
commonno more
than the experiences
of homophobiaand
varyingdegreesof
discrimination.

inbetween. And at this moment,
the Right seems to be in ascendency.
I think we need to face up to the
current political moment and consider that part of the conflict displayed on America Online concerning Melinda and other issues is a
reflection both of the conflict between conservative and progressive politics in general and in particular, of the influence of the Right
on gay and lesbian politics. The
debate is often focused on whether
the gay /lesbian/bi
movement
should be single-issue or multi-issue, and whether we should be conservative or progressive. Butdeeper

within the conflict is the question of
who has worth, who gets a share of
the resources, who gets full participation, a question of queer supremacy (rights for queers alone)
or of democratic participation and
equality for everyone.
NGLTF, along with other progressive organizations, will have to
choose where it will stand in this
conflict.
Here's where I weigh in. I believe in everyone's right to be represented and to have a part in constructing a platform for their issues-but I do not believe one or
two national organizations can represent everyone's concerns. I would
like to see NGLTF to come out
openly as a truly progressive organization that recognizes how discrimination against lesbians and
gay men is intricately connected to
the discrimination against other
groups, how almost everyone in its
constituency brings more than one
issue of discrimination to the table
(homophobia, AIDS-phobia, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, etc.),
how we are all hurt when a nation
scapegoats and disrespects any
groupofpeople,howwemustbuild
allies by supporting each other
through reciprocal work. This focus will give it a solid place to stand
as a liberatory civil rights organization with a varied agenda which
focuses on the many facets of gay/
lesbian/bi/ transgendered lives.
And it will not have to try to serve
lesbians and gay men on the Right.
To have such an organization
does not preclude there being many
other single-issue gay /lesbian/bi
organizations, liberal or conservative. It simply clarifies the work of
one of the national organizations
and gives a framework for our expectations of it. It gives lesbians
and gay men a clear choice. I hope
(continuedon page10)

Page 9 • Transformation• May /June 1995

Mean-Spiritedness
from page 9
NGLTF becomes an openly progressive organization that works to
end violence against our community, to end the AIDS epidemic and
all of the discrimination in its wake,
to bring affordable
and just
healthcare to all our people, to win

The NationalGay
and LesbianTask
Force (NGLTF),along
with other
organizations,will
have to choose where
it will stand in this
conflict.

a civil rights amendment, to end
the practice of racism and sexism in
our organizations and communities, to end discrimination in the
workplace and in the courts and in
social services, to take a committed
place in the effort to bring about
justice and equality for everyone.
And in doing so, I hope it takes the
time to consider the complexity of
every issue and, listening to many
voices, applies complex, thoughtful answers to their solutions.
The leadership for such work
requires the commitment of all of
us who believe in multi-issue politics. It is time to do more than
writing online. It is time to sign up
for the long-term work of libera■
tion.

Women's Project

CALENDAR
for May and June 1995

~~
• Tuesday, May 9
Lesbian Network - 7p.m. - 2224
Main St., Little Rock-Topic: Safe
Sex for Lesbians - presented by
Annette Shead.
• Tuesday, May 23
Lesbian Network - 7p.m. - 2224
Main St., Little Rock-Topic: How
We Might Fight the Right! Get
an idea of how the religious Right
is portraying lesbians and gay
men to your elected officials and
the public by watching the film,
"Hate ...Lies ...& Videotape." Afterwards, discuss ways to empower our-selves and reclaim the
right to define ourselves as
women loving women.
• Friday & Saturday, June 2-3 African-American Women &
Youth Conference (See cover
story for details).
• Tuesday, June 13
Lesbian Network - 7p.m. - 2224
Main St., Little Rock - Topic:
Building Relationships That Last!

What you need to know to maintain long-lasting partnerships.
• Tuesday, June 27
The Lesbian Network will not
meet due to abundance of Gay
Pride Week activities offered by
AGLTF, Spirit Song MCC
Church, DSRA, the Unitarian
Church, Norman Jones and others!

Other Events:
• Thursday, May 18
7p.m. -Julia Boyd, author of Girlfriend To Girlfriend,will present
"Sister Session II" at Pyramid
Gallery & Books, 1308 S. Main
St. in Little Rock. For more information call 372-5824.
• Saturday, June 10
7p.m. to lOp.m. - Daddy & Ruth
Anne's Fish Fry - A benefit for
AIDS Outreach of Arkansas D.S.R.A. Clubhouse, 4521 61st
St., Little Rock. For more information call 372-5543.

There are no programs scheduled for the Women's Coffeehouse! We are looking for a working committee to help
keep the Coffeehouse going. If you can help, call Lynn at
372-5113.

Page 10 • Transformation• May /June 1995

Property of the Cent1::r

Ourgoal is social change or, as the poet Adrienne
Rich writes, "the transformation of the world." We
believe this world can be changed to become a place
of peace and justice for all women.
We take risks in our work; we take unpopular
stands. We work for all women and against all
forms of discrimination and oppression. We believe
that we cannot work for all women and against
sexism unless we also work against racism, classism,
ageism,
anti-Semitism,
heterosexism
and
homophobia. We see the connection among these
oppressions as the context for violence against
women in this society.
We are concerned in particular about issues of

importance to traditionally underrepresented
women: poor women, aged women, women of color,
teenage mothers, lesbians, women in prisons, etc.
All are women who experience discrimination and
violence against their lives.
We are committed to working multi-culturally,
multi-racially, and to making our work and cultural
events accessible to low income women. We believe
that women will not know equality until they know
economic justice.
We believe that a few committed women working
in coalition and in consensus with other women can
make significant change in the quality of life for all
women.

Trans/ ormation
is published six times every year.
In each issue, members and volunteers receive analysis of contemporary issues,
information about Women's Project upcoming events and activities, book reviews, and more.
If you are not a Women's Project member or volunteer and would like to continue
receiving the newsletter, please fill out the membership form on this page.

Current Projects
■

Prison Project

A support and advocacy project for women in prison that provides
support groups for battered women in prison, a prisoner-led AIDS
program and a transportation program for the children of
incarcerated mothers.
■

Women's Watchcare Network

A project to monitor and respond to incidents of racial, religious,
sexual, and anti-gayviolence; and to provide education and strategies
to counter the activities ofhate groups and the Radical Right.
■

The Social Justice Project

Workshops on understanding racism and homophobia and
developing methods to eliminate them; women's economic issues;
organizational development for social change organizations.
■

~ Yes,I wouldliketo join

l:J

the Women'sProject.

Name __________________

_

Address_________________

_

City __________________

_

State______

_

Zip_________

_

Phone/day________________

_

Phone/evening_______________

_

Women and AIDS

A project to develop strategies for working with women and
caregivers around AIDS issues.
■

,------------------7

0 $ 7.50
(low income)

African-American Women's Institute for Social Justice

A project which creates strategies for overcoming the barriers that
hinder African-American women's efforts toward power and selfdetermination.
■ Communications and Events
A newsletter, a lending library, statewide and regional conferences,
and production of women singers, poets and novelists.

0 $ 20
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0 $ 50
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$100

Make checks payable to:
Women's Project
2224 Main Street
Little Rock, AR 72206

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Page 11 • Transformation• May /June 1995

_J

Women's
Project

Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Little Rock, Arkansas
Permit No. 448

2224 Main Street
Little Rock, AR 72206

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

HERLAND
SISTERRES.
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CITYOK 73112

Part of Transformation : v.10:no.3(1995:May/Jun.)