From: HRTF FL Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 16:14:37 EDT Subject: FWD: BARBARA SMITH LETTER-CRITICISM OF MILLENIUM RALLY GROWS AUTHOR/ACTIVIST BARBARA SMITH JOINS CRITICS OF PROPOSED MILLENIUM RALLY; CHALLENGES ORGANIZERS EXCLUSIONARY TACTICS. I want to share my criticisms of the proposed Millennium March on Washington and of the march planners' process of excluding grassroots participation of people of color and other constituencies. It is clear to me at this point in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement's history that we need to prioritize doing organizing where we live. The proposal to carry out co-ordinated simultaneous actions in the fifty state capitals is a much more useful and strategic plan and one that I thoroughly support. Another march on Washington organized by conservative and moderate white forces that have the single-issue agenda of petitioning the establishment to extend a few gay rights, will do little to address the pressing needs of l/g/b/t people of color. We don't simply need gay rights. We need social, political, and economic justice which means at the very least that we need to work with those who have been and continue to be *actively* committed to eradicating racism, sexism, and class oppression as well as homophobia. Elizabeth Birch, executive director, of the Human Rights Campaign, is quoted in the April 17th issue of the WASHINGTON BLADE as stating: "We have not always done our best. We have not always been a good neighbor. But this year, you will see us at the Black Lesbian and Gay Pride weekend and at other major events." Being "a good neighbor" and showing up at Black events is besides the point. What is to the point is the articulation of a serious, anti-racist activist platform that would lay out specific strategic actions for challenging racism both in the society as a whole and within the white l/g/b/t movement. With such a platform HRC would have been one of the first voices we heard when Haitian immigrant Abner Louima was brutalized by the Brooklyn police last summer or when African immigrant Oumar Dia was murdered by a white skinhead in Denver last November. Birch's statements sound frighteningly similar to those made by Ralph Reed and other members of the pseudo-Christian right wing when numerous Black churches were being burned a couple of years ago. Institutionalized white supremacy is hardly a problem of good and bad "neighbors." The BLADE article also cites the e-mail campaign started on March 30th by the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC) which is the other initiator of the Millennium March, to pressure the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to endorse the march without ever seeking the input of the Forum. Perry is quoted in the article as stating, "Ask them to come on board and to endorse the march. Let them know how much we want and need and -expect- their support." The fact that the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum and other people of color were not communicated with from the very beginning when the Millennium March was being conceived, but are now expected to sign on after the fact is the epitome of undemocratic tactics as well as of racism. I believe this is a crucial time for the Forum and all l/g/b/t people of color to stand firm on principle and not to be bought off. We have an opportunity to demonstrate that we demand consistent respect, that we refuse to be tokenized, and are committed to total liberation for all people, not merely to getting a few rights, that is, crumbs from their table. We have a great opportunity to define our movement, to honor our heritage of struggle, and to establish our place in history. I sincerely hope we will take it. In solidarity and struggle, Barbara Smith Albany, New York bsmithco@juno.com Barbara Smith is an Activist, Editor and Publisher. Founder and Publisher Emeritus of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. Smith is currently researching and writing a history of Black lesbians and gays in the U.S. The Kitchen Table Collective's best sellers include: "This Bridge Called My Back", and "Home Girls." Additionally Smith co-edited, "Conditions: Five, The Black Women's Issue" and "All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies." [BLK, BGLLF, HG]