Subject: SF celebration of Simon Nkoli's life and work
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 02:24:27 EST

Simon Nkoli's Life to be Celebrated

A celebration of Simon Nkoli's life and activism will be held this Saturday,
December 12, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the Metropolitan Community Church on
Eureka Street.  Nkoli passed away due to complications from AIDS on November
30 in South Africa at the age of 41.  As a black openly gay activist he had
been wrongfully imprisoned for trumped treason charges against the apartheid
regime in power in the 1970's.  Ad hoc committees dedicated to pressuring the
government to release Nkoli were established around the world, and eventually
he was freed.

Confirmed speakers for Saturday's service include Blackberri, singer and
composer; 
Jewelle Gomez, longtime writer; Rev. Penny Nixon, minister in Africa; Michael
Petrelis, community activist.  Members of the community are invited to attend
and speak about their memories of Nkoli, and to honor a comrade on the other
side of the world who passionately linked the struggles against racism,
homophobia and corporate greed.

Supervisor Tom Ammiano adjourned the San Francisco Board of Supervisor's
weekly meeting on December 7 in memoriam to Nkoli.

Upon his release, he co-founded the Gay & Lesbian Organization of
Witwatersrand, an advocacy organization, and the Township AIDS Project, a
community based service association, which were among the first groups of
their kind in Africa.  Nkoli was also on the board of the International
Lesbian & Gay Association, which coordinated a global campaign to make his
case a cause celebre.  He leaves behind a worldwide black and queer family.

  -30-

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 17:16:53 EST
Subject: San Francisco service for Simon Nkoli

A Circle for Simon
by Michael Petrelis

December 12, 1998

Almost two dozen people attended a memorial service today at San Francisco's 
Metropolitan Community Church for South African activist Simon Nkoli.  

Tommi Avicolli Mecca, a gay white man, served as facilitator.  He spoke about 
interviewing Simon when he passed through Philadelphia on his American tour,
after he was released from jail, and how he felt he was talking to an
unassuming living legend.  Tommi also read a statement from the SF Board of
Supervisors in honor of Simon.

"This is to inform you that, upon motion made by Supervisor Tom Ammiano, the
Board of Supervisors adjourned its regular meeting of December 7, 1988 out of
respect to the memory of Simon Tseki Nkoli.

"The members of the Board, with a profound sense of civic and personal loss,
are 
conscious of the many fine qualities of heart and mind which distinguished and
brought justifiable appreciation to Mr. Nkoli.

"The Supervisors realize that mere words can mean so little to you at a time
such as this, but they do want you and the members of Mr. Nkoli's family to
know of their deep sympathy and heartfelt condolence."

The next speaker was black lesbian author Jewelle Gomez, whose sniffles from a
cold gave the proceedings a sense of sadness.  She asked us to bring up
Simon's name in the next few weeks when we are with family friends for the
holidays; be it Kwaanza, Hanukkah or Christmas, mention Simon.  Gomez never
thought she'd see Nelson Mandela walking free, or an out of the closet gay
black South African.  And yet, she witnessed Mandela's release and Simon's
advocacy and bravery.  She closed by reading an Arthur T. Wilson poem from the
book "Other Countries," in which love among black gay males is honored and
celebrated.

Yours truly, a gay white activist, was the next speaker and I recalled writing
letters in the 1980's demanding Simon's release.  I expected Simon would have
carried a grudge, to say the least, after his unjust imprisonment.  But when I
met him at the International Lesbian & Gay Association conference in
Stockholm, he was upbeat and seemed to have no time for anger and resentment.
I finished by reminding us Simon died of AIDS and that the AIDS epidemic is
far from over, either here in the US or in Africa.

Blackberri,  a black gay male singer, then sang a song, which we all joined in
on, to remember Simon and his decades of hard political work.
"I know that things are tough,
I know that the going can get rough,
Oh people, don't give up,
Because victory will be yours one day."
Blackberri recalled meeting Simon and feeling overwhelmed by his spirit and
message to him.  "The struggle continues," he said.

The Rev. Penny Nixon, a white lesbian, then talked about what Simon, whom she
had unfortunately never met, meant to her.  Having served in Africa and
observing the closet there firsthand, she especially admired Simon's courage
and dedication to be out of the closet in a part of the world that is hostile
to gays.  Nixon said Simon's spirit lives on in us, even though AIDS took him
too soon from us and our global struggle.

Individual audience members, whose names I didn't catch, then spoke about
Simon.  The first was a black gay man from San Jose who met Simon at a Black
and White Men Together conference in Washington, DC, where Simon was the
featured speaker.  "I liked his politics, but his winning smile really made me
love him," he said.  "Simon made possible the linking of oppressions and his
convictions for equality for all peoples was explicit."

The second audience member to talk, a white gay man from South Africa, said
Simon's gay advocacy in the 1970's and 1980's laid the groundwork for
developments like the inclusion of protections for gays in the South African
constitution and the way straight black leaders, in particular Archbishop
Desmond Tutu now speak out against anti-gay violence.  Tutu apparently was in
the US soon after Matthew Shepard was murdered and Tutu vehemently condemned
the killing.  

The final speaker was a white gay male volunteer with the church, who pointed
out 
Simon's anger was directed at injustice, his cheerfulness was overwhelming and
nothing deterred him from his work.  "If Simon could be here with us he would
say, 'The struggle is not over,'" he said.

This circle of love and remembrance for Simon took place under a large black
and white photo of Simon, taken by white gay photographer Rick Gerharter when
Simon was last in San Francisco.  It's a head shot of Simon, and his beaming
face of joy captivates your eyes.  It was a most appropriate image to bless us
during our service to Simon.

>end<