The Beauty Of Black Women

I'm the one responsible for getting Washington, D.C. filmmaker/writer Michelle Parkerson's article appreciating the beauty of black women in the New American (formerly the Black American), a weekly newspaper, where I worked as a proofreader and copy editor. I edited out of the manuscript* she sent me all references to her girlfriend and the word "lesbian"  because of the paper's past homophobia. I gave the piece to Mayo, the art director, who had it typed and pasted up for the printer.

 Mrs. Offord, the office manager and wife of the owner, was upset that we hadn't cleared it with her. I immediately pointed out that  Parkerson was a good writer, she reluctantly agreed. So even though I tried to camouflage the homoerotic aspects of the article, the lesbian  slant was still there, between the lines.

My goal was to see how successful I'd be in slipping in subliminally gay content. Parkerson became a Trojan horse.

The following is the brief article by Michelle Parkerson that ran in the New American (April 25-May 1, 1991):

An Open Letter To African Women Everywhere

I confess.

Last night, I was mesmerized by the September issue of Essence. The pages overflowed with vibrant images of sisters with everything on the ball and all of their clothes on. Each one varied in skin shade or circumstance, but everyone of them was gorgeous and giving it to the camera. I flipped through the photos, feasting on our particular beauty: dark and fair, dread and silky, abundant, angular, Black.

Undoubtedly, women of color are God's most fascinating creation. And undoubtedly, we are the most impoverished. I thrive on the fierceness, the borrowed magic that sustains us through generations of adversity. I know the future belongs to us.

We are the lineage of African women who lavished in their own brilliance, women who struggle now  on every frontline. When Black women come together and touch, it is a measure of bravery, a testament to the distance traveled.


*Note: I believe Parkerson originally submitted this manuscript to me for inclusion in the black gay and lesbian supplement I guest edited for the New York Native in 1984.

Stealth Lesbianism

In 1989 I went to work at the Black American newspaper (later renamed the New American) as a proofreader, then later as a proofreader/copy editor. (I worked there until May 1991).

The owner of the paper, Carl Offord (now deceased), once wrote a front page story that had a homophobic headline that is indelibly printed on my mind--"The White Lady and the Faggot." It was an attack on Diana Ross, who had given a concert in Central Park that year (1983) and then-mayor Ed Koch, who had kissed her hand (or her cheek). I'm sorry I didn't save that issue because it is a classic example of blatant homophobia in the black press. The article suggested that Koch, rumored to be a gay man, might give Ross AIDS.

Anyway, I'm the one responsible for getting writer/filmmaker Michelle Parkerson's article, an appreciation of the beauty of black women, published in the paper. I edited out all the references to her girlfriend and the word "lesbian" because of the paper's homophobia. I gave the manuscript to the art director, who had it typed and pasted up.

When Mrs. Offord, the office manager, saw it in the paper, she was upset that we hadn't cleared it with her. Obviously, even though it was toned down, the article's homoeroticism still shone through. I told her that she hadn't been in the office that day, so we weren't able to get her consent. "That doesn't make any difference," she replied. I immediately pointed out that Parkerson was a very good writer;despite her anger, she agreed.

I wanted the Parkerson piece in because (1) it was better written than a lot of the stuff they were publishing and (2) I wanted to see how successful I'd be in slipping in an article with subliminally gay content. Parkerson became a Trojan horse.

It would have been a lot harder to do what we did at the New York Amsterdam News because it is a larger operation, occupying a whole building and with more eyes to oversee things. The Black American was in a single suite of offices and had a smaller staff.

I later sent Parkerson a copy of her article via her Washington, D.C. address.