JOSEPH BEAM

WRITER, EDITOR, GAY ACTIVIST

Young, gifted, black, and gay, Beam felt excluded from American gay literature, which is predominantly white. He strove to present positive black images in gay cultural life.

Joseph Beam was born in Philadelphia, December 30, 1954. His father was a bank guard, and his mother taught school. Educated at Catholic parochial schools, he went to Franklin College in Indiana, where he studied journalism and became involved in the civil rights movement. Back in Philadelphia in 1979, he worked at the bookstore Giovanni's Room, a cultural focal point for lesbians and gay men. In the early 1980s he began writing articles and short stories for the Philadelphia Gay News, New York Native, Body Politic, The Advocate, and other gay publications. The Lesbian and Gay Press Association awarded him a certificate of achievement in 1984. In 1985, Beam became the editor of Black/Out, the journal of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays.

Beam saw his work as part of a campaign to correct erroneous American views of class, race, sex, and gender. To create positive self-images and ease the alienation of gay black men, he put together In the Life (1986), a collection of poems, articles, and interviews by such gay black writers as Assoto Saint, Melvin Dixon, and Essex Hemphill. Ignored by both black and white media, the book was hailed in the gay press. Beam died of AIDS, December 28, 1988, while editing a sequel. Called Brother to Brother (1991), it was completed by his mother Dorothy Beam and Essex Hemphill. The Philadelphia Enquirer called it a "monument not only to what has been lost but to the incredible hope and creativity now present." Next Card 6: MICHAEL BENNETT: Director & NICHOLAS DANTE: Writer