L.O.C. Conference
Several members of the ONYX (BLN) staff attended the LOC conference. This was their report brought back from conference.
A REPORT ABOUT THE LESBIANS
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OF COLOR CONFERENCE
The first National Lesbians of Color Conference was held Sept. 8th thru 11th at the Cottontail Ranch in Malibu, Calif. Over two hundred lesbians of color gathered to carry out the theme "Sisters Bonding Together".
We
Native Asian
were Afrikan American, American, Latina, Mexicana, American, and Middle Eastern lesbians from many different parts of the country, who had come together to share Our sisterhood.
As participants we attended workshops, cultural events, dances and spiritual rituals. For some of us, drumming late into the night became ritual unto itself.
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Bay Area Afrikan American lesbians were well represented at the conference as participants as well as workshop facilitators. These local lesbians presented workshops on black feminist therapy, body intelligence/yoga and stress reduction, co/parenting and lesbian family buiding, belly dancing as woman's ritual, and the legal rights of lesbians. We can be very proud of our sisters' contributions this conference.
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Even though much sharing occurred amongst the lesbians, we felt the very basic tenets of trust were never established amongst the different groups, therefore the expectation of cross cultural bonding was not realized. We believe that this was due in part to the need of each group to validate and reaffirm its separate right to exist.
The second issue dealt with in the community meeting was the question, "What is a lesbian of color?" The most frequently voiced opinion was that a lesbian could define for herself whether or not she was a lesbian of color.
In contrast to other ethnic groups coming together, we must report the painful truth. In our opinion, bonding did not Occur amongst the Afrikan American lesbians present at the conference. At no time during the conference did Afrikan American lesbians hold a caucus to speak to each other about our common concerns Afrikan American lesbians. Many of the lesbians present wanted this, but for whatever reasons did not call for such a meeting.
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Before we as Afrikan American lesbians attempt to bond with other lesbians of color, we are going to have to take that first step of bonding together with each other. We just have to look back on our herstory to explain why negative aspects exist in our lives. We are going to have start talking to each other about those barriers that created the mistrust and alienation. We have been taught not to feel good about ourselves. This fact has been carried over in our dealings with each other. Subjects that need to be dealt with are; interracial relationships, self hatred, homophobia in the black community, feminism and economic responsibility. We also need to lay the groundwork for an Afrikan American lesbian conference.
If you are interested in participating in group discussions for Afrikan American lesbians concerning these issues, contact Marlene c/o ONYX at (415) 540-0671.
Theme Issues
ONYX (BLN) is now soliciting articles on the following themes for upcoming issues:
1.
Love relationships between Afrikan American lesbians
2.
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Little time was set aside for us to come together as a whole body. The exception was a community meeting called to express the concerns of number two of womyn around issues, the first being a debate of the presence of straight womyn as participants and more specifically as workshop facilitators. Some lesbians were of the mind that straight womyn were allies Our supporters and had a right to be present. Other lesbians felt that we didn't need straight womyn to be our teachers; that were capable of facilitating workshops in a lesbian only environment.
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Love relationships between Afrikan American and white lesbians
3.
Love relationships between Afriken American and other lesbians of color
Sexuality
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5.
Afrikan American lesbian mothers
6.
our
Afrikan American lesbians and separation
7.
Homophobia in the Black community
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