Love and lubrication in the archives, or rukus!: A black queer archive for the United Kingdom

Archivaria

Volumn 68, Issue , 2009, Pages 271-294

  Ajamu, X ^c   Campbell, Topher ^a   Stevens, Mary ^b  

^a Young Vic   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^c NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84882282687     PISSN: 03186954     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (56)

1. In Dirg Aaab-Richards et al., Tongues Untied: Poems by Dirg Aaab-Richards, Craig G. Harris, Essex Hemphill, Isaac Jackson, Assotto Sainte (London, 1987), p. 13.
2. As well as being a poet, Aaab-Richards was, for example, the first Black Gay Men's Outreach and Development Worker for London's Black Lesbian and Gay Centre Project (1985-1989). Aaab-Richards was profiled in a booklet produced by Gay Men Fighting AIDS for Black History Month in 2001, In the Family: Celebrating the Builders of Black Gay Communities (London, 2001), p. 7, http://www.gmfa.org.uk/londonservices/booklets-andpostcards/pdfs/in-the-family.pdf; a second booklet, In the Family 2, was produced in 2002, http://www.gmfa.org.uk/londonservices/booklets-and-postcards/pdfs/in-the-family-2.pdf(both accessed on 21 September 2009). The biographical details for individuals provided in this article are mostly drawn from these booklets and readers are advised to consult these for additional information, since these sources were produced from within the Black LGBT community.
3. Judith Halberstam, In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives(New York, 2005), p. 44.
4. Horacio N. Roque Ramírez, "Memory and Mourning: Living Oral History with Queer Latinos in San Francisco, " in Oral History and Public Memories, eds. Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes (Philadelphia, 2008), p. 167.
5. Alexandra Juhasz, "Video Remains: Nostalgia, Technology, and Queer Archive Activism, " GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, vol. 12, no. 2 (2006), p. 326.
6. See for example Roque Ramírez on the San Francisco Latino Archivo Rodrigo Reyes, "Memory and Mourning, " p. 178. Public institutions have also been active in this area. The Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Cultures, part of the New York Public Library, has been taking in gay and lesbian material since the early 1990s (for example, the papers of poet Joseph Beam in 1991.
7. Jacqueline Trescott, "Anthology Of a Mother's Grief; By Finishing Her Gay Son's Book, She Came to Terms With His Life, " Washington Post [17 August 1991]). The Black Gay and Lesbian Archive Project was founded at the Schomburg in 2000, under the direction of Steven G. Fullwood; see http://www.bgla.stevengfullwood.org/(accessed on 4 March 2009).
8. The interview between Ajamu X and Topher Campbell, the two co-founders of the archive, and researcher Mary Stevens was conducted on 26 November 2008 in the context of a UK Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project based in the Department of Information Studies, University College London, entitled "Community Archives and Identities: Documenting and Sustaining Community Heritage. " The research team comprises Andrew Flinn, Elizabeth Shepherd, and Mary Stevens. The research would not have been possible without the help and partnership provided by our case studies (including rukus!) and many other participants and interviewees. For further details see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/icarus/community-archives/ (accessed on 21 September 2009).
9. "rukus! Time Line, " rukus!, http://www.rukus.co.uk/content/view/25/33/ (accessed on 4 March 2009).
10. Stuart Hall, "Constituting an Archive, " Third Text 54 (2001), p. 92.
11. Ann Cvetkovich, An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality and Lesbian Public Cultures (Durham and London, 2003), p. 244.
12. Robert Mills, "Queer Is Here? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Histories and Public Culture, " History Workshop Journal 62 (2006), p. 261.
13. Stuart Hall, "Constituting an Archive, " Third Text 54 (2001), p. 92.
14. For a discussion of "queer temporalities" see Carolyn Dinshaw, Lee Edelman, Roderick A. Ferguson, Carla Freccero, Elizabeth Freeman, Judith Halberstam, Annamarie Jagose, Christopher Nealon, and Nguyen Tan Hoang, "Theorizing Queer Temporalities: A Rountable Discussion, " GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, vol. 13, nos. 2-3 (2007), pp. 177-95.
15. Ann Cvetkovich, An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality and Lesbian Public Cultures (Durham and London, 2003), p. 244.
16. The unintended consequences of the intervention of archivist-transcribers in marginalized histories are discussed by Rodney G.S. Carter, "Of Things Said and Unsaid: Power, Archival Silences, and Power in Silence, " Archivaria 61 (2006), p. 226.
17. Horacio N. Roque Ramírez, "Memory and Mourning: Living Oral History with Queer Latinos in San Francisco, " in Oral History and Public Memories, eds. Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes (Philadelphia, 2008), p. 167.
18. Ann Cvetkovich, An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality and Lesbian Public Cultures (Durham and London, 2003), p. 244.
19. Alexandra Juhasz, "Video Remains: Nostalgia, Technology, and Queer Archive Activism, " GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, vol. 12, no. 2 (2006), p. 326.
20. Stuart Hall, "Constituting an Archive, " Third Text 54 (2001), p. 92.
21. Alexandra Juhasz, "Video Remains: Nostalgia, Technology, and Queer Archive Activism, " GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, vol. 12, no. 2 (2006), p. 326.
22. Valerie Mason-John is an "author, playwright, performer, professional anger-management and self-awareness trainer, " http://www.valeriemason-john.co.uk/ (accessed on 1 September 2009).
23. Talawa is a leading Black British theatre company, founded in 1989. For more information see http://www.talawa.com/about/index.html (accessed on 21 September 2009).
24. A monthly group for Black men regardless of sexual preference. See Ajamu's profile in In the Family, p. 8.
25. http://www.gmfa.org.uk (accessed on 21 September 2009).
26. James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an African-American writer and civil rights activist, many of whose novels such as Another Country (1962) and Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968), feature homosexual and bisexual African-American characters.
27. Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) was an American civil rights activist and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. See Jervis Anderson, Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen (New York, 1997).
28. Brixton is a neighbourhood in the borough of Lambeth in south London that has been a focus for the African-Caribbean community in the UK, since many of the first wave of post-World War II immigrants were temporarily settled in the area. The majority of indi viduals and organizations documented so far by the rukus! archive has a strong Brixton connection. 27 Linda Bellos was elected Leader of Lambeth Council (in south London) in 1986. See In the Family, p. 14.
29. Joseph Beam, ed., In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology (Boston, 1986).
30. See In the Family 2, p. 29.
31. Jamaican rapper Shabba Ranks called for the execution of gay men on Channel 4's youth show The Word in 1992. The presenter condemned his comments but the episode caused a scandal.
32. Derek Jarman (1942-1994) was a leading British experimental filmmaker and prominent gay rights campaigner. He died of AIDS-related complications. For a discussion of his life and work, introducing a special issue of the journal Critical Quarterly dedicated to Jarman, see Colin MacCabe, "Derek Jarman: Obituary, " Critical Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 1 (1994), pp. iii-viii.
33. Isaac Julien (born 1960) is a Black British visual artist and filmmaker, currently visiting professor at the Whitney Museum of American Arts. His 1991 film, Young Soul Rebels, which was awarded the Semaine de la critique prize at the Cannes Film Festival, features several Black gay characters, and is set against the racial and sexual tensions of 1970s London. For more information see Julien's own website, http://www.isaacjulien.com(accessed on 1 September 2009) and also In the Family, p. 29.
34. See David Brittain, "Ten.8: A Critical Debate, " http://staff.biad.uce.ac.uk/staff/id003706/ten8/ten8.htm (accessed on 26 March 2009).
35. Kobena Mercer (born 1960, Ghana) is an art critic and cultural commentator, currently Reader in Art History and Diaspora Studies at Middlesex University, London. For a selection of his publications see http://www.iniva.org/library/archive/people/m/mercer_kobena(accessed on 1 September 2009).
36. David A. Bailey (born 1960) is a photographer, writer, and curator, currently Senior Curator of Autograph (ABP-Association of Black Photographers), whose collections are now at the heart of the new Archive and Research Centre for Culturally Diverse Photography, which opened in 2008, in a purpose-built centre in London, Rivington Place. See http://www.iniva.org/library/archive/people/b/bailey_david_a (accessed on 1 September 2009).
37. On the context in which the Black Unity and Freedom Party developed, see Ambalavaner Sivanandan, "Challenging Racism: Strategies for the '80s, " Race & Class, vol. 25, no. 2 (1983), pp. 1-11.
38. See In the Family, p. 34.
39. "Sharing Tongues" is a rukus! project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, to uncover, record, and make available the previously hidden Black LGBT history of London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool, through recording oral and written histories and the production of a CD, booklet, exhibition, and website. For more information visit "Sharing Tongues, " rukus!, http://www.rukus.co.uk/content/view/26/28/ (accessed on 26 March 2009).
40. http://www.boyz.co.uk/ (accessed on 21 September 2009).
41. http://qxmagazine.com/ (accessed on 21 September 2009).
42. Dennis Carney is a campaigner, freelance trainer, consultant, and therapeutic group worker, focusing on issues around diversity, sexual orientation, and HIV; see http://www.lovingmen.org/dennis-carney.php (accessed on 1 September 2009). He is currently Vice-Chair of the Black Gay Men's Advisory Group (BGMAG). For more background, see In the Family, p. 23.
43. Terrence Higgins Trust is the leading HIV and sexual health charity in the UK; see http://www.tht.org.uk/aboutus/ (accessed on 21 September 2009).
44. Dorothea Smartt is a writer, poet, and live artist. See In the Family, p. 52 and her website http://www.britbornbajan.com (accessed on 1 September 2009).
45. Steve Swindells is a musician, journalist, and club promoter.
46. Pink Paper was a weekly newspaper for gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. It first appeared in 1987, but since June 2009 has been available only on the Internet at http://www.pinkpaper.com/ (accessed on 16 September 2009).
47. The Voice and New Nation were two of the leading, black, weekly newspapers in the United Kingdom. The Voice continues to be published every Monday in tabloid format and appears on the Internet at http://www.voice-online.co.uk/ (accessed on 21 September 2009).
48. Justin Fashanu was Britain's first million pound, Black, soccer player, and remains the only top level player to have been publicly open about his homosexuality. He committed suicide in 1998. In the Family, p. 34.
49. "Outside Edge, " Museum of London Docklands, http://www.museumindocklands.org.uk/English/EventsExhibitions/Past/Outside_Edge.htm (accessed on 27 March 2009).
50. A festival which took place on 21 October 2006; http://www.firethistime.co.uk/ (accessed on 27 March 2009).
51. "Mangina Monologues-Stories of Love and Lubrication, " rukus!, http://www.rukus.co.uk/content/view/29/1/ (accessed on 27 March 2009).
52. In This Our Lives: The Reunion, director Topher Campbell, documents a reunion of the original participants in the first and only national gathering of Black gay men in the UK, the 1987 National Black Gay Men's Conference; the documentary was screened at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on 2 April 2009, http://www.bfi.org.uk/llgff/our_lives_reunion_panel_discussion (accessed on 21 September 2009).
53. The Zami Conference was a national gathering of Black lesbians that took place in 1985. rukus! was planning to document a reunion, similar to that organized for the Black Gay Men's Conference.
54. rukus! was one of the 2008 winners of the Archives Landmark Award (ALA). The award is given by the City of London, London Metropolitan Archives (LMA), and Archives for London Ltd. (AfL) "in recognition of innovative and original projects which make creative use of archive material and which make a real contribution to the community, " http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Records_and_archives/The+Archives+Landmark+Award.htm (accessed on 27 March 2009).
55. See http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/EventsExhibitions/Past/QueerIsHere.htm (accessed on 26 March 2009). The exhibition is discussed in more detail in Mills (see note 10 above).
56. Stuart Hall, "Constituting an Archive, " Third Text 54 (2001), p. 92.