Queer Black Facilitators of the Future
Mobile Homecoming
Co-creators recognized in The Advocate
“top 40 under 40”
March 30, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Alexis
Pauline Gumbs, 919-827-2702
Mobile
Homecoming
Durham, NC - Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Ph.D and Julia
Wallace, M.Div. will be recognized in the May issue of the The Advocate - the
leading gay magazine in America - on the “top 40 under 40” list for their
creation of the nationally known Mobile Homecoming project. Mobile Homecoming
is an intergenerational experiential archive project that amplifies generations
of Black LGBTQ brilliance.
The Advocate says of it’s honorees, “these
budding powerhouses, leaders in media, politics... are facilitating our
future.” Alexis and Julia are two of only 4 honorees from the Southeast on the
list.
As a self-identified “queer black feminist
troublemaker,” Alexis also travels the country facilitating workshops, seminars
and lecturing on the legacy of Black feminism. Julia, a self-identified black
queer theologian, multimedia artist and consultant, says, “Alexis makes trouble
that looks like love and IS love.”
Alexis and Julia travel the country in a 1988 RV
they call Sojourner, interviewing Black Lesbian elders and Trans Men,
facilitating intergenerational community conversations and hosting replay
events. Julia explains, “the replay event is a technology where we not only
learn about the history of these visionaries but experience the practices that
has sustained them.”
Alexis is not new to this sort of national
recognition. She was one of Utne Reader’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the
World” in 2009; a Black Women Rising Nominee and a Reproductive Reality Check
Shero in 2010; and a recipient of the Too Sexy for 501C-3 trophy in 2011.
Alexis has been featured on North Carolina public radio and UNC-TV. She and
Julia were also featured on the cover of Durham Magazine - that celebrates the
city’s style and creativity - for a feature story suggesting that Durham, NC is
the lesbian haven of the south.
Alexis and Julia drove their RV across the
country in 2011 taking detours and making stops along the way to honor and
listen to elders. They say, “it was like a tour of super heroes... our elders
had to develop super powers to survive as black people, as women, let alone as
LGBTQ people, 20, 30 plus years ago.” So
far, they have been to over 50 cities in over 11 states and interviewed over 50
black queer visionaries. They take a “by every means possible” approach to
getting the word out about this history and their intergenerational imperative
via tumblr, short Facebook videos, an upcoming documentary film, a web series
on Q-Roc.tv, and T-shirts, to
name a few.
Next up for Mobile Homecoming is learning about
sustainable building and living practices that will allow LGBT communities to
take care of their elders as they age. They will also be launching a
fundraising campaign to resurrect Sojourner or refit another vehicle with a
veggie fuel engine to model their vision of sustainable mobile media making.
These “architects of the next decade,” as The Advocate describes them, both have
advanced degrees and are founders of many organizations. The Mobile Homecoming
project is affiliated with Southerners on New Ground (SONG), supported by
Kitchen Table Giving Circle and has collaborated on events with many groups
across the country including AARP, The DC Center in Washington D.C., Audre
Lorde Project in NY, and Allied Media Projects (AMP) in Detroit. Alexis and
Julia believe that “connecting community across generations is what will give
us all access to the future we deserve.”
More information can be found at http://www.mobilehomecoming.org.
and videos can be found at http://vimeo.com/user1580195/videos
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