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| Steven G. Fullwood is a collector of Black Gay history. He is the curator of the Black Gay and Lesbian Archive, developed for the sole purpose of documenting Black Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Same Gender Loving cultures. BGLA officially began in 2000 and presently holds hundreds of items. “I have books, magazines, journals, flyers, music, film/videos, and other related files that so far measures twelve linear feet,” he said. “Actually the archive started before I started it, meaning that much of what I owned as a collector inaugurated the archive.” Though his private collection focuses on Black GLBT work, Mr. Fullwood has an up-close, fulltime relationship with Black literature in general. The 38 year-old holds a Masters in Library Science and is currently manuscripts librarian at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City, where he has worked since 1998. Though surrounded by the original work of many of the country’s premier Black writers, it’s the writing found in BGLA that has captured Mr. Fullwood’s interest. He says his most prized possessions are three faded copies of the Black Gay newspaper, MOJA, first published out of New York City in 1978 by Calvin M. Lowery and William J. Harris. “I have what I believe are the first and only three issues of MOJA: June 23, 1978; November 6, 1978; and April 3, 1979. It may be the first publication produced by Black Gays and Lesbians, but I’m still checking on that. However, it was precursor to many Black LGBT/SGL publications like Blacklight, BGM, SBC, Venus, Clickque, Women in the Life and Arise, to name just a few. “Although there has been a cultural explosion of Black LGBT/SGL culture with the last two decades, the truth is that its legacy reaches back considerably further. As early as 1926, Richard Bruce Nugent published Smoke, Lilies and Jade in the periodical Fire, arguably the first story that features same sex desire between two Black men.” The GLBT publications section of BGLA range from photocopied pages stapled together to slick glossies. But Mr. Fullwood does not judge a publication on how it looks, or even the quality of its writing. The fact that it exists is what’s significant. “As a collector I offer no opinion on quality,” he says, “that’s for scholars and researchers to do. Most publications go the range, regardless of whether they are Black or Gay. It’s important for me to say that because Black LGBT/SGL folk are typically marginalized, and for anyone to decide to articulate their lives in any manner, be it in a good or not-so-good way, is a wonderful thing.” Mr. Fullwood does not intend to hoard his materials for private enjoyment rather, his plan is to collect Black Gay materials through 2005 then donate the archive to one or more repositories with “the expressed purpose of making it available for research.” “The historical contributions of non-heterosexual people of African descent have gone largely unnoticed because they are undocumented by many research and archival institutions in the United States,” he says. “The BGLA hopes not only to raise the visibility of the Black LGBT community but to encourage the collecting as well by research institutions in the US.” For more information visit the BGLA Web site: www.stevengfullwood.org |
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