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Oooooohio!

I am in the food court of the Columbus airport, just as exhausted as I want to be, but not even a little bit pissed off that I missed my flight this morning. :-)

I just spent two days with some of the most awesome people on the face of the planet. Those people are members of Shades, Ohio University's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender organization for students of color.

Yes, you heard right...OU has a group for gay students of color. They, along with other organizations at OU including the LGBT Program Center, brought me out this week to be the keynote speaker for National Coming Out Week. My major appearance was on last night, Wednesday, National Coming Out Day.

I arrived on Tuesday morning and was greeted by Jon, the Graduate Assistant in the LGBT center, and Adrian, a member of Shades and a dancer. The ride from Columbus to Athens was nice and uneventful; however, I wasn't ready for all the dang road kill!!!! There were sooooo many dead animals on the highway -- and the dead skunks really did smell!

I stayed at the Ohio University Inn, which was just off campus. Very, very nice room. The king-sized bed was more than I needed, but I slept like a baby every single time I put head to pillow. I ordered room service and was knocked the eff out for two hours.

Jon took me on a tour of the Ohio University campus and it is a lot nicer than I expected it to be. Sure, I don't know what exactly I expected, but it was smaller and more comfy than I thought it would be. Perhaps I assume everything in Ohio is big because of OSU, lol

I got a few souvenirs for myself and family. Didn't realize Ohio's colors were green and white -- BARF! I mean, it's distinguished, but it's just not...festive, I reckon.

The greek section of the store was kinda lame, but I did see some things I had never seen before. Apparently they make "paddle fabric" now. You can decorate it with self adhesive jewels and ribbon and letters. Personally, I thought it looked tacky and would be better on a pillow than a paddle, but hey, c'est la vie.

I visited the cultural center and I really enjoyed the Director (Linda) and the Associate Director (LeRoy) who also co-advises the NPHC and is a Kappa.

He is also, in all probability, one of the three finest men in Athens. And yes, I met the other two while I was there as well.

We ate at the Blue Gator which was so-so on the ambiance, but GREAT on the food! I had a grilled portobello mushroom sandwich. I only ate part of it because I was already full, and like a dummy I had a roll with dinner, lol. But I was reall good. I sat next to Horace (frat) who is holding down Phi Chapter. We were joined by Linda, LeRoy, Mickey from the LGBT center, Winsome from the cultural center, some sorority women, Dana the Chi O and NPHC co-advisor, and Jaylen, who must have been a GA for the cultural center. We had a grand old time.

So we had my first discussion. I spoke to the NPHC about a variety of topics, but primarily the issues of maintaining self-determination as chapters (standing up for yourselves, remaining active, remaining advocates of all black people) and homosexuality in fraternities/sororities. I moreso answered questions about my own experiences. The Deltas in particular were really attentive, taking notes, and really making good eye contact. My frat was also there, a Sigma, an SGRho, and another Kappa aside from LeRoy. The rest of the audience (20 all together) were members of Shades, other advisors, and guests. The pictures were kinda blurry because I had messed up the settings before I gave Dana the camera.

After that, I went and chilled at the hotel, getting a FULL EIGHT HOURS of sleep!!!!! I haven't had eight hours of sleep in months!!!

Wednesday morning, woke up, ate an apple, worked on me remarks for the evening lecture, and went to lunch with Mickey Hart and the gay faculty and staff group. It was at a chinese buffet. I hadn't eaten at a buffet in a while. The staff and whatnot were very friendly, as were the two students who were co-chairing Out Week.

Then I spent some alone time shopping (didn't get anything other than lotion (lol), an APO shot glass, and an Alpha cross stitch kit -- don't sleep, them joints can run up to 15 bucks! I paid 4.95 on sale!)

Came back to the LGBT office for some quality time with Evan -- what can I say about Evan that wouldn't be cliche? He is beautiful -- a term I never use lightly. He is a hero. He is the founding president of Shades. He is humble and modest. He is someone I am so glad that I know. He and I chatted about a lot of things. I am looking forward to seeing him again!

But then, at 3 or so, I was scheduled for a film interview with a broadcast journalism student. I had no idea what to expect -- but in the door came a tall, light (lighter than me), built, hip-hop/neo soul lookin, square eyeglass wearing HUNK OF MAN with hands the size of YOUR LIFE.

And then his friend/cameraman was hot too!!!! Turns out his friend is the godbrother of Maurice, this cat I went to Georgetown with. It's funny because they were all fair and light-skinned and all from Athens. I was like "Are you fucking kidding me? Do I have to move to Athens now?"

But the interview was great....my interviewer was professional and put me at ease. He asked some great questions, too.

I have totally blanked out on his name though...... I remember being unsure how to pronounce his last name. And when he signed out, he used some sort of acronym, so that messed me all up, too. lol

After that, went back to the 'telly, ironed, and got ready for the speech. I was nervous and trying not to go in Diva mode. When I got back to the Baker (student) center, I was trying to find my inner balance, but it seemed like everyone around me was either staring at me or talking to me, lol.

BUT, the speech happened.....you know, sometimes I just blank out and have no recollection of what I said or how I said it, but I just pray that I don't offend anyone in the process.

There were mad white people there! I mean, okay, I knew I was going to a white school to speak, but there were less minorities than I imagined and more white folks. I think at Georgetown it would have been the opposite -- a lot of black people who were either gay friendly or curious, and a handful of supportive white folks.

But everybody was really receptive to my message, which was essentially admonishing mainstream gay culture to accept the differences and nuances of black gay culture. To not treat "gay pride" as monolithic, but something that is beautiful in its many facets.

After that, I signed books and took pictures with my new friends in Shades. Then Na'im finally found me and we had a drink back at the 'telly and reconnected.

Now, here us is in the airport cuz we missed our flight this morning! I was running a little late because my stomach was acting up -- on top of that, trafffic had the nerve to be congested! But it's fine....life is too short to be wound up about being forced to chill at an airport.

I am really thankful to have been invited to speak to these wonderful, wonderful people. I believe I've made some new friends for life.

Posted by Rashid on October 12, 2006 11:13 AM

Comments

Commented by Shawn on October 13, 2006 1:18 PM

Commented by Shawn on October 13, 2006 1:18 PM

Commented by Wise&Young on October 16, 2006 1:08 PM

Commented by Yinka on October 17, 2006 11:25 PM

Commented by milt on October 18, 2006 5:09 PM

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