B.Michael served on the local host committee for the world premier of “an interactive multimedia computer based safer sex video dating game! Co-hosts included Robert E. Penn and Colin Robinson. A collaboration between Queer People of Color organizations based in San Francisco and New York / New Jersey.
Category: Black Queer Life Matters
Coalitions Across Queer Differences
B.Michael was invited to participate in the Panel on AIDS Service [sic] of the Sager Symposium at Swarthmore College, which took place in mid-April 1994.
He would have been invited in his capacity as board chair of Other Countries, which had recently released their journal, Sojourner: Black Gay Voices in the Age of AIDS. At the time, their volume was nominated for, and ended up receiving, a Lambda Literary Award. B.Michael’s intention in this conversation about coalitions, queerness and difference would have been to complexify the notion of what people, particularly Black gay men, living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS need with regard to “services,” and to elevate the role of art, storytelling, and bearing witness in the HIV movement.
The above poster (original 11″ x 17″) highlights a range of programming brought by a compelling roster of LGBTQI activists, most from the Northeast, including What I Miss? contributor Colin Robinson. The Symposium took place just 2.5 months ahead of the historic 25th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City.
Commitment Ceremony!
Saturday, 02 April 1994, Manhattan
B.Michael and John selected The Apple Restaurant because it was unique: a Vietnamese-owned, vegetarian-affirming restaurant that also met their main criteria — affordability, access to public transportation, accommodation of 100-ish people.
What is at 17 Waverly Place now? It would be amazing if The Apple Restaurant were still there, but 25+ years is a long time to be in business. If you’re reading this, and live or happen to be in NYC, could you snap a selfie/usie in front of the current restaurant and email us here?
Instead of being registered somewhere for gifts, here’s what they asked of their guests:
And for a glimpse behind the curtain, here’s their — literally — back (and front) of the envelope chicken-scratchings about how the program would go:
They were a little more planful about who to invite. The far-left column represents confirmed guests — their names are crossed out. The next column tallies the “maybes.” The third page lists Village People, most of whom lived outside of the state or country, who were invited but not able to attend.
Invitees include What I Miss? “messengers”: Alexander J. Alvarez, Jacquie Bishop, Sheilah Mabry, Kevin McGruder, Rhea Ummi Modeste, Robert E. Penn, Colin Robinson, and Allen Wright.
Discrimination in the Workplace
B.Michael was willing to lend his perspective and expertise wherever he was able. As someone who had studied law and worked in different types of workplaces — corporations, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions — and experienced a range of subtle and overt discrimination, he would have been extremely compelling as a panelist for the those in attendance.
Domestic Partnership
As a public school teacher and thus New York City employee, B.Michael was eligible for certain benefits that were hard-won by his teachers union, including domestic partnership for same-sex couples. (See bulletin from Lambda Legal below.) In February 1994, B.Michael and John Manzon-Santos officially became domestic partners, in large part to access and secure their rights as a couple. For example, as domestic partners, John could be added to B.Michael’s health insurance and be acknowledged legally as B.Michael’s decision-maker in the event of loss of capacity, and vice versa. There had been too many horror stories about the wishes of long-term, same-sex intimate partners being dismissed and dishonored.
In the above vid clip, B.Michael and John complete their Domestic Partnership application, a necessary first step, on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1993. This occasion is joyfully witnessed by cousins Sheilah Mabry (notary), Nikki Harrison (videographer), and Kimberly Wright, along with Kimberly’s scene-stealing son Travis.
Indeed, even though the sound was off during the recording, the blissful vibe is palpable!
On January 7, 1993, then Mayor David Dinkins expanded the definition of domestic partnership through Executive Orders 48 and 49. For B.Michael and John, their first steps to registering included filling out an application as well as an optional Statistical Data Form, about which they gave robust feedback.
City-As-School 1994 Graduates!
It takes a village to teach a young person! (See B.Michael listed on page 4, along with Rhea Modeste.) Did you earn your diploma in this ceremony? What would you tell Bert about your life since 2001?
528 East 11th Street #11
In 1992, B.Michael invited his lover John to move in to his small 1.5-bedroom apartment in Manhattan’s East Village. To some, the building had an infamous address! For B.Michael and John, they were able to split a $500 monthly rent and fantasized, for a New York minute, remodeling their cozy bathroom and kitchen.
JOSEPH and the AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
The Future, Our Youth and the Virus
B.Michael and friend/sister/teacher Rhea Ummi Modeste team-taught a groundbreaking class on HIV/AIDS awareness at City-As-School High School. Here is a draft of their outline.
City-As-School’s principal at the time visited — and was duly impressed by — one of the sessions and wrote a letter to B.Michael’s and Ummi’s files.
Bahamas
B.Michael’s father, Bertram Meredith Hunter, was born in Deerfield, Florida, a community of immigrants from the Bahamas. In August 1993, B.Michael was able to visit the Bahamas for the first time with his lover John.
The only remaining memorabilia from that trip are HIV/AIDS-related materials gathered at the office of the Bahamian Ministry of Health.
This bumper sticker may have been a joint venture with the Ministry of Tourism!
More photos from this trip are viewable here!