Donald M. Bell is a retired college administrator, an LGBT+ activist, and a founding ally of Chicago’s very own Affinity Community Services. As a resident of Boystown’s Town Hall Apartments, Chicago’s first affordable housing complex designed to be LGBT+ senior-friendly, he regretted not being able to join in the recent Drag March for Change as it passed his building because he was observing COVID-19 public health protocols. But he was pleased to see the mantle of social activism passed from the youth of his generation to a new young generation.
How does your identity as both a Black person and an individual in the LGBTQIA+ community influence the way you see the current movements happening across the nation?
I see all of today’s social justice movements as related and born of the 20th century civil rights movement and the centuries long battle of African Americans for freedom and equality. As you know, American history is most routinely “whitewashed,” and that includes its LGBT+ history.
The commemoration of the recent 50th anniversary of Stonewall is a prime example. Even in Chicago, few people know that Boystown started out on the South Side in a black community known as “The Stroll” in the Armory Square community before the turn of the 20th century. The Reverend Clarence Cobb and the First Church of Deliverance, the extravaganzas at Finney’s Ball, these are long-standing LGBT+ historical pillars – built on the South Side – that are openly recognized in the African-American community. Certainly, the understanding of oppression and the need to fight for survival, is understood by both the LGBT+ and the African-American communities.
What has Pride month meant to you in the past, and how are you seeing it differently this year?
When pride became an event that political big shots dare not miss, that was huge. When pride became a time where corporate entities decided they had to declare allyship – that was huge. That is what we should celebrate, how far we have come.
But we need to always remember what brought us here to this celebration. What brought us here is that hard work. And you can even look at that in today’s hard work – what brought us to the point that THOUSANDS of people around the globe are marching in the middle of a pandemic?
Pride is a time of celebration of both individuality and community. How do you celebrate and honor those in your community?
I’m so glad that all of this is happening during pride month. I feel that Pride has been sort of degraded from a movement to a party. Those of us who marched in early Pride marches were literally putting our lives on the line. I remember being recognized by a student from the university where I worked, and immediately panicking. Back then, I could lose my job, I could lose my life.
Now, we can’t forget racism is a huge issue in the LGBT+ community. But these protests have been so heartening, to see so many putting their lives on the line. I’m so inspired to see people from all walks of life understanding just how racism has impacted not only black people, but our society as a whole. We’re all sick of it – and look what we’re putting on the line. That’s something to celebrate.
How has Heartland Alliance supported you in being able to be your authentic self?
I appreciate the fact that Heartland Housing made the commitment to being a part of this partnership that resulted in Town Hall. I certainly benefit greatly in getting to be my authentic self in this stage of life. I don’t have to monitor what I feel, what I think, or what I do in my environment.
But residents here are so aware of the privilege of living here, which causes its own fear. People don’t want to lose where they live. We are still living in a limited amount of welcoming space – and space can be lost, because the rest of the world is still behind.
How can those who may not share your same experiences or identities, work to build an equitable and just society?
I’ll say the same thing I’ve said to my majority white church. Racism is not a discussion that black people or people of color need. It’s a conversation that white people need. You need to better understand what privilege is, what supremacy is, what racism actually is. People are surprised by that, but we as black people have told you. Whether it’s Frederick Douglas, or Sojourner Truth, or Ida B. Wells, or even Barack Obama – we have told you.
The issue is not of how long BLM will conduct demonstrations. The issue is, what will white people take home and discuss at home – in their families, in their institutions, in their structural environments. You need to feel this. You need to feel the weight of your responsibility. You need to feel this pain. You need to own it.
