Business Owner Fights To Save 'Last LGBTQIA+ Black club in NYC'
I know this blog might seem a little lengthy, but I feel like this is an important movement that needs attention for the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Moore Bar and Lounge, or as is has been affectionately nicknamed by its patrons, Club Langston- may appear like nothing more than an unremarkable hole in the wall. But the club located on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, isn't just any regular old bar; its the last black-owned LGBTQIA club in NYC. According to owner, Calvin Clark, who is doggedly fighting to save it. Calvin Clark, 59, opened the bar with his business partner, Eryk Albury, 61, in 2001, and over the last 18 years, the venue has become a safe haven for black LGBTQIA individuals who've had few spaces to call their own. Now, the refuge's future is being threatened by a combination of rent increases, taxes, business-code violation fees and other miscellaneous costs. Club Langston unofficially closed in late December and may have to close its doors permanently if Clark does not raise $73,000 by March 1st. Instead of idly hoping people would contribute to the club's GoFundMe page, Clark decided to emphasize the significance of the space by taking a vow of silence, fasting and standing in front of Club Langston for TEN DAYS!
He began the campaign on February 4th, and ended it on Friday morning, after standing outside the club for twenty-four hours straight!....'No pun intended'.
The signs posted around him explained the reasons for his standing and silence in the unforgiving cold. "I am standing for us embracing who we are as LGBTQIA+ without shame or apologies...I am a stand that Club Langston be a place where all people joyously celebrate and embrace our uniqueness with respect dignity and love...I am a stand for us seeing ourselves as an integral part of the beautiful mosaic of humanity," one signs reads. As for why he kept tape around his mouth throughout the campaign, the same sign states, "My silence speaks loudly for those who live quietly in shame".
One of Calvin's designated spokesman during his silence campaign, Bishop Zachary Jones said, "Homophobia in the African-American community is still a major problem, gay marriage is still a major problem in our communities, and in the absence of our faces being shown, our participation being present, it's going to continue that fallacy that within our communities, gay people don't exist, "Jones said. "It's going to cripple those who desire to come out and those who desire to live their lives fully."
-Calvin Clark stands in front of the Club Langtson in a silent protest in Brooklyn, New York; and is seen to wear tape on his mouth to represent the silence of marginalized communities, like the black LGBTQ+ community Club Langston serves-
If you'd like to support their GoFundMe page:
Link to Source:
I believe that everyone should love whoever they want to love. Love is love , you can't stop it. - Alma Alvarado- Cabrera
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