Iraq's Newly Open Gays Face Scorn and Murder

...is the title of a New York Times Article I read yesterday. It's most poignant lines read, "In the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up..." and the closing lines of the article are from a young man and Iraqi citizen which read, "I don't care about the militias anymore, because they're going to kill me anyway-today, tomorrow, or the day after".

The chilling realization is that by the time I finish typing this blog Sa'ad's words may be all that are left...
...and that is worth reflecting on. What does it mean to live life knowing that your existence is so scorned that you will face CERTAIN death at opportunities next entrance?

(i have typed and deleted too many lines at this point to count. i can't get my words together. this article and the thoughts it has generated have really gotten to me)

As an African-American I cannot disconnect the history of one group's struggle for human rights from another. The imminence of death for simply existing as one's self is too marquee. There has to be another mode for dealing with difference.

Through art I'll continue to strive to offer an alternative...a window through which I may peer through and when the light and shadows are just right may offer me a glimpse of my own reflection.

Re-Releasing:

Coffee - A Regular Joe *a philm by Carlton D. Mackey