Growing up in Marcy Housing in Brooklyn, one of my neighbors was gay. Everyone in the building knew this. Everyone accepted this, because this is who he was. I won’t say that everyone in the projects accepted this, but most if not all the families in my building did. My mother was a friend of Charlie’s mother, and I recall going over to her apartment to borrow a cup of sugar. I recall Charlie sometimes being at our place. I can’t recall anyone ever voicing the word, but we all knew. Charlie had his ways, but he was essentially a good person. Parents would allow him to babysit because they knew that Charlie wouldn’t hurt a fly. They also intuitively knew the difference between a gay man and a pedophile. Because of this upbringing, later in life I didn’t understand the hatred and homophobia. This is yet one other thing I am grateful for that my mother taught me, not just tolerance, but appreciation for others and what we might call their differences.
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
William Eric Waters,… on My Friend Kathy Boudin Dawn Ravella on My Friend Kathy Boudin Jacqueline D. McLeod on Mommy William Eric Waters,… on Mommy Judis GMail on Mommy Archives
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- June 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- October 2019
- June 2019
- April 2019
- February 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- September 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- November 2016
- October 2016
- June 2016
- April 2016
- February 2016
- November 2015
- October 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- March 2013
- January 2012
- December 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- June 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
Categories
- Amadou Diallo
- being a teenager
- Black patriotism
- Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass
- Chief Banks
- child welfare
- Commissioner Broken Windows
- Commissioner William Bratton
- crime
- Education
- ezwwaters
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Family
- Fatherhood
- Fathers
- Ferguson
- Ferguson Missouri
- Fist Lady of NYC
- Five Percent Nation
- foster care
- Genealogy
- Growing Up
- James Baldwin
- Jesus
- John F. Kennedy
- Justice Chronicles
- juveniles
- Lest We Forget
- Life Sentences
- Malcolm X
- Martin Luther King
- Mayor Bill de Blasio
- Michael Brown
- MIssouri
- Mother's Messages
- Murder
- Mussolini of Manhattan
- Nation of Islam
- Nelson Mandela
- NYPD
- Osborne Association
- Parole
- parole board
- Patriotism
- Poetry
- police involved shooting
- police-involved killing
- Politics
- race
- raising black boys
- Reentry
- Relationships
- Religion
- remorse
- Revolution
- Shawshank Redemption
- Short Stories
- Slavery
- Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats
- Sonny's Blues
- Streets of Rage
- The New York Post
- The Summer of Capri
- Uncategorized
- urban decay
- Urban Impact
Meta
“not just tolerance, but appreciation for others and what we might call their differences” – big like!
LikeLike