Dear Friends,
Many of you have played an important part in nurturing my personal and professional development here in Atlanta, so I am enthusiastic to share this exciting news.
I’m pleased to announce that I will be joining the staff of U.S. Representative Larry Kissell (D-NC), and will be moving to Washington, DC on June 1st to work in his congressional office. I’m elated to join Congressman Kissell’s team, and look forward to contributing to our democracy on the federal level.
While I am thrilled to embark upon this new political venture, this transition is bittersweet. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in Atlanta, and it has been an honor to serve the people of Georgia. I will always treasure the amazing friends, teachers, leaders, mentors, lessons I have learned and memories I have made throughout this leg of my journey.
Thank you all in advance for your prayers and support as I begin this new chapter in our nation’s capital. I look forward to continuing my work to advance progressive values, fight systemic oppression & privilege, and empower marginalized communities through the political process, and I hope to stay connected with you throughout this exciting endeavor.
In service,
--- MJB
5/23/11
4/19/11
On What Oprah Needs for her Farewell Season
Editor's Note: As many of you may know, the deity known throughout the word as Oprah Winfrey (but whom most of us regard as the second coming of the Messiah, and rightfully so) is wrapping the final season of her award-winning talk show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show." In a desperate attempt (and after much cajoling) to get her number one fan -- and my best friend -- on to her program one last time before its gone for good, I crafted the letter below to move the hearts and minds of the powers that be at Harpo.
Oprah, show a brother some love!
Memorandum: Oprah Winfrey, Harpo Studios
CC: Sheri Salata, Executive Producer – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Jenna Kostelnik, Senior Producer – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Brian, Co-Producer – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Candi, Senior Producer – The Oprah Windrey Show
Sally Lou, Senior Audience Supervisor – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Gayle King, Oprah’s Best Friend
Andre Walker, Fierce Diva – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Dear Ms. Winfrey:
Did you know that your name doesn’t need a spell check? I guess this speaks to how iconic your presence is in our modern zeitgeist.
Anyway, down to business: I’m not sure if this letter will ever find you (although I AM sure that you may receive a lot of letters that begin this way), but I was arisen out of my slumber to write you this note. No, Oprah – quite literally.
It was my best friend, Jarrett. See, we met when we were college roommates back in the Atlanta University Center (I went to Morehouse, a school I know you adore – he went to Clark Atlanta, and that’s all we’ll say about that). Within hours of our meeting, I knew we were kindred spirits – I also knew that you had approximately 312 seats in your studio audience (although, he is quick to remind me that depends on the configuration of the set at any given show taping – quick shout outs to Tara Denise, his second idol).
I bring up this anecdote to demonstrate that I believe that my friend – no, my brother – Jarrett is indeed your biggest fan. Now, I know a lot of people “claim” to be your biggest fan, but they haven’t met Jarrett: Jarrett , who arranged his junior year course load to ensure he was at a television by 4pm EST (really, 3:45pm) to catch that day’s episode of your show; Jarrett, who treats the season premiere of your talk show like a feature television event; Jarrett, who has downloaded – and plays often – the various theme songs of your show’s 25-year run (Patti’s soul-stirring rendition is his favorite. When he sings it, I cry – but not because it’s so good).
But, in my opinion, this is not what qualifies Jarrett as your ultimate fan. It was Jarrett who first taught me to “never let him take you to the second location.” It was Jarrett who introduced me to your 20th anniversary DVD set, and the first few segments of your season 19 “Wildest Dreams” premiere, to cheer me up after life’s disappointments. It was Jarrett who looked to your show as a young man to gain a better understanding of his sexual identity because, as he’s told me often, it was the first time he saw gay people on television. It’s Jarrett who plans to one day have his own talk show – not because he relishes fame and glory, but because he wants to help people like you do.
I could go on and on about how your life and your show have influenced Jarrett, but let’s be honest – you’re a busy lady, and you don’t have that kind of time (and I need to get back to sleep).
I’ll just say this: over the years, Jarrett has shared the lessons, best practices, and “aha” moments he has garnered from being a life-long fan of your show with me, and I believe that I – like him – am a better person for it. Anyone who knows Jarrett is clear that you have touched his life more so than almost any other person on the planet (save maybe God, but in this context that doesn’t count). Because you inspire him, you inspire me, and I want to thank you.
I love my best friend like you love Gayle (although, in our duo, he’s definitely my Oprah), and it is my dream that he will be able to visit your show before your grand finale this May.
I know you’ve been known to make the impossible happen (and I hear you have some pull around that place), so I hope you can give my friend the moment of a lifetime.
Thanks for your attention, and thanks in advance for making my bestie’s dreams come true.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Brewer
Oprah, show a brother some love!
Memorandum: Oprah Winfrey, Harpo Studios
CC: Sheri Salata, Executive Producer – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Jenna Kostelnik, Senior Producer – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Brian, Co-Producer – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Candi, Senior Producer – The Oprah Windrey Show
Sally Lou, Senior Audience Supervisor – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Gayle King, Oprah’s Best Friend
Andre Walker, Fierce Diva – The Oprah Winfrey Show
Dear Ms. Winfrey:
Did you know that your name doesn’t need a spell check? I guess this speaks to how iconic your presence is in our modern zeitgeist.
Anyway, down to business: I’m not sure if this letter will ever find you (although I AM sure that you may receive a lot of letters that begin this way), but I was arisen out of my slumber to write you this note. No, Oprah – quite literally.
It was my best friend, Jarrett. See, we met when we were college roommates back in the Atlanta University Center (I went to Morehouse, a school I know you adore – he went to Clark Atlanta, and that’s all we’ll say about that). Within hours of our meeting, I knew we were kindred spirits – I also knew that you had approximately 312 seats in your studio audience (although, he is quick to remind me that depends on the configuration of the set at any given show taping – quick shout outs to Tara Denise, his second idol).
I bring up this anecdote to demonstrate that I believe that my friend – no, my brother – Jarrett is indeed your biggest fan. Now, I know a lot of people “claim” to be your biggest fan, but they haven’t met Jarrett: Jarrett , who arranged his junior year course load to ensure he was at a television by 4pm EST (really, 3:45pm) to catch that day’s episode of your show; Jarrett, who treats the season premiere of your talk show like a feature television event; Jarrett, who has downloaded – and plays often – the various theme songs of your show’s 25-year run (Patti’s soul-stirring rendition is his favorite. When he sings it, I cry – but not because it’s so good).
But, in my opinion, this is not what qualifies Jarrett as your ultimate fan. It was Jarrett who first taught me to “never let him take you to the second location.” It was Jarrett who introduced me to your 20th anniversary DVD set, and the first few segments of your season 19 “Wildest Dreams” premiere, to cheer me up after life’s disappointments. It was Jarrett who looked to your show as a young man to gain a better understanding of his sexual identity because, as he’s told me often, it was the first time he saw gay people on television. It’s Jarrett who plans to one day have his own talk show – not because he relishes fame and glory, but because he wants to help people like you do.
I could go on and on about how your life and your show have influenced Jarrett, but let’s be honest – you’re a busy lady, and you don’t have that kind of time (and I need to get back to sleep).
I’ll just say this: over the years, Jarrett has shared the lessons, best practices, and “aha” moments he has garnered from being a life-long fan of your show with me, and I believe that I – like him – am a better person for it. Anyone who knows Jarrett is clear that you have touched his life more so than almost any other person on the planet (save maybe God, but in this context that doesn’t count). Because you inspire him, you inspire me, and I want to thank you.
I love my best friend like you love Gayle (although, in our duo, he’s definitely my Oprah), and it is my dream that he will be able to visit your show before your grand finale this May.
I know you’ve been known to make the impossible happen (and I hear you have some pull around that place), so I hope you can give my friend the moment of a lifetime.
Thanks for your attention, and thanks in advance for making my bestie’s dreams come true.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Brewer
10/20/09
On the 'Appropriate Attire Policy' at Morehouse College
There's an old saying at my alma mater that one does not simply choose to attend Morehouse College, rather, Morehouse College chooses her sons, those "Men of Morehouse" to be made "Morehouse Men." She chooses these men, these men called not to curse the wretchedness of the dark, but rather to light a candle in that dark and illuminate within it the truth, beauty and justice that disturbs the universe.
This is my attempt to light a candle in the dark.
It was earlier this year that I first heard vestiges of what was to eventually become the ‘Appropriate Attire’ policy that has temporarily catapulted Morehouse College into dissonant notoriety. During a landmark address to the college last April, Morehouse College President Robert M. Franklin, a Baptist preacher with the most liberal politics the college has seen in that particular office, articulated an unprecedented vision for the Morehouse community, urging for a peaceful integration of the queer experience into the college’s canon of tradition. His words received prodigious and widespread praise for his inclusive, enterprising mission to revive the Herculean image of the Black man while simultaneously seeking to bridge the very public discord between homosexual and heterosexual – at Morehouse and throughout the Black community.
What was missed by most during his speech, though, was the admonishment of feminine dress sported by some of the male students on campus and abhorred by the larger body politic. It was this tacit repudiation and obscuring of the Black queer experience that has recently exploded into a mass cultural debate about how the image of the Morehouse Man juxtaposes with non-conventional expressions of Black male identity, with as many people praising Morehouse’s actions as stalwart leadership as are berating the institution for its regressive candor.
I support President Franklin and the progressive direction in which he is steering the College. However, I cannot condone the subtle, if ill-intended, castigation of transgressive and non-conforming gender expression and identity espoused in this new ‘appropriate attire’ policy. While I appreciate any attempt to incubate Morehouse’s illustrious legacy, I do not believe that such resuscitation of Black male identity should come at the expense of the institution’s queer students, who, while not exclusively targeted by the policy, will possibly be disproportionately disenfranchised by it. But what’s more significant, and disconcerting, is that, as opposed to the named ‘thugs’ and ‘gangsters’ whose dress may now be limited by this new policy but have no history of significant social subjugation at the college, Morehouse’s gay, bisexual, and transgender students may exclusively reap a possible resurgence of latent homophobic sentiment and the recapitulation of heterosexism, heteronormativity and patriarchy that has now been codified (and therefore legitimized) by the institution, a school that has a sordid history of placidly facilitating oppression against queer students.
Is the policy itself homophobic? Not neccessarily. Admittedly, the policy does not specifically seek to limit the expression of the college’s queer-identified students exclusively, nor are its restrictions concerning ‘feminine garb’ an overt attack on gay and bisexual students. While gender expression and the expression of one’s sexuality are tangent to one another, they are not the same thing. Likewise, many gay and bisexual students will remain unaffected by the shift in prohibited campus attire. However, will the policy possibly fuel homophobia, transphobia and hinder the revolutionary edict that President Franklin so courageously initiated?
In my eyes, yes.
Just as troubling is the reality that, as an academic institution, Morehouse has chosen to subscribe to, and superimpose onto its student body, a very hegemonic and heteronormative prescription of masculinity without genuinely interrogating masculinity as a concept. To be the premiere institution for the education of Black men, there are surprisingly few course offerings aimed at the scholastic investigation of the Black male experience, much fewer that integrate any semblance of sex, sexuality and gender into that sphere of analysis. Morehouse is missing a unique opportunity to lead this burgeoning conversation in the larger Black community about what it means to be a Black man by refusing to incorporate the intersectionality of orientation, gender performance, and sexuality into its curriculum. Leaning on antiquated paradigms of the Black male experience makes it harder to explore this concept in a fresh, erudite, and optimally useful way.
To the greater LGBT community: We of Morehouse College acknowledge that we hold a peculiar position of prestige that solicits a slightly more refined look at our evolving legacy. The collective behavior of Morehouse College does not occur in a vacuum and, when it challenges a fundamental percept of ethical code it, like any other institution, need be challenged on its breach of moral decorum and held accountable for its actions. However, I’ve become particularly incensed by the unmitigated gall of the larger LGBT community to continuously criticize Morehouse for supposed “infractions” against queer people when, in aggregate, that same community does nothing to support the institution or its progress towards enacting more LGBT friendly policy and practices. With a few notable exceptions, there is no concerted effort by the external LGBT community to substantially give of its resources to support the mission of Morehouse College or even the queer students whose interests it purports to serve. So, while you are welcome to express your disdain for perceived prejudice and injustice, please refrain from using my institution as a case study and catalyst for the LGBT social justice agenda – particularly when the larger LGBT community rarely (if ever) engages the institution with any reciprocity of accountability, or in a way that utilizes cultural competency and does not perpetuate the equally problematic oppressions of racism, classism, and cultural imperialism in its intervention.
To my Morehouse brothers, Morehouse College, the greater Black community and other proponents of the policy: I understand that we have a responsibility to uphold the highest moral standard for the Black male ideal – that how we think, speak, act, and yes, look, are all cuts of the brilliant diamond that is Morehouse College and our history of leadership. However, it is the arguments in favor of this policy, much more than the policy itself, that concerns me about our institutional cognition surrounding issues central to this conversation. That the thinking of some welcomes this policy as a targeted censorship of gay/bisexual identity demonstrates that, as an institution and cultural community, we have a lot of self-edification to do concerning issues related to gender, sex, and sexuality and are not yet mature enough to police these concepts 'appropriately'.
As a proud alum of Morehouse College, I love my institution with my whole heart and am infinitely indebted to her for making me the open and unapologetic Black queer man -- the Morehouse Man -- that I am today. In all that I do, I seek to only bring continued strength and honor to "Dear Old Morehouse". As we all look forward to the continued leadership of Morehouse College – the Morehouse that is going to be – we must realize that we must divorce ourselves from certain barnacles of paternalism and bigotry that have characterized the Morehouse that was. The Morehouse demagogue cannot ethically be replicated by the same oppressive forces that helped to create it.
The Morehouse Man (and thus, the definition of such) is ever evolving because that is what keeps our mission alive – the renewed spirit of the Morehouse College mission inspired in a new breed of distinctive philosopher-kings. Our image is not marred or depleted by creating a space in our trajectory for fluid gender expression and non-heteronormative sexuality. On the contrary, this phenomenon radically fortifies our purpose and cements our name further in the annals of history, transforming the conventional concept of Black masculinity and liberating all Black men from the oppressions of imperial patriarchy that have kept us bound in dysfunction for so long. And, though that heritage of prescribed hegemony may be what brought us to revere Mother Morehouse and her sons, it is incumbent upon us to seek an even higher standard of existence – one that embraces diverse expressions of Black male identity, folding them into to the excellence of Morehouse College. This is how we grow the legacy and lead the people.
This is how we change the world.
Michael J. Brewer is an outspoken writer, speaker, social commentator and advocate for progressive change. Brewer currently serves as Chief-of-Staff to Georgia State Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan (HD-39) and Field Organizer for Georgia Equality. For more, visit www.MichaelJBrewer.blogspot.com.
This is my attempt to light a candle in the dark.
It was earlier this year that I first heard vestiges of what was to eventually become the ‘Appropriate Attire’ policy that has temporarily catapulted Morehouse College into dissonant notoriety. During a landmark address to the college last April, Morehouse College President Robert M. Franklin, a Baptist preacher with the most liberal politics the college has seen in that particular office, articulated an unprecedented vision for the Morehouse community, urging for a peaceful integration of the queer experience into the college’s canon of tradition. His words received prodigious and widespread praise for his inclusive, enterprising mission to revive the Herculean image of the Black man while simultaneously seeking to bridge the very public discord between homosexual and heterosexual – at Morehouse and throughout the Black community.
What was missed by most during his speech, though, was the admonishment of feminine dress sported by some of the male students on campus and abhorred by the larger body politic. It was this tacit repudiation and obscuring of the Black queer experience that has recently exploded into a mass cultural debate about how the image of the Morehouse Man juxtaposes with non-conventional expressions of Black male identity, with as many people praising Morehouse’s actions as stalwart leadership as are berating the institution for its regressive candor.
I support President Franklin and the progressive direction in which he is steering the College. However, I cannot condone the subtle, if ill-intended, castigation of transgressive and non-conforming gender expression and identity espoused in this new ‘appropriate attire’ policy. While I appreciate any attempt to incubate Morehouse’s illustrious legacy, I do not believe that such resuscitation of Black male identity should come at the expense of the institution’s queer students, who, while not exclusively targeted by the policy, will possibly be disproportionately disenfranchised by it. But what’s more significant, and disconcerting, is that, as opposed to the named ‘thugs’ and ‘gangsters’ whose dress may now be limited by this new policy but have no history of significant social subjugation at the college, Morehouse’s gay, bisexual, and transgender students may exclusively reap a possible resurgence of latent homophobic sentiment and the recapitulation of heterosexism, heteronormativity and patriarchy that has now been codified (and therefore legitimized) by the institution, a school that has a sordid history of placidly facilitating oppression against queer students.
Is the policy itself homophobic? Not neccessarily. Admittedly, the policy does not specifically seek to limit the expression of the college’s queer-identified students exclusively, nor are its restrictions concerning ‘feminine garb’ an overt attack on gay and bisexual students. While gender expression and the expression of one’s sexuality are tangent to one another, they are not the same thing. Likewise, many gay and bisexual students will remain unaffected by the shift in prohibited campus attire. However, will the policy possibly fuel homophobia, transphobia and hinder the revolutionary edict that President Franklin so courageously initiated?
In my eyes, yes.
Just as troubling is the reality that, as an academic institution, Morehouse has chosen to subscribe to, and superimpose onto its student body, a very hegemonic and heteronormative prescription of masculinity without genuinely interrogating masculinity as a concept. To be the premiere institution for the education of Black men, there are surprisingly few course offerings aimed at the scholastic investigation of the Black male experience, much fewer that integrate any semblance of sex, sexuality and gender into that sphere of analysis. Morehouse is missing a unique opportunity to lead this burgeoning conversation in the larger Black community about what it means to be a Black man by refusing to incorporate the intersectionality of orientation, gender performance, and sexuality into its curriculum. Leaning on antiquated paradigms of the Black male experience makes it harder to explore this concept in a fresh, erudite, and optimally useful way.
To the greater LGBT community: We of Morehouse College acknowledge that we hold a peculiar position of prestige that solicits a slightly more refined look at our evolving legacy. The collective behavior of Morehouse College does not occur in a vacuum and, when it challenges a fundamental percept of ethical code it, like any other institution, need be challenged on its breach of moral decorum and held accountable for its actions. However, I’ve become particularly incensed by the unmitigated gall of the larger LGBT community to continuously criticize Morehouse for supposed “infractions” against queer people when, in aggregate, that same community does nothing to support the institution or its progress towards enacting more LGBT friendly policy and practices. With a few notable exceptions, there is no concerted effort by the external LGBT community to substantially give of its resources to support the mission of Morehouse College or even the queer students whose interests it purports to serve. So, while you are welcome to express your disdain for perceived prejudice and injustice, please refrain from using my institution as a case study and catalyst for the LGBT social justice agenda – particularly when the larger LGBT community rarely (if ever) engages the institution with any reciprocity of accountability, or in a way that utilizes cultural competency and does not perpetuate the equally problematic oppressions of racism, classism, and cultural imperialism in its intervention.
To my Morehouse brothers, Morehouse College, the greater Black community and other proponents of the policy: I understand that we have a responsibility to uphold the highest moral standard for the Black male ideal – that how we think, speak, act, and yes, look, are all cuts of the brilliant diamond that is Morehouse College and our history of leadership. However, it is the arguments in favor of this policy, much more than the policy itself, that concerns me about our institutional cognition surrounding issues central to this conversation. That the thinking of some welcomes this policy as a targeted censorship of gay/bisexual identity demonstrates that, as an institution and cultural community, we have a lot of self-edification to do concerning issues related to gender, sex, and sexuality and are not yet mature enough to police these concepts 'appropriately'.
As a proud alum of Morehouse College, I love my institution with my whole heart and am infinitely indebted to her for making me the open and unapologetic Black queer man -- the Morehouse Man -- that I am today. In all that I do, I seek to only bring continued strength and honor to "Dear Old Morehouse". As we all look forward to the continued leadership of Morehouse College – the Morehouse that is going to be – we must realize that we must divorce ourselves from certain barnacles of paternalism and bigotry that have characterized the Morehouse that was. The Morehouse demagogue cannot ethically be replicated by the same oppressive forces that helped to create it.
The Morehouse Man (and thus, the definition of such) is ever evolving because that is what keeps our mission alive – the renewed spirit of the Morehouse College mission inspired in a new breed of distinctive philosopher-kings. Our image is not marred or depleted by creating a space in our trajectory for fluid gender expression and non-heteronormative sexuality. On the contrary, this phenomenon radically fortifies our purpose and cements our name further in the annals of history, transforming the conventional concept of Black masculinity and liberating all Black men from the oppressions of imperial patriarchy that have kept us bound in dysfunction for so long. And, though that heritage of prescribed hegemony may be what brought us to revere Mother Morehouse and her sons, it is incumbent upon us to seek an even higher standard of existence – one that embraces diverse expressions of Black male identity, folding them into to the excellence of Morehouse College. This is how we grow the legacy and lead the people.
This is how we change the world.
Michael J. Brewer is an outspoken writer, speaker, social commentator and advocate for progressive change. Brewer currently serves as Chief-of-Staff to Georgia State Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan (HD-39) and Field Organizer for Georgia Equality. For more, visit www.MichaelJBrewer.blogspot.com.
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