By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Frank Ocean’s coming out of the closet continues to be one of the most talked about subjects on the urban gossip blogs. Not even one month after his big revelation, he’s already been linked to numerous affairs with married music executives (you know the rumors were coming), and even harassed daily on Twitter for his honesty. While many are proud that Frank decided to face his fears and be honest about his sexuality, some have decided to prematurely make the singer out to be a civil rights activist. And although many in the African American community are happy that Frank has opted to be transparent about his sexual preference, many are outraged about the comments of one writer who has labeled Frank as the gay Rosa Parks and leader of music artists coming out of the closet.
Here’s what the AllHipHop writer claims:
…Rosa Parks, who was down with the NAACP, was heralded as a heroine of the Civil Rights Movement for her unwillingness to give up her bus seat to a White man as she rested on her weary feet on that fate-filled day in a 1955 Alabama. But her move was a well-timed act as well, as it was a supremely strategic move. Enter Claudette Colvin.
Before Rosa Parks, there was Claudette Colvin. Colvin was a 15-year-old G from what I’ve gathered. She was a young, scrappy, and militant kid when she refused to give up her seat to a White person, a full nine months before her elder counterpart, Parks. Colvin was studying the injustices that were going on in 1955, analyzing the life of Black leaders and was ready for whatever was to come.
In her 2009 book, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, she explained why Parks was selected. To NPR, she said, “Her skin texture was the kind that people associate with the middle class. She fit that profile.” Parks was also the secretary for the NAACP and had the backing of the local chapter to start the boycott that would cripple the racist busing system.
So, Frank Ocean is the Gay Hip-Hop Movement’s Rosa Parks, whether dissonant voices admit it or not. Rosa Parks wasn’t the first to get arrested for not giving up her seat. But, she was the first, some say, to fit an ideal that matched the delicate needs of the Dr. Martin Luther King-led push for equal rights. And, like Parks, Ocean is relatively safe, whereas Colvin was a militant that eventually relocated to Harlem in the midst of a cultural revolution living among the likes of Malcolm X.
While I respect any writer brave enough to publish an opinion that surely won’t be popular, I have to strongly give the side eye to his claims. Why does Frank even have to be the “gay Rosa Parks?” Can’t he just be black man, who’s gay who just got tired of lying about who he was to other people? That in itself is commendable enough that there really isn’t a need for the comparisons to our deceased Civil Rights leaders.
But that’s just my opinion. How do you feel?
Oh please. Anything for clicks right? I wish people would stop comparing the civil rights movement to a lifestyle. Yes, a lifestyle. Last time I checked, gay people weren’t hung from trees or told to sit in the back of the bus. It is not the same. Period.
That’s just ignorant. Hate crimes that have been committed based on someone being gay has been just as disgusting as lynching. In 2008, over 1,600 hate crimes were reported by the FBI and the numbers rise very year since this statistic was collected in 1990. Just two days ago a lesbian was found bound, gagged and mutilated and with homophobic slurs written in her home.
And no gays don’t have to sit in the back of a bus (cuz it would be a little hard for the bus driver to ascertain someone’s sexual preference when they pay the fare, no?) but they are certainly excluded from things that other American citizens have the rights to do, including marriage, property and inheritance rights, adoption, and just like African Americans limits on their socio-economic opportunities.
And no I am not gay but saying “they aren’t being hanged” is plain wrong.
Over 1000 huh? The numbers of blacks killed and mutilated over the last 400+ years makes your argument very weak in my book. You’ll also find that over 1000 women are rapped in the military So should they too be compared to the BLACK Civil Right Movement? Like I said, NOT the same thing. I wish you black liberals and faithful democrats got a mind of your own and stop letting that tired agenda brainwash you and take away your common sense and understanding of YOUR OWN history.
*raped
Co-Muthafuggin-sign! LOL
Ok this whole Frank Ocean thing is getting out of hand. Yeah he came out the closet and that’s good for him. But are we seriously going to act like he’s going to be the leader in the gay movement? The most he will do is sing out a gay right festival. That’s it. Let’s stop giving these singers and entertainers these undeserving labels when real people do the real work.
Whoever wrote that article is on crack.
STOP DOT COM.
I hate that the civil right movement is always used as a comparison to the gay rights movement. It’s really not the same thing. I love Frank’s music, but let’s not make him out to be something he’s not. He’s not out here fighting for gay right sor using his music to impact a change. All he did was admit that he liked men. It takes more than that to bring about the kind of changes that the gay community are fighting for.
I feel like gays go trough A LOT in this country. They are mistreated and they should have the same rights as others. But I think they gay struggle deserves it’s own legacy and it’s own voice. It doesn’t need to stand on the legs of the Civil Right Movement. They are two different fights and both deserve their own recognition. My 2 cents.
*through
Neither struggle should be compared since both can stand on their own two legs. I support both and feel Frank doesn’t warrant the comparison to Rosa Parks. I’m sure he agrees.
Homosexuals are persecuted heavily in the U.S. still. Even today gays have to remain in the closet in order to live a “normal” life. So yes, I agree that Gay Rights are equal to Civil Rights.
Agreed! And what it sad is that black people are some of the most homophobic people around, treating gays as badly as they were treated before and during the Civil Rights Movement.