I wrote recently about how I loved No Ashes in the Fire by Black LGBTQ activist Darnell Moore. Yesterday I was able to break away from usual Saturday activities (which included 4 hoops games and two birthdays including my oldest son’s) to join other members of the SOMA Justice book club in a special event. We got to meet Mr. Moore and hear him speak about his life and his experience writing his memoirs.
How to describe the experience? Simply, love.
Love is the central theme and feeling that Mr. Moore conveys in both his writing and his speaking. He describes the love his mother and family has shown for him as Radical Black Love. He was loved intensely for himself, as an LGBTQ individual, even before he was able to love himself and admit to his family that he is LGBTQ.
He also spoke about his relationship with his father and his friendships with other black students while he was at Seton Hall. It was clear though that his mother’s love and acceptance allowed him to love himself and to stop punishing himself for his perceived sin of being LGBTQ.
Hearing him speak was to feel his love, it was a truly moving experience.
