Black gay writer and activist Craig Washington has donated papers, writing, and ephemera from his archive to the collection at the Auburn Avenue Research Library.
“This collection means so much to me in two big and connected ways,” Washington told Georgia Voice. “One, because it’s a representation of, a record of, my life and my work. But moreso, it’s something I can offer to the community to which I’m most connected, the Black LGBTQ+ community. I was this to also be the impetus for us to develop more resources [for Black LGBTQ+ people].”
A significant figure in Atlanta’s Black queer history, Washington’s collection includes his articles with Southern Voice and the Atlanta-Journal Constitution; materials from LGBTQ+ organizations like AID Atlanta, Deeper Love, and Second Sunday, a Black gay men’s group founded in the ‘90s that facilitated workshops, social activities, and discussions; ephemera like event fliers for Pride and the annual Bayard Rustin/Audre Lorde Breakfast; and his collection of now-defunct Black gay magazines like Arise, CLIK, and Venus.
The collection will preserve these historic materials, the value of which Washington says is significant in today’s political climate.
“The value of any documentation about Black queer history is self-evident. It becomes even moreso pressing in this climate that is just so poisoned and marred by hostility and hatred… We’re all under an unprecedented level of political and structural terrorism and violence and living in that climate requires that we not only strategize right, not only draw upon our immense and immeasurable power, but that we find ways to connect. That we live with a sense of and a consciousness of intersectionality, not only in terms of interlocking oppressions but in terms of our common interests, our interdependence and our need for each other.”
Washington hopes the collection will not only be a tool of connection but also a commemoration of Black queer joy.
“This collection is a celebration of our history,” he said.
Washington’s collection will open with an event at Auburn Avenue Research Library on May 17 at 2 p.m.
The event will be emceed by Anthony McWilliams and will feature collaborators of Washington, whose works he says is as prevalent in the collection as his own. These speakers will include Charles Stephens, Duncan Teague, Nina Smith Bankhead, Mary Anne Adams, and more.
For more information, visit fulcolibrary.org/auburn-avenue-research-library.
