I Got Into It With Charlamagne Tha God on Twitter Over Dr. Wesley Muhammad, Umar Johnson and Allyship
Despite how progressive it may appear to be, pop culture still has a problem with LGBTQ individuals. Our inclusion hasn’t fully been embraced yet across all spectrums —white cis-gender gay men are still more prominent throughout television, movies and music in comparison to lesbians, transgender individuals and queer people of color. Being a Black gay man, I hardly see any nuanced and/or intellectual images of myself in mainstream media. Sure, it’s a lot better than 10 years ago (thanks to Moonlight and Empire) but the stereotypes surrounding Black LGBTQ individuals continue to persist and stigmatize our existence.
In 2017, we have more straight individuals who consider themselves “allies” to supporting LGBTQ rights and inclusion. One of them is entertainment provocateur Charlamagne Tha God who have often spoken in support of LGBTQ rights on his co-hosted talk radio show The Breakfast Club. Despite its lack of variety in LGBTQ guests (mostly entertainers, no queer scholars or intellectuals), the show has provided a larger platform for LGBTQ talent to be a part of what’s now become a staple of black pop culture. I got a piece of the action when Charlamagne made me “Donkey of the Day” last year for calling out Justin Timberlake on Twitter for his cultural appropriation during the BET Awards. But just as easy as it is for straight individuals such as Charlamagne to think it’s sufficient enough just to acknowledge our queer visibility — defending it is also essential to allyship.
Over the past few weeks, The Breakfast Club has given a platform to two well-known homophobic Black intellectuals, Dr. Wesley Muhammad and Umar Johnson, to serve as guests that were allowed to spew their conspiracy theory-riddled bigotry on air.
Muhammad, who came on the show and suggested that the THC in today’s marijuana “effeminates the Black man,” also regularly tweets anti-LGBTQ rhetoric to his followers:
Johnson, who has a long history of making homophobic and misogynistic remarks (once stating that single Black mothers “castrate Black boys and wonder why they grow into gay men”), made his second grand appearance on Charlamagne's show to further make disparaging remarks that pit the the fight for LGBTQ rights against those for Black liberation. A common theme of Johnson’s rhetoric is suggesting that anytime Blacks are given opportunities, it comes at the expense of women and LGBTQ rights threatening their advancement. During a News One interview with Roland Martin last week, he remarked that because “gender and sexual orientation” was added to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (this is only half-true, sexual orientation has never been included) “white women and homosexuals have been able to strip Black Americans from the intended gains.”
It felt like betrayal watching The Breakfast Club allow these individuals another shot at targeting one aspect of my Black queer identity while they still continued to pride themselves as being inclusive. With all of the prolific intersectional Black scholars out there with more fact-based merit and insight — it’s disheartening to see Black media outlets continue to invite questionable intellectuals on their influential platforms. An opportunity where thousands of viewers could have learned something more earth-shattering about gender and sexuality got instead wasted with another cringe-worthy episode that further stigmatized LGBTQ people in our community.
Finally fed up with the growing number of these problematic guests, I personally reached out to Charlamagne on Twitter for clarity and further understanding.
Our conversation only led to more questions and frustration
Long story short, the Twitter exchange was a hot a** mess. What I learned from the confrontation is that allies like Charlamagne, who pride themselves on having “a rainbow flag up in the studio” and noting that “plenty of LGBT have been on the show,” feel exempt from being held accountable on their allyship. Instead of understanding my personal offense as a Black gay man, he choose to center himself with cliché defensive mechanisms that ignored the larger point I was trying to make, such as why is he still giving anti-LGBTQ folks a platform in his rainbow flag-waving studio?
Unfortunately, what could have been a mature dialogue turned into a defensive ego trip that had him walking away with my recommendations while publicly dismissing my sentiment. This isn’t what allyship for LGBTQ people in our community should look like. Being an ally isn’t giving a megaphone to toxic individuals who impose on LGBTQ rights while ridiculing those within the community who hold you accountable for it — it should be the complete opposite. Allyship is more than just supporting LGBTQ rights when it’s commercially viable, but defending the very people who come under attack within our community.
Now more than ever, we need more than just rainbow flag waving — but actual foot soldiers on the ground in solidarity — as we fight to not only exist but thrive, both within the community and outside of it.
Originally from Chicago, Ernest Owens is an award-winning multimedia journalist and editor for Philadelphia Magazine's G Philly. The National Association of Black Journalists will be awarding Owens their 2017 Emerging Journalist of the Year award. Chat with him on Twitter @MrErnestOwens.
