RENWL

Photo credit: Marta Envry

“Whenever a supremum exists, its value is unique. On the real line, the supremum of a set is the same as the supremum of its set closure.”

~Wolfram Mathworld

Does anybody get the above? Does anybody know what a “supremum” is? We didn’t. Not til we looked it up.  Truth is, up til now we weren’t really concerned about meanings of words and all that. We just knew we HAD to find something clever word-wise for the title of this piece to go with that great Diana Ross photo we dug up to juxtapose against Vincent Jones’ black ‘n’ white photo.  There’s no relationship between the pictures at all.  We just posted them together for kicks when suddenly we thought—–wait—-ohh this looks hot.  Marriage equality blogging so seldom lets us reveal our creative side, you know. Sometimes we have to just get outta the way and let our inner child free. And if we say so ourselves—-those photos do seem to contrast incredibly well against each other in a sort of  an artsy androgynous and psychological evaluationally sort of way all rolled up into one.

We like to think of them as the RENWL ink blotter test. We’re using black and white photographs of Diana Ross and Vincent Jones to test to see if you’re crazy.

This Q & A with Vincent Jones is our first ever interview with a living subject. We plan on featuring interviews with local activists and community figures on RENWL regularly so that you can get a more intimate take perhaps on who these people really are and what they’re about. Vincent first came into our consciousness back in January when he co-facilitated the first Camp Courage held in West Hollywood. Since then, we’ve seen him facilitate and moderate at several events; most recently he participated in RENWL’s roundtable discussion Standing Together For Justice In The Black Community.

What intrigued us about Vincent in terms of him being featured in a Q & A, is that his role in the marriage equality and the social cause realm is fairly unique. Vincent works for the Liberty Hill Foundation which among other things provides grant funding for social causes and organizations. In other words, he’s a money man. He’s the kind of guy community and cause related organizations would want to be nice to. And they are.  It’s this highly political presence that explains a lot about Vincent’s persona; even keeled and moderate in his veneer and measured in his opinions—-so much so that often times he comes off  a tad too benign and not nearly turbulent or dysfunctional enough for our racy blood—–choosing instead to interact publicly as a dedicated and diehard disciple of the art of neutrality.  Very few glimpses of an angry black man in that one—except when he’s nudged to talk about gay white folks and their ax to grind with Obama.

Getting back to his moderate nature—-we assume that’s part of his job. And in that respect he does it well. We also know he’s way deeper than his work persona——of that we’re certain. Yet even with his latest work related project Uplifting Change, we’re still able get a better sense of where the guy’s head is—what makes him tick.  In looking at his background and his line of work, Vincent reminds us of something our grandfather once told us. “Sometimes for one to authentically give back to one’s community—-they may have to step out of it.  They may have to become one with all communities—-first.”

Q & A with Vincent Jones on Liberty Hill, Uplifting Change, Issues in the African American LGBT community and Obama.

Where you are you from—where’d you go to school/age/how long have you been out?

I was born in Compton, raised primarily in Inglewood and Rancho Cucamonga.  I went to Swarthmore College and did a brief stint at NYU Law School before realizing I was pursuing a legal degree because I thought that’s what smart Black kids were supposed to do.  My true passion was political and community organizing.  I’ve been lucky to have been able to make a living doing what I love.

Note: (He didn’t address coming out.  That did not escape us)

How did you start working at Liberty Hill and what do you do there?

I’ve been a Senior Program Officer at Liberty Hill for a little under a year now.  I direct our LGBT grantmaking, training, and convening; lead an initiative to increase social justice philanthropy in Black communities, coordinate our strategy to identify new grassroots groups to fund.  I also help develop trainings for all of our grantees and raise money to support our work.

What’s Liberty Hill about?

Liberty Hill is about change, not charity.  We’re a social justice grantmaker that invests in grassroots leaders organizing to advance social change primarily in communities of color.  We were the first to fund many of the leading grassroots organizations that exist today in Los Angeles.  While Liberty Hill is a foundation, grantmaking is only one part of what we do.  We help our grantees increase their chances of success through innovative training.  We create spaces for leaders to strategize and build relationships.  We educate other foundations and individual donors about innovative grassroots organizations and emerging movements and encourage them to make strategic investments.  That’s Liberty Hill.

What’s Uplifting Change—and your role in it?

Uplifting Change is a strategic initiative to increase social justice philanthropy in Black communities.  We’re engaging people in conversations in one-on-one meetings, house parties, and, in February, a conference, to understand better what challenges they see in the communities, what organizations they believe are working effectively to overcome them, and what we can do together to support them.  I lead the initiative and developed Uplifting Change along with a few Board Members and colleagues.

What do you hope to accomplish with Uplifting Change ?

We hope to increase social justice philanthropy in Black communities to support new solutions, strong organizations, and effective leaders organizing to advance social change.  Not only do we seek to inspire more African-Americans to realize their power as philanthropists but we also want larger institutions to understand that leaders DO exist in our communities and make a more lasting impact with more strategic investment in their work.

We know the challenges we face in the (black) community but few understand what they can do to be a part of the solution.  Everyone can’t protest, organize, and rally.  Anyone can be a philanthropist and leverage their resources to support the work that needs to happen.  Social justice organizations working to expand the stock of affordable housing, improve access to quality schools, advance LGBTQ equality, etc. often do not get funding because people don’t know about them or question their effectiveness.  Uplifting Change intends to change this by empowering people with the knowledge of clear, concrete steps they can take to be part of the solution.

Name 3 biggest issues you feel the African American LGBT community faces.

Lack of visibility, lack of autonomous organizations, and lack of an appropriate response to HIV/AIDS.

Name one thing that frustrates you in regards to the marriage equality and African American community.

Both sides are too focused on trying to be right or make their point and not listening to the valid concerns on both ends.

Name one thing that you love/excites you about the African American LGBT community.

The ability to persevere and innovate.

Barack Obama with his favorite deejay and openly gay godfather of house music Frankie Knuckles

Give us a  work related experience you’re most proud of.

While working for a New York City Councilmember, I encouraged him to introduce legislation to make public school food healthier. The bill we drafted ultimately did not make it into law because the Chancellor of Education decided to adopt most of the elements before it got out committee.  Millions of children have healthier food options as a result.  I’m also proud of my work on behalf of that Councilmember to transform a failing public school into a model learning environment.

You’re a big fan of Obama’s. Should we employ the same dynamics with him as others who’re not African American and LGBT? If not, why?

President Obama challenges me to a better person.  The way he’s able to stay focused on the work and not get caught up in the surrounding drama is remarkable.  His willingness to listen and truly hear people is admirable.  His gift of bringing people together is what we need more in this world.

The President belongs to all of us.  It’s up to us to determine how that relationship looks.  I think the African-American LGBTQ community should work to create its own relationship with President Obama and his Administration.  I know that he and his Administration want to engage but often time we don’t hold up our end of the bargain.

I’m very concerned with the way many in the LGBTQ community criticize him because it suggests a lack of understanding of the political process.  Congress passes laws.  Presidents sign them.  We haven’t spent enough time organizing to get Congress to pass pro-LGBTQ legislation for the President to sign.  Instead, the community criticizes him for not prioritizing LGBTQ issues immediately when our economy was on the brink of collapsing, our nation is engaged in two wars, and he made it very clear during his campaign that reforming health care would be his first priority.

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For more information on Uplifting Change check out the nifty pdf brochure here which outlines the program’s objectives and purpose.  You can also visit www.libertyhill.org.