Creating a Home for Ourselves: The House of Emancipation as a Mobilizer for Social, Political and Economic Activism amongst African-American Queer Males

This dissertation explores how communities of gay houses, particularly New York City's House of Emancipation (one of the only community of gay houses in New York City to focus on queer activism), have provided the conditions of possibility for the construction of a critical consciousness and served as a mobilizer for social, economic and political activism for African-American queer males. Prior research indicates that for countless African-American queer individuals, communities of gay houses offer a sophisticated and supportive social world through which members can re-envision and recast their lives. Unlike the self-created space of the House of Emancipation, in a "queer minoritarian sphere," queer individuals of color are often obsessed with white femininity and beauty, illusions of material wealth and white prosperity, and discredit the actual labor in which its members are continuously employed to foster an alternative subsistence for themselves within their marginality.;Critical theory and its tenants (revolutionary critical pedagogy, critical race theory, and queer theory) serve as theoretical guides for a making rational sense of the variables employed in this study. These fields have separately sought to define the relationships between power and social structures in relation to race, gender and sexuality. Together these theories emphasize the centrality of race and racism, class, sexuality, and activism and help situate the marginalizing and maintaining of queer individuals of color in America as a degraded "other" by not only the hegemony of white supremacy, but also by communities of color.;Utilizing phenomenological methods, this study utilized a qualitative approach. The main sources of data collection were based on participant observations and Seidman's (1998) three-part interviewing approach (1998): focused life history; the details of the experience; and reflection on meaning. Fourteen participants took part in this, all in which were: over the age of 21, actively involved in the House of Emancipation for more than 6 years, African American, queer, working-class, and male. Post-data collection analysis was carried out using Miles and Huberman's (1994) conception and definition of qualitative data analysis which constitutes three main activities for data analysis: (1) data reduction; (2) data display; and (3) conclusion drawing and participation.;Through a self-designed curriculum and a mission rooted in empowerment and the exposure of voice, the House of Emancipation provided a safe space to every member through an on-going process of reciprocal learning, creativity and critical thinking. The house constructed a sense of "criticality" by allowing for voice, choice, reflection and creativity within the house coupled with an unyielding support network as members realized the overall plight of the oppressed in a capitalist society and fought together for liberation (Kincheloe, 2001). This constructed criticality in turn, led members toward implicitly fighting fragrant forms of oppression as house members presented at various high schools on queer harassment, held rallies at churches to support queer individuals, educated queer communities of color on safe sex practices and the problem with the changing face of HIV/AIDS, held meetings with parents of queer youth to discuss the importance of acceptance and fought for the approval of same-sex marriage in New York City (on June 24, 2011 same-sex marriage in New York City was approved). Ultimately, it was the members' experiences within these multiple contexts that their voices were shaped, informed and expressed.;The learning and support found in the House of Emancipation in many ways, happened because it was a self-created homeplace. However, throughout communities of gay houses, spaces nurturing critical consciousness for queer individuals are extremely limited. Communities of gay houses must realize that they are viewed through a racist and homophobic lens propagated and internalized by various sectors of society. It is crucial that house members realize that to become liberated, they must perceive the reality of oppression as a limiting situation which they can help transform. I have not romanticized communities of gay houses by suggesting that these spaces can completely overhaul or transform the social and material conditions in which members live. Members do fall through the cracks and die but many do survive and thrive and do so with the assistance of their fellow house brothers and sisters. However, the House of Emancipation demonstrates how a "family" and space rooted in resistance can provide meaning and value to the voices and lives of those often rendered valueless and voiceless. Until further individuals like those in the House of Emancipation continue to break the silence that has positioned and rendered queer individuals of color as voiceless and continue to stand out and stand together to fight homophobia, invisibility and heteronormativity, queer individuals of color will remain removed from a social structure maintained and sanctioned by power and force. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...