Hasta La Gadget!

In celebration of Black History Month, I talked with Walter Naegle, who was pioneer civil rights activist Bayard Rustin’s partner for the last decade of Rustin’s life (who died in 1987). Rustin was an advisor to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., teaching him strategies of nonviolence during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma March. He then reached international notoriety in 1963 as the openly gay organizer of the March on Washington. With the racial unrest in this country, and in recognition of Black History Month, Cleis Press has just published a new ebook edition of Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin with the timely message of nonviolent and peaceful protest. In 2013, President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor posthumously to Bayard Rustin. Naegle accepted the award on Rustin’s behalf stating:

Being black, being homosexual, being a political radical, that’s a combination that’s pretty volatile and it comes along like Halley’s Comet. Bayard’s life was complex, but at the same time, I think it makes it a lot more interesting.

I talked to Naegle about what Bayard was really like, how they met, the importance of Rustin’s work and his spin on our LGBT issues. When asked what his personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights Naegle stated:

My personal commitment is to be who I am as an LGBT person, and more broadly, a human being [that] support LGBT equality and issues whenever I can, which nowadays is very often speaking at colleges and community centers and libraries and lifting up the fact that Bayard was a very important leader in the civil and human rights movement, who happened to be LGBT and lived during a time when these kinds of things weren’t discussed.

And, yet, he was able to live fairly openly as a gay man. He paid the price for it, but actions that were taken to try and quiet him never really succeeded. He rose above all that stuff, and was able to make a significant contribution to the democratization of our society as a whole, so that is really the reason why a lot of younger LGBT folks kind of lift him up now as an inspiration and as a hero. I guess my commitment would be to sort of continue promoting his legacy and his values and to live as an integrated person myself.

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Beyond being Bayard Rustin’s partner for the last decade of Rustin’s life, Naegle has served as Rustin’s executor and archivist, and he is the Executive Director of the Bayard Rustin Fund, which promotes Rustin’s legacy and values. Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin showcases the extraordinary career of this black gay civil rights pioneer. Spanning five decades, the book combines classic texts from Bayard Rustin, ranging in topics from Gandhi’s impact on African-Americans, white supremacists in Congress, the antiwar movement and the assassination of Malcolm X, with never-before published selections on the call for gay rights, Louis Farrakhan, affirmative action, AIDS and women’s rights. Also included in the book are 25 photos from the Rustin estate with a foreword by Barack Obama and an afterword by Barney Frank.

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Since the very first day we brought Harrison home, I have carried him just about any time he wanted me to (which is a lot). I empathize with his desire to be held and toted around. Wouldn’t you love to have someone carry you in from a long car ride? Or when you’re shopping and your legs decide that they are done carrying you? Definitely when you’re walking to your car from the fair or the zoo and you’re so tired you could lie right on the pavement, but you still have a good mile to go?

Who wouldn’t love to be swooped up and carried? So, I indulge Harrison’s requests to be picked up, even when I would really like to be carried myself. Isn’t that the ideal metaphor for parenting, really? We do things for our children that no one does for us anymore. Adulthood comes with the realization that you are on your own. Even with a good support network and people that you can lean on, there is no longer someone there to just carry you when you want to opt out.

I want Harrison to have that ultimate of comforts for as long as I can make it last. Sadly, we may be nearing the end. Besides the fact that he weighs in at quite a wallop, he is getting long and gangly. He is no longer a pudgy little ball of malleable baby that I can hold in a heap on my chest.

Now when he curls up in my lap, his bowling ball of a head hangs over my shoulder while his little man legs drape the length of my lower half. When I go to pick him up, I feel as if I should be wearing a lifter’s belt for my back’s sake. When he throws himself at me, he can knock me right over.

My baby boy is definitely growing up. Just recently, I’ve realized that he is not, in fact, “my baby” at all. He is my big boy. Getting bigger all the time. How many more times will I be able to lift him out of his bunk bed? How many more piggy backs will we share? When will he last crawl into my lap for a snuggle?

I don’t know the answer to those questions, but I’m going to make it last as long as I possibly can. Then when I can’t lift him one more time, I’ll tease him like I usually do, and say “I think it’s your turn to carry me, buddy!”, but it will break my heart because I will know it’s the last time that I will be his everything. From then on, he will have to walk. I’ll be there to walk beside him and hold his hand. ‘ll be there for him to lean on always, but his days of letting me carry him through will be at an end.

I know that it’s my job as Harrison’s mom to help him walk alone, but right now I just want to hold my baby a little longer.

You can read more at http://raisingharrison.blogspot.com

Spring 2015 looks from Neiman Marcus Coral Gables
photo credit: worldredeye.com

How much do we love Ken Downing?

The Senior VP and Fashion Director of Neiman Marcus is always entertaining and, as fashion show emcee at the fourth annual Splendor in the Garden luncheon at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, held on January 14, he was at his style showman best, keeping 350 of us ladies hanging on his every witty word.

After an introduction by the dapper Stephen Brunelle, VP and General Manager of Neiman Marcus Coral Gables, Downing sauntered down the runway in his trademark skinny jeans and pointy Western boots (he’s a Texan boy, after all).

Ken Downing
photo credit: worldredeye.com

“I don’t come to bring fashion to you, I come for your love,” Downing cooed from the runway, instantly melting us. And then, of course, a very funny family story, referencing the colorful Dale Chihuly art glass orbs bobbing in Fairchild’s waters – of how Downing’s father met the famed glass artist when he was just starting out and one could buy his work “for $20 to $30” but at the time Downing’s mother “was having a French moment and couldn’t be bothered.” And then the punch line: “Every time I see a Chihuly orb, I see my inheritance just floating away…”

Dale Chihuly glass orbs
photo credit: worldredeye.com

Off to a roaring start, Downing presented his favorite Spring 2015 looks, which embraced trends including all white, with varying shades of white worn together; black and white architectural looks; and, what Downing termed “the theme of the season” –the “sensuality of the ’70s: fringe, spice market colors, a maxi skirt or dress grounded with a flat sandal.” (Jury’s still out on the flat sandal, or any flat for that matter, but we were loving every maxi look as well as the bright quill feathers sticking out like chopsticks from the models’ pulled-back buns.)

photo credit: worldredeye.com

Luncheon co-chairs Frances Sevilla-Sacasa and Swanee DiMare with Ken Downing and honorees, left to right, Yolanda Berkowitz, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Raphael Bastian and Jennifer Valoppi.
photo credit: worldredeye.com

Co-Chaired by Swanee DiMare and Frances Sevilla-Sacasa, the luncheon honored the 2015 Fairchild Philanthropy Honorees, women who have had a profound impact on our community: Raphael Bastian, Board Member of the Lowe Art Museum and Fairchild Gala in the Garden Committee Member; Yolanda Berkowitz, Voices for Children Foundation and United Way of Miami-Dade; Donna E. Shalala, President of the University of Miami and Professor of Political Science; Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney; and Jennifer Valoppi, Founder and President of the Women of Tomorrow Mentor & Scholarship Program. Each honoree was given the star treatment with an introduction by emcee Stephanie Sayfie Aagaard, Miami Herald columnist and philanthropist, and a walk down the runway by Downing himself.

Katherine Rubino, Ken Downing, Stephen Brunelle, and Stephanie Sayfie
photo credit: worldredeye.com

A little about Fairchild: Established in 1938 and comprising 83 acres, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is dedicated to exploring, explaining and conserving the world of tropical plants. The world-renowned plant collections feature palms, cycads, orchids, tropical fruit trees and more. Fairchild has the largest education program of any metropolitan area, reaching more than 200,000 schoolchildren each year with environmental programs. Special events include Chocolate, Mango, Orchid and Edible Garden Festivals in addition to an annual art exhibition, concerts and plant sales. Fairchild is located at 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL 33156. For more info, call 305-667-1651 or visit www.fairchildgarden.org

photo credit: worldredeye.com

Barbara Hevia and Pauline Hevia
photo credit: Tara Solomon

Bronwyn Miller and Irene Korge
photo credit: Tara Solomon

Carly Patterson, Dana Shear, Carol Iacovelli, and Maria Beguiristain
photo credit: Tara Solomon

Elysze Held
photo credit: Tara Solomon

Katrina Peebles and Mari Alarcon
photo credit: Tara Solomon

Kristin Ducote and Suzy Buckley Woodward
photo credit: Tara Solomon

Stacy Briggle and Kenia Tedesco
photo credit: Tara Solomon

The president says he’ll veto the Keystone XL pipeline. He should do more, and put an end to the project altogether. He has the authority. Oil from Alberta’s tar sands is the dirtiest in the world — causing not just serious environmental damage when it’s extracted but also when and if it leaks out along its route from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Please tell the White House to veto it permanently.

Edward Snowden’s cache of information is unsettling, but necessary. Periodically, he’ll release a tidbit of info that either follows up on something that came before it, or is entirely new and equally shocking. Today, we get the latter of the two, as Snowden reveals how the NSA — in conjunction with the UK’s GCHQ — hacked Gemalto, a major SIM … Continue reading