“On the Shoulders of Our Ancestors, Forging Our Legacy for the Future”
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Walter Naegle of New York City, surviving partner of late Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin and consultant on the film RUSTIN, and Mandy Carter of Durham, NC, Black lesbian grassroots activist for 57 years, will be speaking at the 43rd annual convention of the National Association of Black and White Men Together ( https://www.nabwmt.org/na-conventions/ ), a gay anti-racism organization, being held July 2-6 at Hotel Andaluz in downtown Albuquerque, NM. Local leaders will also be prominent on the program: Zack Quintero, executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center; T. Michael Trimm, executive director of the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico; and Marshall Martínez, executive director of Equality New Mexico.
Naegle and Carter, along with activists Ken Scott-Baron and Mack Scott- Baron from Long Beach, CA, will co-facilitate a workshop on July 4 titled, “Ancestors and Movements: 2024 and Beyond,” including current information on the national campaign to have a US Postage Stamp commemorating Rustin, who was the principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Naegle will also lead a presentation on July 6, “Bayard Rustin’s Legacy,” about the development and promotion of Rustin’s legacy over the last 35 years. Carter, who was a co-founder of Southerners On New Ground 31 years ago and the National Black Justice Coalition 21 years ago, will also share her wisdom and insights while participating in all the other workshop sessions.
Quintero, a strong ally to the LGBTQ community, will be the plenary speaker on “Culture, Community, Courage” at the Holiday Luncheon on July 4. Trimm will speak on “Do the Work for Liberation Now!” at the NABWMT Co-Chairs Luncheon on July 5, and Martínez’s plenary on “Building Relationships as Power Building” will be at the Closing Banquet on July 6. Quintero will also lead a personal tour of the National Hispanic Cultural Center campus on July 2. Other group outings will include the New Mexico Holocaust and Intolerance Museum on July 3 and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center on July 6. Trimm will also facilitate a workshop on July 5, “Transgender Cultural Fluency: We’ve Always Been Here, We Always Will Be.”
Additional workshops will cover a variety of diverse subjects: “Voices from the Archives” with Camelia Caton-Garcia, Director of Collections at the Holocaust and Intolerance Museum; “Older Queer Men’s Health”; “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Action”; and a panel of former Co-Chairs on the subject of “Membership and Chapter Development.” And something unique to NABWMT conventions: we will have separate BIPOC and White Caucuses, followed by a Combined Caucus.
Registration for the NABWMT’s 43rd annual convention, with its theme of “On the Shoulders of Our Ancestors, Forging Our Legacy for the Future,” is still open at https://www.nabwmt.org/na-conventions/ at $299 for July 2-6, including five meal functions, or just $100 Day Rate on July 3, 4, 5 or 6, including at least one meal function. The National Association of Black and White Men Together, which was founded in San Francisco in 1980, is a gay, multicultural, anti-racism organization committed to fostering supportive environments wherein racial and cultural barriers can be overcome and the goal of human equality realized. To these ends, we engage in educational, political, cultural, and social activities as a means of addressing the racism, sexism, homophobia, HIV/AIDS discrimination, and other inequities in our communities and in our lives.
