Mary Hooks
I came into organizing not knowing what organizing was, so a lot of what I was trying to do at that time inside of SONG was to develop a kinship network, to break isolation of LGBT people living in the South. Now we’re at a point that we can give people the tools and training to organize in their community around issues that are impacting our communities not just as LGBTQ people, but as black folks, as working class people. We have to wake up people’s political imagination about how we take on fights. So beyond the marches, which is still one of the big catch-all, rapid response things, we’re using the guerrilla theater in terms of our approach to the work.
What does SONG feel are some of the emerging issues facing the LGBT community and marginalized people overall?
We see critical issues with people who live at the intersection of race, class, sexuality and gender. One issue is the criminalization and detaining of transgender folks. They are put in cages and made to sit in solitary confinement because they don’t conform to the binaries of male population or female population. Also homelessness. People come to Atlanta from small towns looking for sanctuary and gay community and find themselves sleeping downtown and not finding community or resources, and not having access to healthcare. I just see this new administration stripping away Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act and worry our folks are going to be impacted.
What do you think a Trump presidency will look like for LGBT people and people of color? How will SONG respond?
I think that this new administration will continue to use wedge issues, pitting communities against each other. I think all the stuff we saw with the anti-trans bills that were coming out last year was an example of how this administration will function, passing laws like bathroom bills that demonize a set of our base and our people. We’ll continue to see more of those policies come into play. I believe it’s either Minnesota or Texas that’s in the state House right now trying to put forth legislation that says if stores aren’t going to have gender neutral bathrooms, they have to hire bathroom monitors to check birth certificates. We’re going to see increased policing of people’s bodies. I think for SONG, the focus will become to build up the heart muscle of our people to fight back, to show active resistance to protect our people to stand up for each other.
What is your response to those who feel that the results of social agitation are just too slow to make getting involved worthwhile?
It took black people 400 years to get slavery abolished. So when we talk about this legacy of resistance, it’s a part of a long term goal. We want to see changes happen instantly in our community of course, but it is more about how we are setting the world up for our children and our children’s children. We have to see ourselves as part of something larger – part of a legacy of resistance. Every day we have an opportunity to make history. We have to be accountable for that and should want to feel like a contributor.