The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Out & About

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Not only has Thomas Jefferson's famous statement "all men are created equal" proven to be historically difficult to achieve, but it also ignores half of America's demographic: women.

Today, women's rights are about "showing the strength of a free and diverse society," said Dr. Chris Cuomo, director of the University's Institute of Women's Studies.

"In particular, gay and lesbian studies are much more general. It's about the cultural power, history, language and philosophy that impact gender."

In memory of Andrea Coley, a women's studies student who lost her life while speaking out in a homophobic society, the University asks top scholars to lecture on the accomplishments of members of the LGBTQ community at the annual Andrea Carson Coley Lecture.

This year, renowned author and poet Michelle Cliff will be reading works from her short story collection.


"[I'll be] focusing on the journey of an individual from a childhood in which gay people were detested and condemned, an experience I know from my childhood and young adulthood in Jamaica."

Cliff was born in Jamaica, when it was still a British colony.

"My experience growing up in colonial Jamaica, and in postcolonial Jamaica, was one in which I observed the rigidity of a class system. I was struck, for example, by the ways scholarship girls in the private girls' school were treated, far different than the rest of us," she said.

She was inspired to write after reading an article misrepresenting Jamaica.

"I was struck at the way darker skinned people were treated by those who were lighter skinned. I think once I gauged the injustices around me, and the connections between them, my consciousness expanded and I could not look away."

Cliff's writing, often quasi-autobiographical, reflects this point of view.

After the passage of Proposition 8, there are still many obstacles for gay people in America. Cliff believes one of the biggest of these is confronting the ignorance too many people have about what it means to be gay.

"We are not Godless marauders, for example," she said. "I do believe in the power of the word to change and transform minds and that's why I write the things I write."

Cuomo describes Cliff as one of the most accomplished literary figures of our time.

"She has the ability to articulate experience and analysis. That's a rare combination."

Cliff will soon publish a collection of short stories entitled "Everything is Now." The title represents William Faulkner's observation that the past is not past.

"Resistance through writing is an ongoing process for me," Cliff said.

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