Integrating the Past with Now

With my anthology due out in June, it's time for a proud announcement: I was born in 1947 to a family that was prominent in the Art World, and in Society. The Philadelphia Maklers are easily Googled.   My birth name- Craig Welsh Makler- was one, which opened doors "in all the right places" but, in 1973, when I realized that I was a creative artist, I wanted to be sure I wasn't given special treatment on the basis of where I came from. So I took other family names, rearranged them, and- voila!- Adrian Brooks was born. This wasn't a secret, just my way of trying to ensure that anything I earned, I earned fair and square. And if I failed, okay, I'd fail "on my own merit."

From the early 70s on, I had some successes as a published poet, performer and writer of fiction and non-fiction with four books out, so far, but the secure-making recognition I hoped for proved elusive. Now after 40+ arduous years, and having been everything from a designer to a marijuana farmer, it's finally clear that the new anthology- THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY- will prove a game changer. As such, it's time for me to accept the fact that I don't need to "earn my spurs" in quite the same way.

I owe this shift to my publisher, Brenda Knight at Cleis Press, but, also, to many other people who helped me along the way. And yet, it's a paradox that the one time my name was leaked-- Google it, please, it was from someone I'd known 40 years ago, a man who penned a vicious (anonymous) attack, thinking that he was outing me, instead of bringing me the peace that arises from knowing that one took the hard road out of choice. And somehow, made it work.

I feel fortunate to have survived 43 years of hard work, including 35 years of living with HIV-- (seroconverting in 1980, 15 years before there was effective medication) and having had the chance to be of service to the LGBT community, among other circles. What we have today as an identity is far, far different from the kind of community and revolutionary zeal that I knew as a revolutionary activist in the 60s and, from the early 70s on, as a radical creative artist. But the long road does lead forward; it integrates the Past with the sense of Now; it also brings in rewards for those who walk the walk.

Many of the finest people I knew fell to AIDS or their own demons. And it's undeniable that, with age, comes a certain rue: regret at what could not be sustained; at choices which were necessary, yet difficult; the cost of survival, which so often means refusing comfort or safe harbor or compromise. Seeing Bruce Jenner last night reminded me of how Life keeps on presenting us with new obstacles but, also, new chances to fuse who we were (and how others once saw us) with who we are today. And who we are still becoming.

Announcing: THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY

My anthology on LGBT political activism dedicated to Josephine Baker and Bayard Rustin and with a Foreword by Jonathan Katz is coming in June from Cleis Press. It features 25 of the most compelling leaders, artists, and national spokespersons in the US today. Completely representative and diverse in every way, THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY covers the past 100 years of radical political activism and activists. Given the brave souls included- as contributors or as subjects, and all those who marched with us at every step of the way, the anthology, which was guided into being by publisher Brenda Knight, is a tribute to the best of the American spirit and to Human Rights. Soo... take THAT Indiana! As the slogan from the 60s goes: "The people united can never be defeated."

Honi soi qui mal y Pence

Take THAT Indiana! haha

Indiana's anti-gay law.

I don't see what all the fuss is about. So Indiana is giving people the right to decide not to serve gay people? Big deal. If I don't want to serve gays, I shouldn't have to. And if I don't want to serve blacks, I shouldn't have to. And if I don't want to serve women, I shouldn't have to. And if I don't want to serve Hispanics, I shouldn't have to. If I don't want to serve Jews, I shouldn't have to. And if I don't want to serve Catholics, I shouldn't have to. If I don't want to serve Mormons, I shouldn't have to. And if I don't want to serve Muslims, I shouldn't have to. And if I don't want to serve foreigners, I shouldn't have to. If I don't want to serve people with disabilities, I shouldn't have to. And if I don't want to serve the elderly, I shouldn't have to. And if I don't want to serve people who don't look good with their clothes off, I shouldn't have to. If I don't want to serve people who practice oral sex, I shouldn't have to. And if I don't want to serve people who make less than, say $100,000 a year, I shouldn't have to. If I don't want to serve people who are bald, I should have to. And if I don't want to serve people who don't believe that the USA is the greatest nation in the history of the world because it stands up for freedom and human rights, I shouldn't have to. Right?

new project: the great art of the South

I'm so proud to say I've been invited to write a book about the great American self-taught artists of the South, who, not co-incidentally, are African-American. They include Thornton Dial and the Gee's Bend quilters, whose work has recently been acquired by the Met- (the Metropolitan Museum) in New York. The Met just accepted a bequest of 57 works. This book will pull together many of my lifelong loves: great art, racial progress, the bravery of pioneers who went out on a limb and did marvelous things, and underdogs who have triumphed over a system I know only too well, having grown up in it: the Art World Establishment. Coincidentally, three generations of my family have known Bill Arnett, who championed this cause and saw it through against all the odds. So... the path unfolds and I feel honored beyond measure to apply myself to this task. For those not aware of Thornton Dial or the Gee's Bend quilts, or others who are part of this hidden culture in America, which is the untold story of the greatest art in the US of the past 50 years, I urge you to go to Google and feast your eyes.

New novel finished!

A book about the devil tempting an artist- set in Paris and ranging from the top of Notre Dame to the catacombs beneath the city. Stay tuned.

Big things, little things

Facing what I'll call a Big Bad Thing last week, I decided not to freak out. Instead, I stepped back, raised my sights, and made really major progress in another direction. The result? The potentially "bad thing" is far less important to me. And, paradoxically, the "big"- (in the Big Bad Thing), isn't so "big" at all. So I have the wonderful feeling of watching the cards play out with a sense of detachment-- whether it's called karma or inevitability. Or maybe it's just the difference between being caught up in worldly affairs vs. maintaining fidelity to my Self? Anyway, a lose/lose scenario turned into a win/win.