Donna Payne

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Title (Dublin Core): Donna Payne-Hardy
Description (Dublin Core): Donna Payne is a Black lesbian feminist activist and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Specialist who lives in Washington DC. She is interviewed by Sharon Doetsch-Kidder.
Abstract (Dublin Core): Donna Payne (she/her) initially describes her personal life, including her relationship with her family, growing up as a pastor’s daughter, and her family’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. She then discusses her romantic life, discovering her sexuality, and her life while she completed her bachelor’s in political science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she faced significant racism. After moving to DC in 1988, she volunteered for the DC Chapter of Young Democrats, the Political Congress of Black Women, and the Clinton Administration’s Health Care Task Force. She then describes her work as the Human Rights Campaign’s Senior Constituency Field Organizer, increasing visibility of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community within the religious and people of color communities. In the last half of the interview, Donna discusses her family’s reaction to her coming out, her experiences with intersectional oppression, and then goes more in depth on her activism. Donna also discusses working to increase Black LGBT+ representation in the March on Washington, working as the founding Vice President of the National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights organization of Black LGBT+ people and allies, and advocating for LGBT+ inclusion in the 2001 World Conference on Racism.
Subject (Dublin Core): Black, lesbian, Nashville, Memphis, Washington DC, Civil Rights Movement, political activism, AME, Young Democrats of America, Political Congress of Black Women, Women’s Coordinating Committee, Human Rights Campaign, National Black Justice Coalition
Date (Dublin Core): December 21 and 22, 2004, and January 12, 2005
Language (Dublin Core): English

Item sets: Donna Payne-Hardy

Donna Payne-Hardy Interview 2004-2005

Click here to listen to Donna Payne's Interviews

Title (Dublin Core): Donna Payne Interview 2021
Description (Dublin Core): Donna Payne is a Black lesbian feminist activist and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Specialist who lives in Washington DC. She is interviewed by Sharon Doetsch-Kidder and Soph Zelizer.
Abstract (Dublin Core): Donna Payne (she/her) describes how her relationship with her family has evolved, meeting her wife, and their wedding. She discusses working with Reverends Dyson and Sharpton to advocate for marriage equality, and tension between religious leaders at a key meeting. She then talks about meeting Minister Louis Farrakhan, and assisting with LGBT+ inclusivity within the Nation of Islam. She describes her work life, leaving the Human Rights Campaign, working with the National Black Justice Coalition, and her current DEI work at the Federal Reserve Board, as well as the impact of Black and LGBT+ leadership. She then outlines her life during the COVID-19 pandemic and her experiences during the Obama and Trump administrations, including working with the Obamas and being invited to the White House. She then highlights the importance of intersectionality, and her most significant accomplishments.
Subject (Dublin Core): Black, lesbian, Nashville, Memphis, Washington DC, political activism, Human Rights Campaign, National Black Justice Coalition, Federal Reserve Board, Nation of Islam, Obama
Date (Dublin Core): December 6, 2021
Language (Dublin Core): English

Item sets: Donna Payne-Hardy

Spotify Link - Donna Payne-Hardy

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Papaya Mann

Title (Dublin Core): Papaya Mann
Description (Dublin Core): Papaya Mann is a Black lesbian womanist HIV/AIDS activist, writer, and musician who lives in Washington DC. She is interviewed by Sharon Doetsch-Kidder.
Abstract (Dublin Core): Papaya Mann (she/her) is a Black lesbian womanist activist and writer and a DC native. She describes her life, focusing on her work with HIV/AIDS education and services since the early days of the AIDS epidemic when she organized information sessions for the African American community as a contractor for the Whitman-Walker Clinic. She describes her role as a founding member of several Black LGBT+ organizations and conferences, including DC Coalition of Black Gays and Lesbians, the National Coalition of Black Gays and Lesbians, and Sapphire Sapphos, a precursor to DC’s Black Lesbian Support Group. She also helped to organize the 1979 National Third World Gay and Lesbian Conference. She then describes her work with Shanti, an organization that supports people living with life-threatening or chronic illnesses, and the Horizons Foundation Board. After serving as Executive Director of the AIDS Project of the East Bay, Papaya returned to DC in 1997 and became Executive Director of the DC Care Consortium. In 2002, she became Executive Director of Africa AIDS Watch.

Papaya then focuses on her personal life, including her relationship with her family and her coming out process, her friendships and romantic relationships, the role art and spirituality have played in her life, and her life in Ghana and current partner. She talks about how she became a womanist feminist, influential thinkers in her life, the challenges she has faced in activism, and the future of activism and politics.
Subject (Dublin Core): Washington DC, Ghana, Bay Area, Black women, lesbian, HIV/AIDS, activism, Whitman Walker Clinic, Shanti Project, Horizons Foundation, AIDS Project of the East Bay, DC Care Consortium, Sapphire Sapphos
Date (Dublin Core): March 30, April 5, and April 7, 2005
Language (Dublin Core): English

Item sets: Papaya Mann

Papaya Mann Interview 2005

Click here to listen to Papaya Mann's Interviews

Spotify Link - Papaya Mann

Click here to listen to the Spirit of Social Change podcast episode about Papaya

Letitia Gomez

Title (Dublin Core): Letitia Gomez
Description (Dublin Core): Leti Gomez is a Chicana lesbian organizer who was active in early LGBTQ organizations in Texas, then cofounded DC’s first Latino LGBTQ+ organization and LLEGO, the first national LGBTQ organization in the US. She was also one of the organizers of the First National Lesbian Conference. She is interviewed by Sharon Doetsch-Kidder.
Abstract (Dublin Core): Leti Gomez (she/her) is a Latina lesbian LGBTQ+ activist based in Washington, DC. She describes her life being raised in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston, Texas, as a Mexican-American and discusses her religious, academic, and family upbringing. She describes her early involvement with the farm worker movement in Texas, sparking her lifelong involvement in social activism. She was involved in lesbian and gay organizing in Texas before moving to DC and co-founding ENLACE, an early Latino/a LGBTQ+ organization in the DC area. She discusses the creation of LLEGO, the first national LGBTQ organization, her role as one of its founding members, and its impacts on the Latino/a LGBTQ+ community. She has also had a leadership role with the Whitman Walker Clinic, which began as a healthcare organization supporting people with HIV/AIDS and the LGBTQ community in Washington, DC. Leti speaks briefly about her involvement in National LGBTQ conferences in various U.S. cities. She addresses the importance of history, her vision for the future, and reminisces on the memorable moments of activism.
Subject (Dublin Core): Mexican American, Lesbian, Gay, Chicana/o, Latinx, Social work, LGBTQ conference, DC, Texas, ENLACE, LLEGO, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, National Lesbian Conference, Whitman Walker Clinic Lesbian Services Program, organizing, activism, social movements
Language (Dublin Core): English
Type (Dublin Core): December 8th, 2004, January 5 2005, and February 21, 2005

Item sets: Letitia Gomez

Letitia Gomez Interview 2004-2005

Click here to read the transcript of Letitia's interview

T.C. Duong

Title (Dublin Core): T.C. Duong
Description (Dublin Core): T.C. Duong is an Asian American bisexual feminist activist. He is interviewed by Sharon Doestch-Kidder.
Abstract (Dublin Core): T.C. is an Asian American bisexual feminist activist who came to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1975, at the age of 3. He describes growing up in California and his relationship with his family. He then went to Claremont McKenna College, where he was involved with the school’s Women’s Center and nonviolent advocacy projects such as the Alternatives to Violence Project and Peace for Justice Project. After graduation, he moved to DC. He described his experience living in group houses and eventually meeting his husband online while looking for the career field he was interested in. He and his husband, Jonathan, were married in a Quaker ceremony, and being Quaker and spiritual has significantly influenced his life. He started in an internship at the Advocacy Institute, moved to a position at the National Lesbian and Gay Health Association, then did policy work at the Sexuality Information and Education Council (SIECUS) before becoming a field organizer at Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). After spending three years working at Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC), T.C. returned to LGBT organizing at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). T.C. describes his experience singing with and co-coordinating the Lesbian and Gay Chorus of Washington, DC, and his core values of anti-oppression and social justice work that have influenced his work and life choices.
Subject (Dublin Core): Washington DC, Feminist, Vietnamese American, Quaker, Politics, Spirituality, LGBTQ, GLSEN, SEARAC, PFLAG, SIECUS, National Gay and Lesbian Health Association
Date (Dublin Core): December 5 and December 18, 2004, and January 2, 2005
Language (Dublin Core): English