The Backstory: Aliya S. King Talks “Mean Girls of Morehouse”
October 11th, 2010
Morehouse College, the historically black institution for men, and Martin Luther King’s alma mater, has a girl problem—a “mean girl” problem to be exact. Aliya S. King’s latest story in VIBE magazine explores the lives of gender bending cross-dressers who fight for their right to express themselves. The story has been causing quite a stir. Before the story hit stands, the President of Morehouse said he was “insulted by what is to be published. Addressing our young men as ‘girls’ is deeply disturbing to me, no matter what the remainder of the article may say.” Here—thanks to my extra special inside track—Aliya S. King responds to the Morehouse president and explains the story behind the story.
WHEN YOU REACHED OUT TO MOREHOUSE ADMINISTRATION FOR THE STORY, HOW DID THEY REACT? I was told that they would not be able to give me a comment in time. I asked continually and finally at the eleventh hour, I sent them some specific quotes and they sent in some email responses. Which I guess is how he knew about the story.
BEFORE THE STORY WENT TO PRINT, MOREHOUSE PRESIDENT, ROBERT M. FRANKLIN, SENT OUT A STATEMENT. I’M GOING TO READ SOME OF HIS PROVOCATIVE EXCERPTS. STOP ME WHEN I GET TO THE PARTS WITH WHICH YOU DISAGREE.
HERE GOES:
“The article, entitled, “The Mean Girls at Morehouse,” purports to examine the lives of some of our gay brothers as it relates to the enforcement of our appropriate attire policy we enacted a year and a half ago. It seems clear from the headline alone that the Vibe editorial team’s intent is to sensationalize and distort reality for the purpose of driving readership.”
The president wrote this letter before reading this story. I don’t know how anything could seem clear from him by reading this headline. I don’t think you can judge an article by its headline alone any more than you can a book by reading its cover.
LET ME CONTINUE …
The title of the article speaks volumes about a perspective that is very narrow and one that is, in all likelihood, offensive to our students whether gay or straight.
I think the president was trying to get ahead of the story and assuage the reaction of the alumni. I think that its unfortunate that he felt he needed to speak out before actually reading the story.
BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO AGREE THAT IT IS NARROWLY FOCUSED. Absolutely it is narrow. It’s a profile. The purpose of my story was to highlight an admittedly small community at Morehouse but it is one that exists. The profile focuses on four men. Two former and two current students.
OKAY, BACK TO THE PRESIDENT’S LETTER:
“As president of this institution, as a Morehouse graduate and as a father, I am insulted by what is to be published. Addressing our young men as “girls” is deeply disturbing to me, no matter what the remainder of the article may say.”
I think it’s curious that he finds it insulting for certain Morehouse men to be referred to as girls when certain Morehouse men refer to themselves as “her” and “she” in casual conversation. Is it deeply disturbing to him that these students actually call themselves girls? The title came from a quote from one of my subjects, a Morehouse student named Brian Alston. I didn’t stamp this on them.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO WRITE THIS STORY? It’s fascinating. I don’t care if it was just one student. If it was only one person on Morehouse campus who wanted to wear a purse and a pocketbook, I would want to do a profile on that one man. The dress code is what initially inspired me to look into it. I didn’t set out to write a story on the Plastics, which is what these girls also call themselves. I started out attempting to write a story about the gay community in Morehouse on a whole.
HOW DID THIS TURN INTO A STORY ABOUT CROSS-DRESSING GENDER BENDERS? In my research, I stumbled across these young men who were gender benders. I became fascinated with them and the story just evolved from there.
Londyn Di Richelieu, a post-op transexual is the only known woman who can say "I'm a Morehouse man."
WAS THERE ANY HESITANCY ABOUT EXPOSING THIS CONFLICT AT A BLACK COLLEGE, WHICH HAS SO MANY OTHER PROBLEMS TO DEAL WITH? As an African-American woman I have a great respect for the Morehouse brand, so of course there was some hesitancy. But then my journalistic instincts kicked in. A good story is a good story.
WITH A STORY LIKE THIS, THERE IS ALWAYS SOME INTERESTING STUFF LEFT ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR. WHAT DID YOU LEAVE OUT OF THIS ONE? Um, the story of a Morehouse graduate who is now a woman whose name is Londyn De Richelieu. I wasn’t able to interview London in time for the story. I wish I could have because she is perhaps the only person who could say, “I’m a Morehouse man and I’m a woman.”
THE PHOTO SHOOT, WHICH SHOWS THESE GUYS DRESSED AS GIRLS ON AN HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE FOR MEN IS A BIT JARRING. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? There were three separate parts of the photo shoot. Two scenes on campus this past summer. One in front of the Martin Luther King Statue and one in front of the college sign.
I met the photographer, Alex Martinez, the day before the shoot. We scouted out the location. Then the next day we shot the scenes. It was furtive and rushed. School wasn’t in session but there was an element of we need to get this done quickly.
HOW DO YOU THINK MOREHOUSE PRESIDENT FRANKLIN WILL REACT TO THE STORY, NOW THAT IT’S OUT? He will see where he was mistaken in making the assumption he made but he will still not be pleased with it.
WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE HE WILL SAY ABOUT THE PHOTOS? That’s a great question. I wish I could be sitting next to him when he looks at them.
THIS IS ALL HAPPENING AT DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.’S ALMA MATER. HOW DOES THAT FACT FIGURE INTO THIS STORY?
Wrapped around the MLK statue is a quote that says, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” So, those men are standing up there in makeup, pumps, and pocketbooks, saying: “Morehouse look, we dress this way, we look this way and we refer to ourselves as girls, but if we cannot express ourselves it’s an injustice.” That photo didn’t make the story but that’s how they feel. Like they should be allowed to wear a dress and still be a “man” of Morehouse.
BUT THEY CALL THEMSELVES GIRLS. Yes! I posed that question to them. Their answer was we are males, gender bending men.
DO YOU THINK IT”S UNFAIR THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO IDENTIFY AS GIRLS AT A BOYS’ SCHOOL? No comment.
WHAT ABOUT THE DRESS CODE. ARE THEY BEING UNFAIRLY TARGETED BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DRESS LIKE GIRLS? According to my subjects the dress code is not enforced all around. Because you cant wear sagging jeans pajama pants or du rags. I must say, I did see students on campus wearing just that this summer.
IN THE FUTURE, WILL HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES HAVE TO OPEN UP TO BE MORE INCLUSIVE TO THIS SORT OF GENDER IDENTITY? Oh, that’s a good question. This small community is only going to get larger it is not going to stay small forever. It will be interesting to see how they handle it.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN WITH THE DRESS CODE AT MOREHOUSE? I didn’t write this story with the hopes of changing their ideas. Morehouse is an African-American, Christian-based school in the Deep South. I didn’t have any thoughts that I was going to change the view of the administration on anything.
-30-
People forget that Morehouse is a private institution and can do whatever they see fit to ensure that there is a distraction free learning environment for the students attending the college. This is obviously a distraction.
And when I was there the dress code was enfored quite often. I’ve been kicked out of the cafeteria for wearing pajama pants and asked to remove my hat when inside on several occasions. That’s part of the process and matriculation through the school.
You’re not going to be able to go into a real world interview with pumps and a purse and have it turn out well for you. They’re just trying to prepare these kids for real world situations. You can save that other stuff for the night club…just sayin.
Please use your “special inside track” to Ms. King to relay her my message:
First, to call this individual the “only known woman” who can call herself a Morehouse Man is an insult to the real women who actually did graduate from Morehouse College during the war (or did your so called “research” not reveal this fact?).
Second, you and this article are both disgraceful. You could have written this farce of an article without mentioning Morehouse. I understand that no one would read this pseudo-journalism if you didn’t use the name of a reputable institution, however I don’t understand why you’re willing to defame the reputation of Morehouse to push your agenda. And you actually invoked a quote from Dr. King to support someone’s wish to cross-dress on a private 3 acre tract of land that he doesn’t have to attend? You should be ashamed.
And finally, to Vibe Magazine, I can’t believe you’re publishing this drivel. I guess it worked since I had forgotten that your garbage rag even existed before 2 days ago. I hope this is the final nail in your coffin.
Rick Rod:
I think I might agree with you in regards to some aspect of the private property argument but here they are talking an issue of fairness. This is the thing Rand Paul got in trouble for when talking about the Civil Rights Act and how it went too far stopping private businesses from being allowed to discriminate against blacks (see previous post, “Things Rachel Maddow Told Me“). Even private institutions have to be fair. I think an easier solution is to have a uniform or strict dress code of only dark suits while in class or in main areas. What you wear outside of that, is whatever. That is pretty easy to institute and it would do away with any claims, however small, of discrimination.
To Reggie (First commenter):
1.) “The Only Known Woman…”
The “only known” woman was my words I used for the caption. Aliya said it a different way but meant kinda the same thing. The reason why I wrote that on the caption, and I may be splitting hairs, is because the other women who graduated during war time didn’t graduate as, and never were, Morehouse “men.” Londyn attended Morehouse as a man and graduated as a man. Now she is a woman. It’s word play. But not ignorant or meant to downplay the women who graduated from Morehouse.
2.) Dr. King Quote/ Make college anonymous (not Morehouse)?
The Dr. King quote is often stretched to fit many causes. This one may too be a stretch but it can apply to these students in regards to their numbers and the small, or otherwise seemingly insignificant, amount of “injustice” they suffer, if you buy into their argument. On the question of Morehouse anonymity, that would go against all real journalist principals. Mostly because it is not a work of fiction and the fact that it is Morehouse is a major part of the story. I see no good reason why any fair journalist would protect any institution in that fashion.
3. Vibe nail in coffin?
Eh, no comment to that one. But I do hope you read my story on the Black Republican Tim Scott in that same issue. Dude is poised to be the first African-American Republican congressman from the south since 1902… On the reals, I thank you for visiting my blog. Your comments are much appreciated here.
To Rick Rod:
“Real world situations” of the present and future are what we as adults and active citizens make them. If we choose to continue a status quo in school policies or in any level of government in which men and women must fit into rigid roles dictating how they should feel, dress, act, speak, worship, love, or express themselves, we are continuing a status quo that encourages internalization of oppressive norms that decide who is morally “correct” or “superior.” Once upon a time, and still to this day, these same rigid kinds of ideas were used to dehumanize Africans because they came from cultures that did not adhere to Western, Eurocentric standards of what was “rational” or “enlightened.” Rigid ideas of heterosexuality and gender were not native to every culture in the least. They were categories formed to keep certain groups of people in power and certain groups controlled.
So yes, Morehouse can enforce what policies it chooses as a private institution. That does not mean that enforcing a dress policy which relates not at all to the content of one’s character will go down in history as an admirable, progressive or just set of rules. In the end, that is unfortunate for this very respectable and legendary institution.
Additionally, it is unfortunate if people are so distracted by the outfits their classmates are wearing that they feel they cannot learn. I doubt that the majority of Morehouse students could say they’ve performed poorly in classes because of the Plastics, and if they did they must need to find better ways to focus. My guess is many Morehouse students have dealt with many more serious distractions in their lifetimes, such as poverty, racism, bad public schools, drugs or violence. These are the issues we should be the most concerned about correcting.
To Reggie and Erik Parker:
There is absolutely no doubt about the amount of injustice (no quotation marks necessary) that these students suffer. As their friend, I have been privy to their accounts and my own witnessing of emotionally and physically abusive events they go through every single day. They live lives constantly in danger of being disrupted by the rage of people who don’t even know them or have any obligation to be around them. This should illustrate how deeply they know who they are. Why would they choose to lead such difficult lives if they could be happy being “normal?” Who wants to be on the constant defense for hateful remarks and actions directed towards them if it would be easy to pass as someone else? Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated for the humanity and inherent worthiness of every man or woman, and for our surfaces to not be the basis upon which our personhood was judged. If we support bashing people (emotionally or physically) just for stylistic choices or for expressing how they truly feel in terms of gender (by the way scientific research proves that every human falls in a range of their balance of male and female hormones, which make for a unique combination of traits in every person), we are supporting injustices elsewhere. We are supporting putting down any men, whether straight or gay, who demonstrate any “feminine” traits (i.e. being sensitive, loving, loyal, peaceful or understanding). We are encouraging especially black men to be stoic and unfeeling in ways that brew resentment and rage at the lack of room for them to express how hurt they are by institutionalized oppressions. We are encouraging violence and the inability to love oneself, which is a direct path to the inability to love and support others in one’s community.
Aliya S. King did not create a piece of “pseudo-journalism.” She wrote a feature article that described the lives of very special people who have suffered very special injustices. She did make up rumors, she did not implicate anyone who was not involved, but she did tell stories that have been ignored and pushed aside in the media until very recently. It’s a small step but a beautiful one. People don’t have to agree, but can they at least have respect for someone else’s struggle? If we built alliances between marginalized groups instead of divisions, we might actually be able to change the major injustices that still permeate this country’s structures and institutions.
I, too, have an inside track to Parker and King (just to show that an inside track doesn’t mean blind agreement), but I have to say I agree with Rick. If these “girls” want to gender bend, either save it for the club or go to another school. Is it fair? No, but, that’s part and parcel of going to a private school. Christian school. In the South. It’s almost as if they wanted to create a stir. They would have been better off and probably more comfortable going to NYU. Either way, the article was well-written, whether I agree with the “girls” or not.
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