Cleo Manago (born September 21, 1960) is an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

activist and social architect who coined the term ''

same gender loving Same-gender-loving, or SGL, a term coined for African American and African Diaspora use by activist Cleo Manago, is a description for homosexuals in the African American community. It emerged in the early 1990s as a culturally affirming African A ...

''Editors: Aggleton, Peter; Parker, Richard
''Routledge Handbook of Sexuality, Health and Rights''

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, 2010, p. 459, (or SGL) as an alternative for

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

descended or black people who do not wish to identify as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

or lesbian due to the perceived

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western worl ...

nature of the latter terminology and community practices. Along with his activism, he is also a blogger and columnist. Manago rejects the terms ''gay'', ''bisexual'' and ''lesbian'' because he believes they are white, eurocentric-constructed identities which do not culturally affirm the culture and history of African descended people. Manago is also the founder and CEO of AmASSI Health and Cultural Centers and Black Men's Xchange (BMX).

Early life and other activities

Manago is a native of

south-central Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as ...

and began a vocation in social services when he was 16 years of age. He was once a professional musician (a bassist). He is a blogger and has written several articles some of which have been published by Dogon Village. In 2011, he co-authored, produced, directed and starred in the educational documentary ''I AM A MAN: Black Manhood & Sexual Diversity''."Explosive New Film featuring Al Sharpton and Cleo Manago Addresses Black Men’s Challenges with Manhood, Sexuality and Masculinity", September 13, 2011
nKick Mag, retrieved July 10, 2015 Although usually referred to as a "social activist", Manago dislikes the term "activist" when applied to him. He believes black LGBT activism to be "tethered to mainstream

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With root ...

, ideology, and single-focused gay organizations," which he views as culturally dissonant and too limited in scope to be meaningful and beneficial to African-American

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

communities and the larger black community. It has been suggested that he credited the term ''

men who have sex with men Men who have sex with men (MSM) are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex. The term was created in the 1990s by epidemiologists to study the spread of disease among all men who have sex with men, regardless of ...

'' (MSM).''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''
"Cleo Manago: The Most Dangerous Black Gay Man?"
by Irene Monroe, February 17, 2012

AmASSI Health and Cultural Centers

A.m.A.S.S.I. or AmASSI (The African, American Advocacy, Support-Services & Survival Institute) was founded in 1989 by Manago. It aims to end "

health disparities Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequiti ...

, self-concept and inter-group conflict among diverse people of African descent." Since its foundation in 1989, it has become one of the replicated organizations in the United States, making Manago an early provider of the AIDS movement of culturally specific HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention services for African-Americans using a

psychosocial The psychosocial approach looks at individuals in the context of the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical and mental wellness and their ability to function. This approach is ...

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

model.

Black Men's Xchange (BMX)

Founded in 1989, the Black Men's Xchange (BMX) is the oldest and largest community-based movement in the U.S devoted to promoting healthy self-concept and behavior, cultural affirmation, and critical consciousness among SGL, gay-identified and bisexual African-descended males and their allies. This organization has chapters in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Orange County, Detroit, Denver, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. It has been funded by " the Center for Disease Control's Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative program. And the CDC positions BMX alongside other legacy community black organization such as the NAACP, the

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

, the

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) is an American educational foundation. It conducts research on issues affecting African Americans, publishes a yearly report on key legislation, and sponsors issue forums, leadership seminars and ...

, and

American Urban Radio Networks American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) is the only African-American owned and operated Nielsen RADAR-rated radio network in the United States. Privately held for the last three years with new ownership, AURN reaches an estimated 25 million listen ...

Criticism and response

Among certain members of the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

community, Manago is regarded as "homo

demagogue A demagogue (from Greek , a popular leader, a leader of a mob, from , people, populace, the commons + leading, leader) or rabble-rouser is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, ...

contrarian A contrarian is a person who holds a contrary position, especially a position against the majority. Investing A contrarian investing style is based on identifying, and speculating against, movements in stock prices that reflect changes in t ...

, separatist, and anti-white. However, some among the

same-gender-loving Same-gender-loving, or SGL, a term coined for African American and African Diaspora use by activist Cleo Manago, is a description for homosexuals in the African American community. It emerged in the early 1990s as a culturally affirming African Ame ...

(SGL), bisexual, transgender, and liberal heterosexual African-American community view him as a visionary and "social architect" advocating for a group of people marginalized by the white LGBT community. Manago view terms such as "gay" and "lesbian" as vestiges of white Eurocentric dominance, and defined "gay" as "the mainstream white (patriarchal) homosexual community."Rimmerman, Craig A.; Wald, Kenneth D.; Wilcox, Clyde (eds.), ''The Politics of Gay Rights'',

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

(2000),
pp. 91-92
retrieved July 10, 2015. According to Manago, "In the midst of a need for affirmation and acknowledgment from the 'gay' community, same-gender-loving Black people are subject to

sexual objectification Sexual objectification is the act of treating a person solely as an object of sexual desire. Objectification more broadly means treating a person as a commodity or an object without regard to their personality or dignity. Objectification is mo ...

, discrimination,

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

treatment and indifference." The SGL movement also objects to the

pink triangle A pink triangle has been a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community, initially intended as a badge of shame, but later reclaimed as a positive symbol of self-identity and love for queerness. In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, it began as one of the ...

, the

rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recogniz ...

and the lambda symbol, which they view as symbols of white gayness, "none of which is African- or black-identified."

Notes and references

External links

The Black Men's Xchange Washington, D.C. Chapter official website

The A.m.A.S.S.I. official website
*
Manago's official blog

Video of "I AM A MAN: BLACK MANHOOD & SEXUAL DIVERSITY"
on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software a ...

Manago's articles
in Dogon Village, retrieved July 10, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Manago, Cleo Living people LGBT African Americans People from South Los Angeles American LGBT rights activists 21st-century LGBT people 1960 births