Tribute to Joan Gibbs (1953-2024), Black Lesbian Attorney, Activist and Movement Giant

On Tuesday, March 26, Out-FM will present a tribute to the late Black / African-American lesbian leader and lifelong human rights stalwart, Joan Gibbs, who passed on March 14 at age 71. Joan was a brilliant strategic thinker and doer who was a forerunner of the intersectional action that’s now widely considered essential to progressive social change. We will hear several voices explaining her monumental significance to multiple movements. We will also hear Joan talk about her own history and her views on the activist groups in which she played key roles. This will include her reflections on:

the importance of the late 70s/early 80s group DARE (Dykes Against Racism Everywhere), which she co-founded and which, as she explained, fought both racism in the lesbian/gay movement and homophobia in the Black movement.
her representation of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) members at protests and in courtrooms. She considered ACT UP “one of the best expressions of progressive politics in its practice that has existed since the Civil Rights Movement.”

Joan was also an occasional contributing producer to Out-FM and a dear friend whom we miss tremendously. Joan Gibbs, Presente!

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Just a few highlights of Joan's long and illustrious career (thanks to Rosemari Mealy, Karen D. Taylor, and other colleagues for this information):

Over the years Joan Gibbs worked at the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and for 28 years was general counsel for the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College.  In the 1970s, she was a key member of the National Lawyers Guild’s Grand Jury Project defending activists against intense grand jury abuse. Later, she became a leader in the National Conference of Black Lawyers and was co-chair of the Brecht Forum (sponsor of leftist educational and organizing events and courses) during the 2000s-2010s.

She not only litigated cases involving gender and racial justice, she represented organizations and political activists such as ACT UP (the overwhelmingly queer AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and Black Liberation leader Herman Ferguson. As an independent attorney, she also represented former members of the Black Panther Party such as Sundiata Acoli (co-defendant of Assata Shakur) in their efforts to overturn unjust convictions. In the 1990s, she played a key role in the legal and political defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal, at a time he was facing execution.

Look for an announcement later about plans for a memorial in May.

Send messages of condolence to the family c/o: Maferefun (Mafe) Lavezzari, 487 Lincoln Place-Apt. 1D, Brooklyn, NY 11238

About Out-FM
Out-FM is a weekly progressive, intersectional queer show on listener-sponsored, noncommercial WBAI/Pacifica Radio. It airs at 99.5 FM and wbai.org, generally on Tuesdays from 8-9 PM. Please consider donating $77 to WBAI and receive in turn a copy of the gorgeous, large-format photo book Sister Comrades: The Women of the Black Panther Party, by Ericka Huggins and Stephen Shames. To make your donation, go to give2wbai.org and type into the search box "Comrade Sisters." Or call any time (212) 209-2950. And important: remember to mention Out-FM as your favorite show.
 
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