In a historic move, Reverend Al Sharpton recently sat down and broke bread with Cleo Manago and the Black Men's Xchange (BMX) along with their heterosexual allies. The Black Men's Xchange (BMX) is a national empowerment organization of same-gender-loving (SGL) and bisexual Black males.

The meeting was held at the posh Regency hotel on the upper east side of Manhattan, where Sharpton discussed his interest in working with the Black Men's Xchange (BMX) to combat anti-homosexual attitudes in the Black community.

According to Sharpton, "Up until now, a few people have invited me to make speeches on homosexuality in the Black community. Then I'd leave. What has been needed are some real strategies, dialogue and programmatic approaches to addressing the unproductive and sometimes hypocritical perspectives on homosexuality in the Black churches and community."

BMX made history and gained national media attention and prominence when Manago was selected by Minister Louis Farrakhan to speak at the Millions More Movement rally last fall. Manago set a precedent as the first openly homosexual Black man to ever address a national Black audience on the issue.

To clarify BMX's use of the term same-gender-loving instead of gay, Manago offers this, "Culturally affirming ourselves as Black people and the term love are very important parts of who we are, and what we do. Gay is a white homosexual construction and politic. We prefer to embrace ourselves in our own image as a part of the Black community."

Sharpton believes that to win the last presidential election George W. Bush used the fact that African Americans have yet to meaningfully discuss homosexuality to his advantage. "It has never helped Black people to ignore this issue or to marginalize homosexuals. I watched my own sister suffer in silence because we have not addressed it. It's time that we do." Sharpton went on to say, "Influential Black leaders in the community point to BMX as the best group to work with to help us address homophobic attitudes in the Black community. We gotta' get this ball rolling in an effective way."

A specific agenda and course of action was outlined in the meeting. Plans to be implemented are as follows:

-Sharpton's National Action Network will officially partner with the Black Men's Xchange (BMX) to address Black homophobia.

-Sharpton will attend a BMX Friday night gathering over the next few weeks for a dialogue with a group of same-gender-loving African Americans

-BMX members will appear on Sharpton's TV One Series "Sharp Talk With Al Sharpton," and will be featured guests on both his WBAI and WRKS talk shows to publicize the organizations' joint efforts.

As a long time community activist and international civil rights leader, Reverend Al Sharpton is perhaps the ideal person who can make a difference in changing anti-homosexual views in the African-American community toward unity. According to Manago, "Some of the concerns African Americans have around homosexuality come from a legitimate apprehension about the impact racism has had on Black people's self-concept respecting manhood. Though this may be a dysfunctional perspective, it is up to us as SGL Black people to make the discourse functional and respectful of our diversity."