How to Amplify Melanated Voices

In these current times, we’ve been hearing the importance of amplifying melanated voices.

What we haven’t been discussing is, why this representation of melanated (or Black, Indigenous, People of Color) voices matters. Historically, marginalized and oppressed groups and their voices have not been represented in mainstream research or conversations about sex, sexuality, or sexual health care. Instead, black and brown bodies have been misrepresented, hypersexualized, physically abused, and medically mistreated. Race, gender, and sexual orientation have often been controlled with the paradigm of privilege rather than liberty.

Many Americans celebrated Juneteenth and the 4th of July and we will celebrate these for years to come. The key underpinning in both celebrations is freedom – from ideals, politics, and structural systems that bound the ways in which we live. If we have a goal of sexual liberation, we ought to push for representation within the field of sexuality. This representation must include individuals who do not subscribe to the typical (or majority) groups providing sexual information. By this, let me be clear, we need more men and transgender women of color in the field. We need more folk who do not subscribe or conform to heteronormativity or monogamy. We need more individuals who support and respect inclusiveness, justice, and transformative sexuality education.