News :: GLBT
QWOC reunion event welcomes new and old members by Nicole Mortimer
Contributing WriterWednesday Nov 4, 2009 "Do you know why you swirl your wine in restaurants? Two reasons: one good, one bad. I’ll give you the bad first. Believe it or not, it reduces the alcohol content in your wine. Don’t overdo it!" said Café Luna owner Matt Haymer to gathered members of Queer Women of Color and Friends’ (QWOC+Boston) food and wine tasting event on Oct. 28. Everyone laughed and shook their heads. "But the reason you do want to do it is it opens up the wine."
QWOC held the wine tasting event at Café Luna in Cambridge as a way for members -- old and new -- to connect in between summer’s QWOC Week, their largest event, and the organization’s annual holiday party. QWOC designed this "reunion" as a way to welcome new Bostonians into the community.
Over 30 people attended the event, which showcased three types of wine and flatbread pizza.
Volunteer and organizer Tikesha Morgan said, "It’s a way to socialize without a loud party scene and meet some old and new people."
Morgan found Café Luna while discussing an event for her day job -- Emerson College’s director of multicultural affairs -- and thought it would be perfect for QWOC.
"I’m hoping it’s something we can do yearly, especially for new people in the area," Morgan said.
Adora Asala founded QWOC in August 2006 after finding a dearth of queer women of color in Boston’s social scene.
"I had just graduated and didn’t see many queer women of color out in the social scene, and so I felt I should create a space," she said. "Mostly for selfish reasons," she added, laughing.
"We knew there was community out there," said Morgan. "I’d go out to bars and clubs and social events and see one person of color. It was a problem for us," she said.
Heidy Gonzalez, another volunteer, added, "When I first moved here, all the locations I would visit were primarily white, and I needed a community where I had more in common."
Asala feels the social scene has definitely changed since founding QWOC. She’s noticed more events at Boston Pride, for instance. "There are a lot more women of color out. In general, the [queer] community is moving to be more open."
She said that the community within QWOC+ has grown so large that members can even miss each other at events.
"At every event I meet new people," Gonzalez added.
The next event QWOC has planned is the annual holiday party, which Asala called a staple event. It is scheduled for Dec. 10 at Caprice in downtown Boston, and will feature food and wine -- "the typical holiday stuff," said Asala -- and a party afterward.
"Everyone doesn’t go to every event, but this is one [event] where everyone comes together," she said.
By far the largest event that QWOC puts on is QWOC Week. The celebration features two to three events daily during one week in the summer, covering everything from networking to conferences to art galleries from LGBT artists of color. Gonzalez said that she has seen people come from as far as Virginia for QWOC Week.
There is currently a QWOC group in Brooklyn and one in the works in Virginia. "Little by little, people are starting to get excited," said Gonzalez.
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