1. Jewelle Lydia Gomez was born on September 11,1948 and is an American author, poet, critic and playwright.
23 Facts About Jewelle Gomez
1. 2.
Jewelle Gomez lived in New York City for 22 years, working in public television, theater, as well as philanthropy, before relocating to the West Coast.
3.
Jewelle Gomez has been interviewed for several documentaries focused on LGBT rights and culture.
4.
Jewelle Gomez was born on September 11,1948, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Dolores Minor LeClaire, a nurse, and John Gomez, a bartender.
5.
Jewelle Gomez authored the theatrical adaptation of The Gilda Stories.
6.
Jewelle Gomez has written literary and film criticism for numerous publications including The Village Voice, the San Francisco Chronicle, Ms.
7.
Jewelle Gomez particularly praises The Village Voice for helping her to develop as a writer.
8.
Jewelle Gomez was interviewed for the 1999 film After Stonewall.
9.
Jewelle Gomez authored a play about James Baldwin, Waiting For Giovanni, in 2010, in collaboration with Harry Waters Jr.
10.
Jewelle Gomez wrote the play Leaving the Blues, about singer Alberta Hunter, which premiered in 2017 at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center.
11.
Jewelle Gomez contributed to Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times, edited by Carolina De Robertis and published by Vintage Books in 2017.
12.
Jewelle Gomez's play Unpacking in Ptown, the third in the trilogy "Words and Music" premiered at New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco in March 2024.
13.
Jewelle Gomez was on the original staff of Say Brother, one of the first weekly Black television shows, and was on the founding board of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in 1984.
14.
Jewelle Gomez served on the early boards of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation and the Open Meadows Foundation, both devoted to funding women's organizations and activities.
15.
Jewelle Gomez was a member of the loose-knit philanthropic collective founded in San Francisco in 1998 called 100 Lesbians and Our Friends.
16.
Jewelle Gomez was a commencement speaker at the University of California Berkeley's Women and Gender Studies Commencement, the University of California at Los Angeles Queer Commencement, and acted as a keynote speaker twice for Gay Pride in New York City and as a host for Pride San Francisco.
17.
Jewelle Gomez has written extensively about gay rights since the 1980s, including articles on equal marriage in Ms.
18.
Jewelle Gomez was the director of Cultural Equity Grants at the San Francisco Arts Commission and the director of the Literature Program for the New York State Council on the Arts.
19.
Jewelle Gomez has presented lectures and taught at numerous institutions of higher learning including San Francisco State University, Hunter College, Rutgers University, New College of California, Grinnell College, San Diego City College, Ohio State University, and the University of Washington.
20.
Jewelle Gomez is the former director of the Literature Program at the New York State Council on the Arts and of Cultural Equity Grants at the San Francisco Arts Commission.
21.
Jewelle Gomez served as executive director of the Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives at San Francisco State University.
22.
Jewelle Gomez is the former Director of Grants and Community Initiatives for Horizons Foundation, the oldest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender foundation in the US.
23.
Jewelle Gomez formerly served as the President of the San Francisco Public Library Commission.