In my job, I am fortunate to meet many people. I tend to remember most people I've talked to over the years, but some people definitely stick out.

In March 2010, shortly after GA Voice opened and I started working again, I went to Morehouse College to cover the university's first gay Pride campus celebration.

While there, I met Kevin Webb and Daniel Edwards, co-presidents of the college's Safe Space program.

Openly gay, proud of it, and just smart and kind and articulate in every way, these young men impressed me.

I've also met and talked to Yolo Akili, formerly of Atlanta, who impresses me not only as a poet, but as a young man strives to be the change he wants to see.

So it was a nice gift this morning to see in my email box a Google alert that just happened to include a blog by Akili in which he interviews Edwards.

They discuss comic books, feminism, the church and their art. Check out the entire blog for a good read and video links to some of Edwards' short films. But one question and answer struck a chord with me.

Akili asked Edwards: How do you define queer? And why do you/ or do you choose to identify as queer rather than or/in conjunction with identifying as gay? Or do you choose to identify with any of them at all?

Edwards' answer: I define queer as anything that is not easily readable. Anything that keeps you guessing because it’s constantly evolving. Queer for me ranges from personality to sexuality. I often use queer and gay interchangeably.

I know gay, queer, etc. are White-constructed sociopolitical terms that did not include people of color. However, that’s what I came to know first and how I came into my own. The rainbows, the 'Out and Proud' consciousness may have came from people that do not look like me, but I am affirmed. It’s an affirmation that I’ve had to create in my own Black community because we don’t readily give it to each other.

What are your thoughts about what these men had to say?

Photo: Daniel Edwards (left) and Yolo Akili. (via yoloakili.com)