Say “Women’s History Month” in Atlanta and echoes reverberate far outward. Select only one jewel to examine? I choose ZAMI-NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging), the nation’s only organization focused on Black lesbians over the age of 50.
I recently sat down with Mary Anne Adams – Atlanta’s indefatigable community activist, social worker, public health researcher, and self-proclaimed “Black Lesbian Feminist Elder Justice Warrior.”
The name ZAMI derives from Audre Lorde’s “Zami: A New Spelling of My Name,” which coined the term “biomythography.” Adams co-founded Atlanta’s ZAMI organization in 1988 to empower and affirm the lives of lesbians of color through advocacy, support groups, socializing, and scholarship. Eventually, ZAMI annually provided $22,000 in scholarship funds for researchers and poets.
“I looked around and noticed I was not seeing older lesbians. Where were they disappearing to?” Adams wondered. “Well, where they once frequented, they didn’t feel welcome. They’d go into clubs, and other entertainment spaces, and get the harshest ‘what are you doing here?’ treatment. Because Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ community is so youth-oriented.”
Adams was concerned about isolation, loneliness, and mental and physical health issues for older Black lesbians, so in 2011, she started ZAMI-NOBLA – with aging front and center. The organization eventually grew nationwide.
“We have state chapters in North Carolina and Georgia,” Adams said. “We’re a 501(c)3 and have a national board, plus members-at-large. Our youngest is 40, our oldest 90, with quite a few in their 80s.”
Adams said the organization’s mission remains to “demolish barriers to wellness and address health disparities by educating and informing our community and by training providers in elder- and trans-affirming care.”
Adams said there is so much ageism, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community. “That [aging] is not sexy! Because to talk about age means you’ll die the next day,” she said. “From the time you’re born, you see those commercials, ‘I’ve fallen, I can’t get up.’ So, people internalize. You don’t want to be that.”
She said that older people who helped build the LGBTQ+ movement cannot afford to be “thrown away,” because they carry so much knowledge.
“Elders need our young generations. We’re interdependent as marginalized communities. People are trying to kill us, every day,” Adams said. “Ain’t nobody going to save us but us. And ‘us’ means LGBTQ+.”.
She said it’s up to each generation to pass their stories on, to create safe, nurturing spaces for everyone. “We can keep people in their homes longer, we can have collaborative community accommodation,” Adams said. “We can ensure access to medical care, with non-oppressive providers who don’t turn people away because they’re queer.”
Adams said being an activist means doing what you can, where you are. “Say, calling up elected officials, making them accountable. Or calling up someone who’s sick, just talking to them. People sometimes simply need to hear another voice. Write your memoirs, write that message, make and do policy,” Adams said.
“We’re building a queer house, and everybody needs to bring their different skills. We have everything we need. We just have to share resources, utilize them, continue to develop them, do trainings and educate.” ‘Without community’, as Audre Lorde says, ‘there is no liberation.’. And Sylvia Rivera? ‘Liberation is a collective process.’ Yes. I absolutely believe them. We’ve just got to get more people to believe.”
