Oral history interview with Wanda Alston

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Wanda says:
"... I can't stop fighting racism, because no matter how old I get I'm still going to be black. I can't stop fighting [sexism] because no matter how old I get I'm still going to be a woman. I can't stop fighting some of the other isms I see because I can't change those things. I'm going to change the culture and begin to work with people who want to change the culture."
"I was victimized all my life behind this bullshit called racism, sexism, homophobia. I put names on my pain. I had not done that. If there was anything that changed my life more than my sexuality, it was understanding that there was a place to take my pain."

Wanda Alston was an officer in the cabinet to Mayor Anthony Williams liaising between the mayor and the LGBTQ community from 2001 until she was murdered in March 2005. She was at the peak of a career in public service which had taken her to senior positions in the National Organization of Women (1992-1996)and in the Human Rights Campaign Fund.

Along the way Wanda learned how to handle oppression by building coalitions and by reaching out to create safe places for others. Her vision was not necessarily political but one of healing and supporting and reaching out. When she organized the 1997 Black Pride event for CLOAVE (Collective Lesbians of African-Descent, Voices Everywhere) it " was about bringing people together from anywhere."

Wanda moved to DC from Newport News in 1985, after a difficult and unsupported coming out. In DC, she quickly moved into the LGBTQ community with the help of her gay brother. By the end of the decade she was involved with the DC Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays and by mid-decade was co-chair (with Darren Buckner). She volunteered at the National Organization of Women (NOW) in the early 90s and within days was a special assistant to Patricia Ireland, head of NOW. Following NOW, she joined the staff of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in 1996. Her HRC experience gave a good overview of the gay political movement, one gave her important experience in marketing and fundraising but also one that left her feeling "I got to see who and what I didn’t want to be like."

She earned her MBA from Southeastern University and her BA in Mass Communications from Norfolk State University in Virginia. From 1998 to 2000 she served on the board of NOW and on the DC Commission on Women.

80s-00s

African American lesbian experience, DC Coalition, DC government

No, not yet transcribed

Yes, recording available