By Cornelius A. Fortune
DETROIT – As a group, African-American lesbians have had few organizations built to meet their specific needs. That's where S.P.I.C.E. (Sistahs Providing Intelligence, Creativity & Empowerment.) comes in. S.P.I.C.E. is an alternative to the alternative; a safe place where African-American women can talk about relevant issues affecting them today.
The organization recently received a grant from New Detroit.
"With that, we're in the process of getting S.P.I.C.E. to the next level," Imani Williams, co-chair of S.P.I.C.E., said. "We want to be more involved with our programming, and we have some specific things we want to target, but it takes dollars."
Jocelyn Bellamy, a board member, has been with S.P.I.C.E. for five years, and believes that its survival is critical for the community.
"A friend of mine prior to 9-11 had told me about the group, and I went and I fell in love with it," said Bellamy, who initially wasn't interested. "It was a group of beautiful, strong, black, independent women, and every week we would discuss different things that were important in our lives, dealing with being black women in society."
The two, along with Felicia Wilson, another co-chair, are hoping to expand their volunteer base.
"S.P.I.C.E. isn't about us three," said Bellamy. "S.P.I.C.E. is about having a place where a lesbian voice can be heard; providing a safe place where they can come and be comfortable – something that we lack in our community – that's what it is about. We work very hard to provide or try to provide these services, but if we don't have community participation, it's going to dry up."
A nonprofit organization, S.P.I.C.E. holds monthly peer discussions headed by rotating facilitators and hosts guest speakers that touch on the artistic, spiritual, educational, cultural, and political elements of African-American women's lives. Their mission statement is to "provide a safe, nurturing and positive environment of exchange, and creativity for lesbians of color to express their experiences and realities."
Williams has been a member since 1999. It was during a heated custody battle with her ex-husband that S.P.I.C.E. really helped her to cope with the difficulties she faced.
"When I became involved in 99, there was nowhere for black lesbians to go and have a place to discuss issues that were pertinent to who we were," said Williams. "There were groups for white women, but there was nowhere for people of color to go, so for me, S.P.I.C.E. became paramount."
Over the last three years they have started moving into more of a political arena. "Everything is political," she said, "and if we were going to take a stance and talk about empowering people, then we needed to move towards being more political."
The group hosts four seminars a year on a variety of topics relevant to African-American women today, with monthly meetings held the first Friday of every month.
"Because S.P.I.C.E. was there for me, it's important for me to make sure that this type of service is available for other sisters as they go through their journey," she said. "It is nothing like feeling like you're the only one, and depending on what your resources are during your coming out process, you can feel like you're the only one."
