Advice From a Reluctant Legend
When I was recently asked to do this blog, I was surprised. I have this feeling that most people do not want to hear the thoughts of people from my generation. Just so we’re clear, I fall into the very last few years of Baby Boomers. My generation saw the moon landing and the Vietnam War, the Presidencies of Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 1 and Bush 2, Clinton, Obama….and then the other atrocious excuse for a human being. We have survived Isolationism and Globalism and every iteration in between. Our televisions have gone from big boxes to gigantic, thin home screens. Our phones used to be big handsets with cords that extended to every room of the house. We competed for the use of that phone with everyone else in the home. Anyway….you get the picture. Supposedly we have evolved. At this moment in time, how much evolution we have made is highly debatable.
In the 80s we faced a monster named AIDS. Unlike many viruses, HIV carried a particular deathly stigma. For those of us who survived its’ lethal reach, it changed us so dramatically that we shaped a movement to combat those who sought to oppress us, to deprive us of fundamental rights, and destroy us. We celebrated great victories, only to watch them slowly erode before our eyes.
I never planned to be an activist, but AIDS made me into one. I never envisioned myself as someone who would be a titleholder, or a leader. And I never imagined myself to live into an age where I would be considered an Elder. In fact, I am a reluctant elder. Now, here I am in an age with social media and smart phones. Technology dominates our every interaction, and it permeates our most vulnerable moments. I think a great deal about what comes next for us, and I wonder. The younger generations are hungry to take over. They are hungry for information from people my age, but they seem to mistrust us, as much as we mistrust them. I think we are continuously looking for a Hero, someone to lead us in the fight. The reality is that Heroes are just ordinary people, caught up into Unimaginable circumstances. Nobody who does Heroic things actually seeks out those circumstances. And I’ve never met someone with Hero status, who accepts this label gleefully. Real heroes are everywhere around us. We need only to open our eyes to see them. My point is this: we are all a product of our own eras. We all bring to the table something unique. We offer something that only we can give. And we are all a work in progress. What we suffer from now is a crisis of confidence and courage. I should say that the crisis is a lack of both. The answer to this lies in community.
The Leather community too, has evolved. We are more of a collective of those who are like minded than ever before. We like to look to our leaders and elders for answers. And we hold title contests to select those who will best represent us. And we seek a certain set of qualities and traits in those titleholders. We talk about preserving our history and our traditions. We demand diversity, transparency, and integrity. All of these things are ideal, but I think it is important to remember that Titleholders, like heroes, are everyday humans. They too are flawed and a work in progress. In “community” we can build confidence and individual courage. To accomplish that we must begin by stepping away from Facebook and its false sense of security via likes and loves. Go out and get involved in organized in protests. Don’t just type the credo of, “do better”. Do better for yourself. Dare to make small differences in the lives’ of others. Talk to someone you’ve been told to dislike. Stop focusing on criticism directed outwards. For that matter, stop criticizing yourself, and offer your unique gifts in an effort to improve problem areas. Im not suggesting that you pour yourself into a void, and short yourself in the process. Become a conduit and not a bottomless vessel. A community built upon healthy conduit, is a community built upon sustainable strength.
Many people know that I devote a lot of my time to the preservation of leather artifacts at LA&M in Chicago. I am uniquely positioned and qualified to tell you that we desperately need the support of the whole community to preserve and protect our own history. While we have numerous Archivists tasked with preserving our paper trails, I am alone at LA&M working to care for our actual artifacts. You see, photos and written materials can be digitized. A human being’s leather vest cannot. We need to prioritize preservation of the tangible iconic pieces that represent our legacies. From the bootblacks who preserve the heart and soul of our leathers, to the museum where I greet them, our artifacts are treasures. Every member of this community is responsible for our history along the way. Leather folk have a unique understanding of service, and we serve what we love. We also preserve what we love.
When I travel amongst my community, I am inspired. I am inspired by every day people doing what they can. I am lifted up and energized by witnessing a titleholder who shows up at a local event and asks, “what do you need?” I am inspired by the 25 year olds who come to me asking to learn whatever they can on leather preservation. I am in awe of those who listen to the stories of elders and carry those stories forward to tell others. For those who have come before me and blazed a trail, I will carry on with my head held high. I am stronger for all of them. I don’t know what is worth dying for, but I know what is worth living for.
Leslie J. Anderson
