CGI: Illuminating LGBTQ History for a Better Tomorrow

 

 

The Past Is Always Present

OUR CGI COMMITMENT TO ACTION


The Past Is Always Present: Illuminating LGBTQ History is a multi-year project to create and share stories that have been overlooked or erased from the historical record, reaching 2,000,000+ lives directly and exponentially more indirectly!

 

 

 

Funding from the Library of Congress Launched Our Commitment to Action (press release)

In collaboration with Houses on the Moon Theater Company, we are using digital primary sources from the Library of Congress and state and local archives to create an original play dramatizing the hidden histories of LGBTQ Americans. Complementing educational products include fully produced videos that bring primary sources to life and instructional resources for various learning contexts. Our Commitment to Action was highlighted on the Leaders Stage at the Clinton Global Initiative's Annual Meeting in September 2024.

 

 

 

 

MEET THE TEAM!

 

Jeffrey Solomon

Jeffrey Solomon

Playwright

Emily Joy Weiner

Emily Joy Weiner

Artistic Director

Robb Leigh Davis

Robb Leigh Davis

Artist & Educator

Kathleen Barker

Kathleen Barker

Program Director

Jocardo Ralston

Jocardo Ralston

Content Developer

 

Mor Erlich

Mor Erlich

Video & Animation

 

Tyler Albertario

Tyler Albertario

Archival Researcher

J. Eric Fisher

J. Eric Fisher

Content Developer

Jayson Caluag

Jayson Caluag

Graphic Designer

Dinah Mack

Dinah Mack

Creative Advisor

Janaya Little

Janaya Little

Creative Advisor

Danny Roberts

Danny Roberts

Project Manager

 

BACKGROUND

New and emerging efforts are underway to digitize LGBTQ primary sources alongside both the growing number of states mandating the teaching of LGBTQ-inclusive history and the exponentially greater number of states enacting laws and policies restricting LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. This Commitment to Action, in collaboration with Houses on the Moon Theater Company, will reach communities that currently cannot partner with us, elevate state and local LGBTQ history, and connect those stories to a broader and more accurate reflection of America.

 

Dozens of committed distribution partners (listed below) will be sharing "The Past Is Always Present" with educators and constituencies in their networks nationwide, and in turn, those recipients will then share "The Past Is Always Present" within their educational contexts — directly serving nearly 2,000,000 lives and exponentially more lives indirectly! 

 

Each year, as "The Past Is Always Present" educational products are developed into new editions to expand the representation of state and local archives, our ongoing efforts to secure more distribution supporters will grow the number of lives directly and indirectly served.

 

Additional funding is needed to expand our Commitment to Action and create additional editions of the script, videos, and instructional resources that reflect a greater variety of state and local LGBTQ history.

 

We hope YOU will join our Commitment to Action and help us build a movement! 

DONATE


 

COMMITTED DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS

 

William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum

Library of Congress

National Council for the Social Studies

New-York Historical Society

Out Youth Texas

Colorado LGBTQ History Project

Invisible Histories Project

International Schools

Scholarly Editing

Equality Pennsylvania

Maryland Center for History and Culture

Teach Plus

University of Texas Austin

American University

Waynesburg University

University of Massachusetts

Fordham University

Sonoma State University

Central Connecticut State University

Middlesex Community College

University of Michigan

Augusta University

University of Southern Maine

University of California Los Angeles

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Astrea Foundation

Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Highline Heritage Museum

Stonewall Columbus

Kaleidoscope Youth Center Ohio

OutWords

Queer Humboldt

Tranz Central Coast

Humboldt Pride

New York Public Library

 

 

DONATE  Ι  CONTACT US 

 

SERENDIPITY

Our video content creator, Mor Erlich, discovered the following primary source when creating the intro video for our case study about James Baldwin, shortly before our Commitment to Action was spotlighted on the Leader's Stage at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting. 

 

James Baldwin's handwritten notes on Sheraton Tacoma Hotel notepad [circa 1963]


Malcolm X's Question... to Be a Citizen of The nation? The world? The race?

A. to confront Religion / Race / Power

B. The question of Identity

C. Involving History

D. Identity of History being synonymous: being the Present

E. Attempting to make the Past / History