Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Achebe Betty Powell

Achebe Betty Powell
A Black woman with short dark hair, wearing aviator glasses and hoop earrings, speaking into a microphone
Achebe Betty Powell, from a 1978 publication; photographed by Cynthia MacAdams
Born
Betty Jean Kelly

June 14, 1940
Florida, U.S.
DiedFebruary 21, 2023 (age 82)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Educator, activist, consultant, community leader
Known forCo-founder of Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

Achebe Betty Powell (June 14, 1940 – February 21, 2023) was an American activist and community leader. She was co-founder of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, and served on the board of the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Early life and education

Betty Jean Kelly was born in Florida, the daughter of Jesse Kelly and Rachel Harris (later known as Rachel Long).[1] She lived in Germany for several years as a teenager, because her father was in the United States Army and stationed there.[2] She converted to Roman Catholicism in Germany, and graduated from the College of St. Catherine with a bachelor's degree in French. She earned a master's degree in French language and literature from Fordham University in 1964.[3]

Career

Powell taught high school French in New York City, and was a French and linguistics professor at Brooklyn College. She was director of the Kitchen Table Press. In 1989, she started a consulting business, Betty Powell Associates, focused on diversity policies and anti-racism training.[3]

Powell was a founding member of Salsa Soul Sisters and the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays.[3] She was co-founder of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.[4][5] She was the first Black lesbian member of the board of the National Gay Task Force.[6] In 1977, she participated in a White House meeting of LGBTQ leaders with Jimmy Carter. She was featured in a documentary, Word is Out (1977).[7]

Powell was active in the United Nations World Conferences on Women,[3] and SAGE, an advocacy organization for LGBTQ elders.[8] In 2003 she co-founded Queers for Economic Justice with Martin Duberman.[9] In 2004 she gave an oral history interview for the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History at Smith College.[10]

Personal life and legacy

Betty Kelly was briefly married to Bill Powell in the 1960s. Her longterm partners were Virginia Apuzzo[11] and Linda Fraser. At age 65, Powell changed her named to Achebe Betty Powell. Powell died in Brooklyn in February 2023, at the age of 82, from COVID-19.[12][13] Her papers are held in the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History at Smith College.[3] Her name was added to the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor in 2023.[14]

References

  1. ^ Clarke, Marissa D. (2007-09-30). "Celebrating a century with friends". The Miami Herald. p. 303. Retrieved 2024-06-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Cassell, Heather (2023-03-03). "Former Task Force board co-chair Achebe Betty Powell dies at 82". Gay City News. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Collection: Achebe Betty Powell papers". Smith College Finding Aids. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  4. ^ "Honoring Achebe Powell". Middle Church. 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  5. ^ "Black LGBTQI Futures Month: Achebe Powell". Astraea Lesbian Foundation For Justice. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  6. ^ Factora, James (2023-02-28). "Pioneering Black Lesbian Activist Achebe Betty Powell Has Died at 82". Them. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  7. ^ Youmans, Greg (2011-12-06). Word is Out: A Queer Film Classic. arsenal pulp press. ISBN 978-1-55152-421-4.
  8. ^ "Behind the Scenes of a Movement". SAGE. 2018-12-12. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  9. ^ "Queer Left Histories: Achebe Powell and Martin Duberman on Culture and Politics". The Scholar & Feminist Online. 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  10. ^ Anderson, Kelly. Oral history interview with Achebe Betty Powell (July 6 and 7, 2004). Voices of Feminism Oral History Project, Sophia Smith Collection.
  11. ^ Gallo, Marcia (2019-02-26). "Tre Donne: Kitty Genovese, Diane di Prima, Virginia Apuzzo and the Roots of Italian-American Feminism in 1960s New York". The Gotham Center for New York City History. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  12. ^ Simonette, Matt (2023-02-24). "Passages: Longtime activist Achebe (Betty) Powell passes away". Windy City Times. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  13. ^ Ring, Trudy (February 27, 2023). "Longtime Lesbian Activist Achebe Betty Powell Dies at 82". Advocate. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  14. ^ "Achebe Betty Powell, Stonewall Wall of Honor". Stonewall Wall of Honor. 2023-05-15. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achebe_Betty_Powell