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Who is Joe Beam?
ORIGIN
Joseph Beam (December 30, 1954-December 27, 1988) was a writer, editor, publisher, gay and lesbian activist, and retail clerk. He was the son of Dorothy Beam, an educator, and Sun Beam, a security guard.
EDUCATION
Beam spent his middle and high school years at Malvern Preparatory, a Catholic institution located in the Philly suburbs. He followed this with a bachelor's degree from Franklin College, a private liberal arts institute in Indiana. Uncertain about graduate school, Beam returned home to Philadelphia, where he began to work a series of retail jobs.
WRITING START
In 1982, Beam began working as a clerk at Giovanni's Room , a gay and lesbian bookstore. Right around this time, he began freelance writing, initially as a music reviewer for Philadelphia Gay News. His music reviews soon led to reviews of books and events, and then interviews. Beam focused and defined his voice as writer through his op-ed pieces for AuCourant, another local gay rag. There he created the column "North of Market," named after the Black gay bars that existed in the hoods just north of the predominantly white-occupied Market street area, to call attention to topics and issues as they pertains to being both Black and gay in Philadelphia.
"IN THE LIFE"
Working at Giovanni's Room brought forth both challenges and benefits. As Beam eloquently wrote in his essay Brother to Brother: Words From the Heart, "I've grown tired of blonde, blue-eyed protagonists...," the bookshelves of Giovanni's Room did not feature many Black male voices. But at the same time, it exposed Beam to the world of publishing. With a book deal in place with gay and lesbian publisher Alyson Publications, Beam creates and edits "In The Life: A Gay Black Anthology," the first-ever collection of writings by Black gay men for Black gay men.
POST-ACCLAIM
While on a year's long publicity tour for "In The Life...," which included many invitations to be a guest lecturer or speaker at universities and literature events, Beam served as editor of Black/Out, the magazine for the National Coalition for Black Lesbians and Gays, an organization that he also served on its board. In 1987, Beam began work on a follow-up to "In The Life." Eventually released in 1991, "Brother to Brother" would end up being Beam's last credited work.