ATLANTA — LGBT author, empowerment coach, television producer, and minister Kevin E. Taylor recently spoke out about the videotaped beating of 20-year-old Brandon White in Atlanta Feb. 4. The disturbing surveillance video shows three men shouting angry anti-gay slurs while beating and kicking White. The victim didn't report the incident until the video went viral on the Internet. Taylor said the incident is shook him to the core.
" I know that I have lived a lifetime of hate in America as a Black man, but I didn't think that Black men would be able to show it to me in 30 seconds," said Taylor. "I saw several of my own brothers, my own nephews and sons, who hid around a corner and waited for a young, slim brother/nephew/son and while he innocently talked on the telephone, jumped him and beat him like a...Klan member beat Emmett Till. I am disgusted to be able to make that comparison but I have read and watched enough of the history of hate in my own lifetime as a Black man to know it when I see it. What I saw was HATE and FEAR! How, otherwise, do you explain three people pummeling a young man who didn't even have a moment to see who was on him or understand what he was being beaten about because the sigh of his "skinny jeans" and perceived sexuality was enough to incite them to A) gather, B) plot and C) gang up on him to bring him down."
The videotape also shows eight men standing around and watching. Two of them were videotaping the attack. Taylor said this shows that men know White was an easy target because they knew he would not be able to find refuge in his own community.
"These brothers beat this young man because the Black church gives them permission," explained Taylor. "These brothers beat this young man because ignorance gives them permission in our community of no snitching. These brothers beat this young man ultimately because they want to believe that beating someone else will stop the world from beating them down."
Taylor has written several books and has been a long-time national advocate for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community. His latest work, ENVY, has just been published, and is the follow up to his widely successful debut novel JADED, which appeared on several Top 10 Amazon.com lists. JADED is the story of Joshua Knight, a hard working executive who after a devastating breakup finds unexpected love with a new man named Elijah. ENVY's plot picks up the couple's journey five years later as they realize love sometimes isn't enough, but it's a strong place to start when others come against you. The book is available on amazon.com at: http://www.amazon.com/JADED-ebook/dp/B006IY5OFI/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Kevin E. Taylor (www.KEVINETAYLOR.com) is a TV producer (Testimony, Access Granted, Lyrically Speaking, Notarized, BET specials) and writer (Anita Baker, Sister2Sister/Tina Turner, Rachelle Ferrell). Taylor has authored UNCLUTTER: CLEANSE YOUR SPIRIT AND CLAIM YOUR STUFF (2003), which he published independently and did research and wrote the discography for Natalie Cole's best-selling autobiography ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER (Warner Books/NBC "Livin' For Love: The Natalie Cole Story"). Taylor pastors Unity Fellowship Church New Brunswick, NJ and is raising his son, Ga'Vel.
