Written by:
Kazia Johnson
Audre Lorde Project
"It's interesting to see how my credibility or legitimacy can be judged by age. The reactions vary, from seeming to be really confused as to how I can be here to being very supportive," says Joo-Hyun Kang, who at the ripe old age of 28 is the executive director of the Audre Lorde Project in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Audre Lorde Project is the only center nationwide dedicated to the issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, Two-Spirit and transgender people of color communities. As such, the Project sponsors community-based education and organizing efforts around such issues as immigrant rights, police brutality, domestic violence, and HIV/AIDS.
Kang's history includes a stint on the board of Kitchen Table Press when she was in her early 20s. She was also a contingent to the World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995.
She weaves these experiences into her current role at the Audre Lorde Project by building bridges between people and communities. "I want to work on coalition building, specifically with other people of color communities and organizations that are not necessarily lesbian or gay," she says, "so they can see that the work we do is multi-issue, not just gay and lesbian.
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