➤ GRIOT CIRCLE, from p.8
cial and health outcomes facing them often fl y
under the radar: The CDC’s 2017 data showing
that black folks made up the largest demographic
slice — 2,731 — of the 6,640 new HIV
diagnoses in the US among people 50 and older
in 2017 hasn’t translated into an appropriate
allocation of tax resources. Many Griot Circle
clients, Albino emphasized, are in dire straits
as they face fi nancial and food insecurity stemming
from structural barriers that prevented
them from earning more during the best years
of their work life. Now retired, many don’t enjoy
the same comfortable Social Security checks as
their more privileged white male counterparts.
In short, Griot Circle serves members who
need more resources to help them age gracefully
— but lawmakers aren’t taking them seriously
enough.
“There is a disconnect between policy-makers
that really decide how our tax dollars are
going to be funneled,” Albino said.
The preference that funders and policy-makers
show toward larger, more established health
and social service organizations extends, according
to Albino, even to some out gay city lawmakers,
who have suggested the organization
simply merge with a more prominent brand or
asked why the group exists at all.
“My question for them is the same reason
Catholic Charities doesn’t merge with Red Cross
MATT TRACY
Since becoming a member of Griot Circle last year, James Serrano
has stepped up as a volunteer, greeting visitors to the downtown
Brooklyn center for LGBTQ seniors of color several afternoons a
week.
or NAACP doesn’t merge with New York Urban
League,” he said. “The audacity that you suggest
we merge with anyone. It’s like reducing
who we are and what we do, like asking, ‘Why
don’t you become part of a bigger white organization?,’
and that white organization is going to
colonize you and tell you how to do your work.”
Albino refrained from divulging exactly which
LGBTQ elected offi cials he was referring to, but
he delivered a pointed message in response.
“They are elected servants in the city and
perhaps they should go through some training
themselves,” he said. “That gives you an
idea of a gay, cisgender white man and the lens
through which they see our work.”
While Griot Circle scrapes for every penny,
the nonprofi t makes the most out of its existing
capabilities. The group has found a way to
reach clients near and far through a friendly
visiting program that benefi ts homebound seniors
who can’t make the trek to downtown
Brooklyn. Members can get vetted, undergo
criminal background checks, and travel to clients’
homes once per week to provide them with
opportunities for socializing.
And that, really, captures how the organization
has adapted and managed to persist in
serving its members. The future remains uncertain
as long as tax dollars are steered disproportionately
elsewhere. But through the ups
and downs, Griot Circle has continued to stay
true to its mission — and that’s the one sure
thing its members can count on.
“We are very unapologetic that we do our
work through a race-based social justice equity
lens,” Albino said. “Some white members come
here and question why we do what we do. Anyone
is welcome here, but if you don’t feel comfortable
with how we do our work internally and
that our voices are largely going to be geared
to experiences and affi rming that to our largely
people of color members, then you can probably
look for anther home.”
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