Author: Shelonda Montgomery

Shelonda Montgomery holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a Creative Writing Concentration from Roosevelt University and a Masters of Arts in English with a Creative Writing Concentration from Southern New Hampshire University. She wrote the original screenplay for the short film 9-5, which premiered at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, IL, and she was once a premier poet at The Black Women’s Expo. Other works are in the literary journals Sinister Wisdom, Duende, and Akikiro and the poetry anthology Urban Voices Volume II and III.

Civil War: Biphobia Within The LGBTQ+ Community

By : Shelonda Montgomery February 3, 2021 Comments Off

When faced with discrimination from the heterosexual community, the LGBTQ+ community stands united with picket signs. During televised rallies or protests, they wave their clenched fists and bare their teeth as signs that they are ready for battle. Whether it is a baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple, the clerk who refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, or the battle for marriage equality, they fight valiantly to the bitter, broken end. They fight because they are united. They fight because they are family. They fight because they all bear the ugly brunt of discrimination, which puts them all under siege. However, beneath those wars, in the deep, dark, rotting corners of the LGBTQ+ community, exist various civil wars that position soldier against

Biphobia: Let Love Be Love

By : Shelonda Montgomery January 24, 2021 Comments Off

“If you touch me, I will kill you,” I said to her. I stood in a corner with my fist balled. An elevator on one side of me and a wall on the other. She stood with her fist balled, veins in her head jumping, matching my stare and blocking me in. She stepped back, fully aware that although I was not holding a weapon, I was most certainly going to kill her if she touched me. I met her three months earlier. She was an open masculine lesbian with baggy clothing and short hair. When she walked into a room, eyes fell on her because she was charismatic, hugging and flirting with a woman and laughing and joking with men. She knew how to play a room and did

Can We Talk About the Word?

By : Shelonda Montgomery January 4, 2021 Comments Off

“Can we talk about the word?” Emilia says. Zahra sits, writing in her brown, leather-covered notebook in Central Park at a round, white, steel table. Her yellow dress dances across her crossed legs as she slightly moves, habitually turning her ankle, which makes her gold sandals bounce. Beside the notebook is half a bottle of water and a peach. The day is kind and warm. The sun is shining bright. Several hummingbirds hover near a tree that cast its shadow over the small white table and Zahra. Zahra had been walking for some time before she grew tired and decided to rest. Now she writes, I need you here with me to - “Can we talk about the word?” Emilia, again, says. Zahra stops writing, pressing her pen on the

Riding the Rails on Christmas: Helping Homeless LGBTQIA Youth

By : Shelonda Montgomery December 18, 2020 01 Comment

In the dead of winter in Chicago, an African-American male teen sits asleep on an L Train during an early morning rush hour commute. His clothes - a white t-shirt which he folds his arms inside to shield them from the cold, and blue jeans - are stained with dirt. The tongues of his white laceless, well-worn gym shoes stand stiff. The muddy laces limp on the cold train’s wet rubber flooring. His dreadlocked hair is filled with lint and other debris. His face is bruised, tired, and sunk in. His skin is dry, muddied, and peeling. He is Homeless. He sits alone in the far back corner. The morning commuters board, frown at the mere sight of him, walk in the opposite direction, and sit. It is prudent to

The Difficulties of Coming Out

By : Shelonda Montgomery November 26, 2020 Comments Off

In a perfect world, we can stand before our friends and loved ones, show them our authentic selves, and they will still love and depend on us. However, the real world is imperfect, so when I came out as bisexual to my loved ones a few years ago, some were accepting while others recoiled with disgust and turned away. For me, losing the people closest to me was undoubtedly the most difficult part about coming out because nothing could have prepared me for it. My mother and best friend of ten years were both disgusted. My mother was angry with me and my best friend essentially told me that I was possessed by a demon. I was devastated and lost. I questioned if coming out was worth losing loved ones

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