Is such a thing possible? Yes it is! And by the gods, I have paid my dues.
I had a Master who trained me because he saw something in me. And where I lived,
I had people not take me seriously because of one thing...the color of my skin!!
But I did not let them get me down. I showed up at every Leather related event
in my city because I did not have enough money to travel to out of town events.
There were several Leather clubs in Austin, Texas at the time, and they would not give me the time
of day, let alone ask me if I was interested in becoming a member. Then I joined what was then
NLA (National Leather Association) at the time on the request of a good friend who became it's chapter founder. Finally, I found a place where I belonged. And for two years, I held the positions of Member-at-Large, and as Head of the Membership Commitee.
I once held the title of Mr. Texas Leather Pride. Originally, I was first runner up.
I thought I did somewhat of a good job at TLP II. I had recieved many congratulations
from some of the naysayers who did not think I could do it. I assume that the title would
be represented well during Living in Leather that year. Boy, was I in for one hell of a surprise!!
I recieved the title several months after the winner, for reasons which I'll never know, got
into an argument with NLA International in New Orleans in July.
NLA-Austin managed to notify me of this after a meeting
in mid-September. When I recieved the title, I had several problems to deal with. One, I got
grief and verbal attacks from my predecesor's friend who held the title of Mr. European Leather.
Now I ask you, what do you really think of someone who makes a racially charged statement and
is supposed to represent the European Leather Community? Two, I did not recieved the sash because
they left for Puerto Rico and had put some of their belongings in storage. Three, I only had the
word of NLA-Austin that I was the titleholder.
When I attended TLP III, I had gotten the sash. But I had to give the sash up so the
controversy of what happened would fade away. I realized now that that was a mistake
on my part. As a minor (and I use that term loosely) titleholder, you usually do get
screwed out of stuff!
The title of this section DOES mean what I'm implying. As sacred as the Leather Community is,
it a strong but secretive community. You are constantly tested and checked out to make sure that
you'll be an asset to the community. As I mentioned before, it took me several years but I made it on my skills amd merit. And you do get to meet with many influential people like club presidents, titleholders, bar owners, and other people who are involved or who capitalize off of the community. To put it simply, the majority of leatherpeople are white. And I do my best to get along with everyone of all races. But there are dark sides to everything. And there are a select few who want to keep people of color like me out of the community. There will come a time when you will run into a son of a bitch who thinks he or she knows everything. He will imply that his skills as a Master or slave are far more superior than everyone else's. And they are the kind that will make an African American Leatherperson's life T-mortal Hell. They're the cowardly sort who will make known his issues about how blacks shouldn't be allowed in the community. They will chastise any man or woman of another race for loving or dating one of his or her race. And further more, he will question the S/M skills of the man of woman of color whose into Leather. Their type feels that it's their duty to keep the Leather S/M community all whites only. They will pitch a major bitch session when things are not to their liking. Most of all, they will really get outraged when they hear or see that a black man or woman has won a major title like Mr. Drummer, IML or International Ms. Leather (IMsL). They just wind up as outcasts because many of the Leatherpeople I know of won't have anything to do with people like that. We have better things to do than associate with jerks of that kind.
I bring this touchy subject up because it's needs to be brought up. It was the basis of my speech when I was competing in the Mr. NLA Internationl Contest when Living in Leather was held in Houston in 1993. I had people come to me in private to thank me for speaking out as I did. And some of them were major leaders in the Leather community. When I queried them why they couldn't make such a stand, they gave various excuses like no time, didn't want to offend the masses or lose their popularity. Yeah, right and the people from Publisher's Clearing House are waiting for me at my front door with $10 million dollars!! NOT!!
I discovered a several deterrents as to why there are fewer African Americans in the Leather Community. First, there is the control issue. Many blacks still associate the definition of slavery with the period of history datiing back from Colonial times to the Civil War. They focused on the cruelty and pain suffered by their ancestors. They cannot seem to fathom people wanting to be Slaves and Master in this day and age. I started out as a slave, and later a Master-in-Training. I suffered some ridicule from other blacks, but I put them in their place because the rewards were worth it. Many of the ones I knew in the past are still active to my knowledge.
Another factor was the price of Leather. Face it, Leather is expensive. I bought my first vest in 1991 at the cost of sixty dollars ($60.00). Depending on the area you live matters on how much you will pay for good quality leather. I have been told that you will pay a lot more for leather if you live in or around the major Leather S/M hubs like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and New York. But there is an alternative to the major shops like I have listed below in my links section. Look for used leather, leather on consignment, or check out biker stores or pawn shops. Cost is what makes the difference. Take a standard biker jacket like Henry Winkler (Fonzie on Happy Days) wore. In one of the cities mentioned, I have priced them at no less than two hundred dollars ($200.00). Remember that this is for a plain biker jacket without designs on the back, or fringe on the sleeves. Those run up as high as four hundred & fifty dollars ($450.00). But at a smaller store, you can get one at a price of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) or less if you know where to look. Items like chaps are worth the price paid if you get them custom made. As for leather toys like whips, floggers and other devices are also worth the price if you know where to look as well. However, it would be fun to take the time to learn how to make some leather gear and toys.
After all, one should open their minds before they open their mouths. With an open mind, the right thing to say will always come out properly.
In the early days of the craze known as the "World Wide Web", there were few if any websites dedicated to Leather, Fetish or SM. Being on the Internet was a new and frightening frontier for many. but over the years came new ideas, new ways, and new communities. And then the web got bigger and more crowded. So crowded that higher speeds to access were needed and they came with a cost. No longer did you have free access, you had to pay the big boys who practiclly stole it right form the engineers noses! That attitude proliferated into the Leather SM community.
Let's begin with the leather. I made the statement earlier about the cost of leather. Now it's a wanted fashion being worn by those who do not and will not participate in the SM community. Imagine meeting a hot guy or girl in leather and it really rocks your world. You meet this person and they tell you all the kinky and erotic things that get your sex motor running. Then you take him or her home to either your place, their place, ie house, apartment, hotel/motel room, etc. As soon as the front door is closed, the leather comes off! They want to have regular no-frills vanilla sex. You think I am making this up, WRONG! It has happened to me, my pal BadWolf, and other friends and aquaintences of ours. This is nothing new and because of the latest trends, I am way over on being surprised.
There was a time when you went through rigorious training as a slave. That part has changed with a few additions. There are slaves that like to serve, and I have met and enjoyed a great many of them. But now a new kind of slave has entered the scene, the Fetish Sex Slave. These are slaves who enjoy the leather, latex, or any other kind of fetish gear. But they DO NOT want to be whipped, spanked, put in bondage or participate in any form of pain play whatsoever. Their fetish is to be used as a sexual object by not only the Master/Top, but by his Master/Top's friends. Some even consider it a honor to be pimped out by the Master/Top as well. Many of these slaves like being called Boy or Boi with an "i" instead of the "y". Some like being dog trained and have the usual dog names we call our favorite four-legged friends, but the majority would be known as "Pup". These slaves want to serve in the sexual manners they feel they were put on this Earth to do.
This fetish has also expanded to their desires and the type of men they want to serve. I have met several who wanted nothing more than to serve biker guys like BadWolf. And an equal amount that wanted to serve black men. And some do take it to extremes. We both have chatted online and in person with those who claim they would do anything for us as long as pain is not involved. However, these same individual want nothing more than to orally please us, let us penetrate them and maybe do some fantasy and kink related sex play. But, they add to their repetoir use of poppers, and offering their services as toilet receptacles. This we disallow because poppers can cause serious health risks to both myself and BadWolf, and we do not engage in "shit and piss play" because it is digusting and there are also serious health, hygeine and enviromental risks. When we decline these offers, they will sulk and cut off all contact because they did not get their way.
Fewer are the extreme slaves who do want and enjoy being whipped and flogged and having their cocks, balls and nipples tortured and they do seek out experienced Masters/Tops to do the job. But lately has come a new breed of Masters/Tops, who in my opinion, can do more to harm than to help. I speak of the Masters who pick up a whip or flogger and begins to use it without knowing the risks to himslef or the person who is getting whipped or flogged. In a way, I somewhat blame the Adult Film Industry for glorifying this. I have checked out sample pics of scenes form many leather oriented videos, and I cannot believe what I have seen. I got wind of a pic on a online group I belong to, and it was a hunky muscular guy wielding a very cheap looking whip. You know the type, you find those for $10 to $15.00 bucks at a souvonir shop or online. This whip can hurt and it does break. I felt insulted. But the guys who got the pic cared only about the muscled-up leatherman (?). They did not give a damn about the whip. Others in the group (the whippers and the whipped) chastised them for their ignorence. Leather SM chatrooms can be a battleground for such ideologies. What I have learned is that a select few of these "all powerful, can do no wrong" leather top/master/daddies are actually fakers, frauds, and wannabees. BadWolf and I on seperate occasions have exposed some of these. These guys think they are all that and a bag of chips, when in reality, are full of shit. Becoming a Master takes years of practicing and a true Master to me is one who has been a slave in the past. But these guys declare themselves Masters without knowing what to do. You can tell by talking to them if they are for real or not. What they say reveals who they are and what they are.
Now I would like to mention something about public play parties. This is where wannabees show up to demonstrate their skills, not in the use of SM implements, but in attitude and bad behavior. A friend was a dungeonmaster at a play party some time back. The party was put on by a pansexual SM organization. This particuliar party went horrible. Never had he seen a select few of individuls who took up more time at the St. Andrews Crosses. Add to that, there was a scene that went awry due to one of these individuals having too much alcohol in his system. But the last straw was a nasty man making anti-gay slurs and ruining a whipping scene between a Master and his male slave. Of course, the guy booked before the Master came running after him with his heavy bullwhip! At the next dinner meeting, these people who dared to show their faces were banned form the group and told never to come back on account they violated the bylaws of the group.
I too have experienced with rude and pushy people at a play party earlier than that one. My antagonizer was a woman who was a dead ringer for Hudson Lieke (she played Calisto on Xena: Warrior Princess). She was walking around with a riding crop demanding that every male there bow to her so she can beat them. She was with a group of what looked to be a bunch of stoned out losers. This bitch had it in for me because I wouldn't cave in. The friends I came with were planning to leave early and I decided to leave with them. She tried to follow but was warned that if she left, she could not come back in. I found out at another meeting that she raised some stink and her friends tried to start some kind of fight, but she was banned form the group and anymore play parties.
The Leather Community I once knew, is gone. It has died a senseless death like common sense has. I'm sure there are some holdouts like Ft. Troff in Atlanta that will not let you in unless you abide by the dress code and are experienced in matters pertaining to SM, kink, and more. You don't act or show it, you don't get in.
I've come a long way, now I stay home and do things around the house. I am getting up there in my years. I can still play but with limitations I feel are neccesary for my health and BadWolf's health as well. I have seen a great deal of things and had participated in many things. We both have completed educating each other on our desires and wants and have explored fetishes which we new to me when we met that we are experienced with now. Why and how can I say what I have written here? Because I am on the outside looking in. When you're on the inside, you get caught up and you are not aware of things. When I did get on the outside, I discovered things that I never knew which were happening under our very noses. It is how I learn to stay ahead and to stay away form problems unless my help is asked for.
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