Chinese-Jamaican gay man, community organizer and spiritual counselor, Larry Chang has much to offer the Asian-American, LGBT, Caribbean-American, and People of Color communities, but it is his urgent message of developing local sustainability that is of immediate interest to all.
Larry was born in Jamaica of Hakka Chinese immigrant parents; he is a founding member of the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals & Gays,
J-FLAG .
He had previously organized a gay group in Jamaica, the Gay Freedom Movement (GFM) as early as 1978 in a fiercely hostile climate. He held the position of General Secretary and was Publisher and Editor of its newsletter, Jamaica Gaily News .
A leader and active participant of the social justice community, Larry came to the U.S. as a asylee in 2000, and was granted political asylum in 2004. He currently resides in Washington, DC, where he continues to educate and work for social justice. He is featured in the Phillip Pike documentary, Songs of Freedom, which had its world premiere in Toronto in January 2003,
and has been shown in selected US cities, Toronto, Montreal and Kingston. He also appears in
Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World , which documents the struggle for human rights of LGBT people in the global south; it premiered at the New York Film Festival in June 2003. More recently, he
appears in Selena Blake's Taboo Yardies which had its premiere in Brooklyn, NY in 2012.
In June 2008, Larry founded EcolocityDC to promote local sustainability in response to peak oil, climate change and economic collapse. He has adopted the Transition model and
attempted to implement this in the Greater Washington region, including introducing a
local currency.
In 2011, Larry withdrew from most of his engagements to focus on developing a new economic theory to address the anomalies and challenges of the present age. The results of that work can be accessed
here. He is seeking collaborators to develop a computer model.
Larry completed Religious Science Studies to Level 3 under Dr. Rev. Elma Lumsden at the Temple of Light Church of Religious Science in Kingston, Jamaica, and has been profoundly influenced by Zen Buddhism. Introduced in May 2006 to much acclaim at Book Expo America, Larry's anthology of
quotations, Wisdom for the Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing is now available in bookstores and online, as well as the follow-up, Wisdom for the Soul of Black Folk . He's
currently at work on Wisdom for the Soul of Queer Folk, but publication has been deferred due to the downturn in the economy.
He has the enthusiastic support of many scholars:
"Larry Chang is a first-rate activist, and a superb thinker and analyst of political/social issues. Anyone who hears him speak will not be disappointed."
- Thomas Glave
Assistant Professor, Department of English, General Literature and Rhetoric
State University of New York (SUNY), Binghamton, NY, USA
Author of Whose Song and Words To Our Now.
"Larry Chang brings a special spirituality to whomever he meets. He has the amazing ability to transcend race, ethnicity, gender, religion and sexual orientation in his efforts to heal the planet. His wisdom might well be the path that we need to lead us to both individual and global peace."
- Jerry Wright
Professor, Social Work and Anthropology
Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia, USA
"... dependable, thorough, focused, and knowledgeable about the arts ... He
is not, however, limited to being an "expert" in the arts. His interests
are diverse, and he has been able to combine history, mathematics,
anthropology, psychology, and sociology into an integrated whole that
define him as both an intellectual and a practitioner of his craft."
- Davilla T. Davis
Former Professor/Director, Study Abroad Programs
Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
"I have had many opportunities to meet with Larry Chang. Invariably I have come away greatly enriched. He is a man of enormous knowledge and wisdom, an excellent counseller and speaker, a true humanist. I have learned a lot about Jamaican culture, about spirituality, about human nature, from him."
- Wolfgang Binder
Professor/Academic Director, North American & Caribbean Literatures
University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
"Larry Chang is original and insightful. He is a speaker well worth inviting to provide new perspectives and stimulate discussion."
- Frank H. Wu
Professor, Howard University School of Law
Washington, DC, USA
Author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White
"Your talk was the hit of the semester! My students continue talking about your activism, and really were inspired to take some Transition steps themselves. Having your perspective was a real asset to the course."
- Eve Bratman
Lecturer, American University, 2009 Global Environmental Class
Washington, DC, USA
Larry Chang is an ENGAGING SPEAKER with experience as a SPIRITUAL COUNSELOR, WORKSHOP FACILITATOR, WRITER and ARTIST. His diverse background caters to a spectrum of communities such as the LGBT, People of Color (POC), Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), Caribbean Diaspora Communities and in fields of LGBT, Asian-American, Gender, History, Latin American & Caribbean Studies.
Background and Topics:
NEW PLANETARY ECONOMY
- At the root of all the economic problems is money or perceived lack thereof. We have forgotten that money is a token, a symbol of wealth that has no intrinsic value. So the entire fate of the world hinges on an empty conceit. In the 21st century when we have manipulated genes, explored outer space and have instant access to more information than we know what to do with, surely we can figure out a system of accounting to replace the clearly broken system that has been in place for the last ten thousand years?
It is difficult to displace such an entrenched paradigm, so entrenched that most people cannot even conceive that there could be an alternative. The silver lining to the current economic crisis could be that people will be forced, perhaps for the first time, to examine their unconscious assumptions and stretch their cognitive range to allow for a different approach.
LOCALIZATION & RESILIENCE
- when he graduated in 1971, majoring in environmental design, Larry had difficulty finding a job; no one knew exactly what it was he did. Now that he can relate his training to permaculture and the design of sustainable communities, his particular skill set is now in demand. Combining scientific, aesthetic, spiritual and economic factors with group dynamics, he can spur and assist in the re-making of community.
SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT
- with training in Religious Science and dharma study, Larry assists in the exploration of life questions within the paradigm of the sanctity and beauty of the individual ensconced in and inseparable from the multidimensional whole. He has developed a playful yet incisive tool, reading Wisdom Cards a la Tarot, to facilitate this process. His ideas are even now coalescing
into a discourse known as I-sight.
EMPOWERMENT
- based on training and experience in the human potential movement and drawing from experience of working with LGBT, spiritual and alternative health groups, artisanal and rural micro-entrepreneurs.
"Larry Chang was contracted to provide technical design expertise and training in product development to mainly small and medium size enterprises focused in the innovative industries. He has a capacity for connecting with the client and assisting in bringing forth their highest potential."
- Valerie Veira, CEO, Jamaica Business Development Centre, Kingston, Jamaica
WORKING WITH DIVERSITY/BUILDING BRIDGES
- being an Anomaly: Asian in Black Jamaica, Gay in homophobic Jamaica, Asian-Jamaican in African-America, Hakka in predominantly Mandarin/Cantonese Chinese-America, Free-Thinker in an increasingly Fundamentalist Orthodoxy, Exile with no Country, A ROLE FOR THE ETERNAL OUTSIDER.
WORKING IN THE LGBT PEOPLE OF COLOR COMMUNITY
HISTORY of Gay Activism in Jamaica, Chinese in Jamaica, Legacy of Slavery in Gender Roles, Violence & Homophobia
INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS : Asian/Black intimacy
THE TYRANNY of anal sexism among MSM
Recent Presentations include:
Participant, HIV Community Coalition Seminar on Religion, Spirituality, and Sexuality
Washington DC, February 2002
Panelist, 12th Biennial Midwest Asian Pacific American Student's Conference, "Transcending Boundaries: Communities, Crisis, and Resistance"
Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, March 2002
Presenter, Asian Pacific American Awareness Conference (APAAC): "Affirming Identity"
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY, April 2003
Presentation/Workshop - "Building Then Breaking Out of the Box: Claiming, Creating and Transcending Identities"
Panellist, "Examining Jamaica's Policy towards Homosexuality & Dealing with the Impact of International Scrutiny"
presented by Jampact ,
St. Francis College, Brooklyn NY, January 2005
Speaker, hosted by Rainbow Pride Union
SUNY Binghamton NY, April 2005
Panellist, "Beyond the Music: Reggae and the Cultural Contours of Homophobia," Stanford University Black Law Students Association Conference, Stanford CA, February 2006
Speaker, hosted jointly by Amnesty International and Lambda Union
Oberlin College, Oberlin OH, April 2007
Speaker, hosted jointly by Asian Students Union and Rainbow Pride
SUNY Binghamton, NY, April 2007
Speaker, hosted jointly by African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American caucus (AHANA) and Chinese Students Association (CSU), Boston College, Boston MA, March 2008
Larry is available to individuals, groups and organizations as a presenter and facilitator at a nominal fee. He is particularly interested in groups and communities ready to regain control of their economies and develop local resilience. For more information or to schedule an interview or appearance, send an e-mail.
