Age, Biography and Wiki

Joseph Beam was born on 30 December, 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., is an American gay rights activist and writer. Discover Joseph Beam's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 33 years old?

Popular As N/A
Occupation writer · poet · activist
Age 33 years old
Zodiac Sign Capricorn
Born 30 December, 1954
Birthday 30 December
Birthplace Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of death 27 December, 1988
Died Place Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Nationality United States

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 30 December. He is a member of famous activist with the age 33 years old group.

Joseph Beam Height, Weight & Measurements

At 33 years old, Joseph Beam height not available right now. We will update Joseph Beam's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
Hair Color Not Available

Dating & Relationship status

He is currently single. He is not dating anyone. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. According to our Database, He has no children.

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Not Available
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

Joseph Beam Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Joseph Beam worth at the age of 33 years old? Joseph Beam’s income source is mostly from being a successful activist. He is from United States. We have estimated Joseph Beam's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income activist

Joseph Beam Social Network

Instagram
Linkedin
Twitter
Facebook
Wikipedia
Imdb

Timeline

1954

Joseph Fairchild Beam (December 30, 1954 – December 27, 1988 ) was an African-American gay rights activist, writer and poet.

Beam was born in Philadelphia on December 30, 1954, to Sun Fairchild Beam, a security guard, and Dorothy Saunders Beam, a teacher and school guidance counselor.

He was raised Catholic.

1974

He was awarded the Omega Psi Phi fraternity Award for Broadcasting in 1974.

1976

Beam received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin College in 1976 where he was an active member of the local Black Student Union, helped to organize conferences on campus and was active in college journalism and radio programming.

1980

In the early 1980s, Beam began working at Giovanni's Room, an independent gay and lesbian bookstore in Philadelphia while he wrote and was active in local and national efforts for acceptance, visibility and social justice for the Black gay community.

His writing was published in many newspapers and publications, including Au Courant, Black/Out, Blackheart, Changing Men, Gay Community News, The Painted Bride Quarterly, Philadelphia Gay News, The Advocate, New York Native, The Body Politic, and The Windy City Times.

Beam's short stories, Brother to Brother and No Cheek to Turn were critically acclaimed.

Beam had a large network of friends and correspondents which included Audre Lorde, Barbara Smith, Essex Hemphill, Daniel Garrett, Sonia Sanchez, and Bayard Rustin.

Beam also maintained ongoing correspondence with prisoners, which he later attributed to a "deep sense of my own imprisonment as a closeted Gay man and an oppressed Black man."

Through his writings, Beam aimed to alleviate the alienation of gay men of color, to help them create their own community and also counteract the absence of positive images of them in the media and what he saw as their exclusion from the cultural world of white gay rights activists.

Inspired by the humanism of the black feminist and lesbian movement, he saw his work as part of a broad effort to "correct" and re-define the reality of race, sex, class and gender in the United States.

1984

The Lesbian and Gay Press Association awarded Beam a certificate for outstanding achievement by a minority journalist in 1984.

1985

In 1985, Beam became a consultant to the Gay and Lesbian Task Force of the American Friends Service Committee.

In 1985, Beam joined the executive committee of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays, and became the Editor of its journal, Black/Out.

That same year, Beam was awarded The Philadelphia Gay News Lambda Award for Outstanding Achievement.

1986

Beam was the editor of In the Life (1986), the first anthology of poetry and prose by Black gay men for which he received a Citation from the State House of Rhode Island in 1987 and a Commendation from the City of Philadelphia.

Beam began a second anthology, Brother to Brother, named after an earlier short story of his, but died before it was completed.

1988

Beam died of an AIDS-related illness on December 27, 1988, three days before his thirty-fourth birthday.

1991

Essex Hemphill and Beam's mother, Dorothy, completed the collection and it was published as Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men in 1991.

1992

In 1992, Beam's mother donated her son's papers to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York.

The donation led to the curation, by Steven G. Fullwood, of the center's In the Life archive dedicated to black LGBTQ experiences.

The correspondence includes letters to black gay writers, including Audre Lorde, and also letters to people who were incarcerated, interviews with organizer Bayard Rustin and poet Pat Parker, as well as notes and manuscripts from Beam's journalism and gay rights work.