In Our Own Voices Inc.
Serving the needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender People of Color, our Friends and Families.

The "In Our Own Voices" Board of Directors profoundly grieves the violent, if not heinous, loss of Mr. George Floyd's life. Our grief is compounded because his death is the most recent and widely publicized death in a series of lives lost at the hands of law enforcement in 2020.

Because IOOV's mission is "To work for and ensure the physical, mental, spiritual, political, cultural and economic growth of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People of Color Community", we are keenly aware of white supremacy, colonialism, the patriarchy and other systems of oppression, which gave way to his death. These systems are consistent with an incendiary phone call to the NYPD by Ms. Amy Cooper about Mr. Christian Cooper; the shooting death Ms. Breonna Taylor, a black woman in Kentucky by police in her own home in March; and the murder of Mr. Ahmaud Arbery, a black man out for a jog in a predominantly white neighborhood in Georgia.

IOOV manages the complexities of intersectionality. Like our clients, we are experiencing these very public assaults and losses in the context of the persistent violence perpetrated against our transgender women of color clients. Against the backdrop of Covid-19 and the legacy of violence against black and brown people who rarely are accorded the satisfaction of judicial redress, we see and feel the collective and additive grief and exhaustion such persistent assaults yield for us and more importantly for our staff and clients.

As a Board, we name white privilege and white supremacy as the structures that permit such lethality to occur. Regarding the community responses to such violence, we maintain intellectual humility. We honor the thinking of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who opined, "A riot is the language of the unheard." Making judgments about such actions is asserting a lived experienced on those who engage in the behavior. We do not. We do recognize the intergenerational experience of marginalization, humiliation, alienation, and unresolved trauma. We also acknowledge there are bad actors afoot who seek to heighten emotions and make matters worse during efforts of peaceful protests. Buildings and property can be repaired or replaced, a life lost is never regained. Moreover, those who remain are forever changed.

Because IOOV values, "Communication, Honesty, Integrity, Service to Others, Responsibility and Quality" we strive to be transparent in our support of our most marginalized client members. Recognizing that while Albany is a supportive environment, there are still unreconciled traumas due to our own Albany Police Department. As such, we remain ready to engage in any constructive processes that will help alleviate pain and suffering to promote justice and full inclusion of freedom and growth consistent with our mission and the promise of America.

COVID-19 Emergency Assistance

In Our Own Voices is now taking applications to support LGBTQ communities and communities of color as they have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic. These mini grants are available to those living in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Columbia, Greene, and Montgomery counties.

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IOOV Services

In Our Own Voices offers a variety of programs designed to promote the health and wellbeing of LGBTPOC throughout the Capital Region.

Direct Services     Training & Technical Assistance     Policy & Advocating     

Our Mission
To work for and ensure the physical, mental, spiritual, political, cultural, and economic survival and growth of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People of Color Communities.

Vision
To set the standard for National People of Color LGBT organizations.

Core Purpose:

We seek to...

• Develop the leadership of LGBT POC individuals.
• Strengthen the voices of LGBT POC in order to effectively communicate our perspectives within the larger community.
• Increase our capacity for combating oppression and marginalization.

Core Values

• Communication
• Honesty & Integrity
• Service to Others
• Responsibility
• Quality