Black Tears of Oil and Honey is organized around the creative powers of Black poet, writer, and AIDS activist Bobby Smith, now 79, who performs in improvisational tandem with up-and-coming violinist Semaj Murphy. In 1985, Smith was one of three founders of the Minority AIDS Project, the first AIDS non-profit established to serve black and brown individuals infected with the HIV virus and their families. With rhythmical humor and wry vibe, Smith gives his listeners a sense of what Los Angeles meant for a young Black man in a gay mecca. Smith’s spoken word and Murphy’s musical versatility engage the pain of the Plague Years, conveying Smith’s insistent message that each individual can do something to change their world.
Together, this gay elder and a rising star chronicle community, engaging such topics as “fruit flies” & gay camaraderie; sweet word-play amidst the seasons of love; masturbation & fantasy, maternal love & AIDS loss, and community love as activism. At regular intervals, queer photographer Zach Oren engages Smith in brief but captivating on-stage conversations that invite each of us to re-imagine our individual potential in today’s political context.
This program may not be suitable for all ages.
Participant Bios:
Rising artist Semaj Murphy is a recent graduate of the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where they studied violin performance and music industry. Known for their dynamic versatility, Semaj has collaborated with acclaimed artists, including Beyoncé and John Legend. Their performance credits include appearances on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!, the NFL Honors Award Show (2022), the soundtrack for Netflix’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024), and a music directing apprenticeship at Abbey Road Studios in London (2024). Semaj currently serves as a Violin Teaching Artist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) Programs.
Zach Oren is an LA-based artist. A self-taught photographer who loves taking portraits in natural settings where documentary meets editorial, Zach uses his own intersectionality – queer, poz, feminist, Middle Eastern – and his intent to focus on underrepresented voices to highlight immense beauty too often overlooked. Zach likes keeping things simple and enjoys making people feel seen through the images he creates. Zach’s work has been exhibited on both coasts and has been featured in several publications.
Bobby Smith was one of three founders in 1985 of the Minority AIDS Project, the first AIDS non-profit social service in the US specifically established to serve black and brown individuals and families infected with—and affected by HIV and AIDS. Author of numerous poems and essays since a young age, Bobby penned For Colored Boys Who Have Considered at the height of the AIDS pandemic. This short story first appeared in the now classic, Lambda Literary Award-winning collection, Brother to Brother: New Writing by Black Gay Men, begun by Joseph Beam and completed by Essex Hemphill in 1991.
This performance is organized by Bobby Smith and is co-presented with the Los Angeles LGBT Center as part of Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2025, presented by One Institute.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a safe and welcoming place where the LGBTQ+ community finds help, hope, and support when it is needed the most.