Mandy Carter - The Outwords Archive

Mandy, age 17, as a Gym Aid at Mont Pleasant High School, 1965, Schenectady, NY. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy, age 18, as a Mont Pleasant High School cheerleader, 1966, Schenectady, NY. Mandy was one of the first black cheerleaders at the school. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy playing guitar at the Biafra Festival, 1969. San Francisco, CA. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

(L-R): Mandy Carter, David McReynolds, Irma Zigas, and Daniel Ellsberg during a press conference at the San Francisco International Airport; August 3, 1973; San Francisco, CA. Photo Credit: Nancy Purser. Mandy shares, “This was prior to Ellsberg doing a workshop on the Pentagon Papers at the War Resisters League 50th Anniversary Conference in 1973.” Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy at the WRL Anniversary Conference podium with Ira Sandperl and Irma Zigas in the background on right; August 7, 1973; Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, CA. Photo Credit: Nancy Purser. Mandy shares, “I joined the staff of the War Resisters League’s Western Regional Office in San Francisco in 1969. It was my first-ever paying job. I was one of the conference coordinators.” Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy on the War Resisters League/Southeast Women’s Peace Walk to the Seneca Women’s Peace Encampment, 1983, Seneca, NY. Mandy shares, “I had joined the War Resisters League/Southeast staff in 1982 when I moved from San Francisco to Durham, NC. I was the lead coordinator. This photo was taken by someone on our walk.” Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy Carter and Judy Winston on the War Resisters League/Southeast Women’s Peace Walk to the Seneca Women’s Peace Encampment, 1983, Seneca, NY. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy on the cover of The Advocate, 1990. Mandy shares, “In 1990 I was the coordinator of our North Carolina Senate Vote ’90 PAC, which was a North Carolina statewide effort to defeat Republican North Carolina U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. His opponent was Democrat Harvey Gantt who was the first-ever Black mayor of Charlotte, NC. Helms won the election, but it got international and national coverage. It’s important to note that the intentional statewide grassroots coalition effort exists to this day, 31 years later. When Barack Obama won his historic 2008 election as the first-ever Black president, he thanked Harvey Gantt. And that was one of the reasons why I was chosen as one of the five national co-chairs for Obama Pride in Obama’s 2008 win.” Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy in her office at the Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF) Office, 1996, Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy pointing at North Carolina in preparation for the HRCF Gay & Lesbian Vote organizing in the elections, 1996, Washington, DC. Mandy shares, “Because of my organizing for North Carolina Senate Vote ‘90, I was proactively asked to serve on the Human Rights Campaign Fund’s Board. I did, then was asked to join the HRCF staff and was hired from 1993-1995 and served as the National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum Liaison.” Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy announcing the National Black Justice Coalition’s support of marriage equality at the NBJC Press event at National Press Club, 2003, Washington, DC. Donna Payne and three men are pictured in the background. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

(L-R): Matt Foreman of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), Mandy Carter, and Mrs. Coretta Scott King at the 40th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights, December 2003, Washington, DC. Mandy shares, “We both got to speak representing Southerners on New Ground (SONG) and NGLTF at the request of Martin Luther King III.” Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy with President Barack Obama, 2011, North Carolina. Photo Credit: Peter Joseph Souza. Mandy shares: “I was one of the five Obama Pride Co-Chairs for his historic 2008 presidential election win. We organized and mobilized the LGBT vote. I did mine in the South.” Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Walter Neagle (Bayard Rustin’s partner), Sharon, and Mandy Carter holding the Presidential Medal of Freedom that was posthumously awarded to Bayard Rustin, November 21, 2013, Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy speaking at the Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Honors where she received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, 2013, San Diego LGBT Center, San Diego, CA. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

L-R: Matt Foreman, Randy, Joan, and Mandy Carter at War Resisters League 90th Anniversary, 2013. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

L-R: Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Julian Bond, and Mandy Carter on stage in Atlanta, GA. Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy with students from Warren Wilson College, NC on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, March 2015. Mandy shares, “This marked the 50th Anniversary of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Right March. President Barack Obama and the First Family were in attendance with the late Representative John Lewis.” Photo courtesy of Mandy Carter.

Mandy Carter was born in 1948 in Albany, New York. Within a couple months of being born, Mandy and her two siblings were abandoned by their mother, resulting in Mandy living the first eighteen years of her life in New York state orphanages, with the exception of four years in a foster home.

Mandy was eight years old on her first Christmas with her foster parents. When she dug her hand into her Christmas stocking, she found a piece of coal. Her foster mother told her, “You weren’t a good girl. Maybe you’ll do better next year.” But ‘next year’ never came, and Mandy was finally able to return to the relative safety of a state orphanage at age 12.

At age 17, a Quaker peace activist came and spoke at Mandy’s high school. Her path suddenly snapped into focus. Upon aging out of the foster care system at 18, Mandy hitchhiked to San Francisco. Because she had no family to speak of, Mandy was free to explore her attraction to other women. She also discovered her profound penchant for social justice and activism. Within months, she was participating in anti-Vietnam War protests, getting arrested, and spending ten days in jail. Her participation in the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign solidified her sustained commitment to nonviolence. Within a few years, Mandy moved to Durham, North Carolina, which she has called home ever since.

Among the many strands of her activism, Mandy co-founded two precedent-smashing organizations: Southerners On New Ground (SONG) and the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC). Founded in 1993, SONG is a queer Southerners social justice, advocacy, and capacity-building organization, with a constant focus on the intersection of LGBTQ+ issues and broader issues of economic and racial justice. NBJC, founded in 2003, is a national civil rights organization dedicated to empowering Black LGBTQ+ people. In 2008, Mandy served as one of five national co-chairs of Obama LGBT Pride. She is deeply proud that her adopted home state of North Carolina went for Obama, the first and only time since 1976 that the state has voted blue in a presidential election.

With 54 years of social, racial, and LGBTQIA+ justice organizing under her belt, Mandy has gained national recognition for her activist efforts. In 2005, Mandy was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as part of the “1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize”, which recognized, made visible, and celebrated the peace work of thousands of women around the world.

Going on age 73, Mandy shows no signs of slowing down. When it comes to energy and determination for a better world, she calls herself “a constant 10”. And although she would probably object, we hope she receives a cornucopia of treat-filled Christmas stockings to reward her lifetime of activism.

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