Black Like Us: a Century of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual African American Fiction.edited by Devon W. Carbado, Dwight A. McBride, and Donald Weise Cleis Press, July 2002 $29.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 1-573-44108-2 The popularity of African-American same-gender loving (SGL SGL See Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating (SGL). ) fiction in this new century owes much to the wordsmiths of the previous hundred years. Twentieth century lesbian, gay and bisexual authors of fiction began writing in codes as complex as Underground Railroad Underground Railroad, in U.S. history, loosely organized system for helping fugitive slaves escape to Canada or to areas of safety in free states. It was run by local groups of Northern abolitionists, both white and free blacks. communiques, stepped tepidly out of the closet during the Harlem Renaissance Harlem Renaissance, term used to describe a flowering of African-American literature and art in the 1920s, mainly in the Harlem district of New York City. During the mass migration of African Americans from the rural agricultural South to the urban industrial North . Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. Fiction, charts this evolution deftly. From the turn-of-the-century writings of color-conscious Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Paul Laurence Dunbar's ex-wife who was herself a lesbian, to the unselfconscious pride and Afrocentricity of major SGL contemporary writers E. Lynn Harris E. Lynn Harris is an Black American author, (b. June 20, 1955). Harris writes primarily about African American men on the down low or in the closet; Harris confirmed that he is a homosexual. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Atlanta, Georgia. , James Earl Hardy and Marci Blackman, we are treated to fascinating biographical profiles, each of which is followed by an example of the writer's work. Langston Hughes' 1963 short story "Blessed Assurance" offers a joyful glimpse into the life of a brilliant, queer church-boy, while E. Lynn Harris breaks ground by giving voice to contemporary closeted clos·et·ed adj. Being In a state of secrecy or cautious privacy. homosexuality, and questioning African-American gay and bisexual men searching for self-acceptance in an excerpt from his debut novel, Invisible Life (1991). The works and lives of Alice Walker, Countee Cullen, Audre Lorde, Melvin Dixon, Thomas Glave, Jewelle Gomez and Shay Youngblood, to name a few, are succinctly packaged in 555 pages. Although a book as ambitious as this should be applauded for its rich historical, cultural and anecdotal detail, the omission of Penny Mickelbury, noted contemporary lesbian author of eight popular out-of-the closet crime novels, is a glaring oversight. Nonetheless, the 36 writers showcased here, and their carefully selected literary works, as well as details of their fascinating lives and times comprise a literary anthology that is both vital and entertaining. --Stanley Bennett Clay is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer. |
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