Not Straight, Not White: Black Gay Men from the March on Washington to the AIDS Crisis (The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture) - Hardcover

Mumford, Kevin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1469652218 ISBN 13: 9781469652214

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2016

Synopsis

This compelling book recounts the history of black gay men from the 1950s to the 1990s, tracing how the major movements of the times—from civil rights to black power to gay liberation to AIDS activism—helped shape the cultural stigmas that surrounded race and homosexuality. In locating the rise of black gay identities in historical context, Kevin Mumford explores how activists, performers, and writers rebutted negative stereotypes and refused sexual objectification. Examining the lives of both famous and little-known black gay activists—from James Baldwin and Bayard Rustin to Joseph Beam and Brother Grant-Michael Fitzgerald—Mumford analyzes the ways in which movements for social change both inspired and marginalized black gay men.

Drawing on an extensive archive of newspapers, pornography, and film, as well as government documents, organizational records, and personal papers, Mumford sheds new light on four volatile decades in the protracted battle of black gay men for affirmation and empowerment in the face of pervasive racism and homophobia.

About this title

About the Author:

Kevin Mumford is professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Review:

In Not Straight, Not White, Kevin Mumford sets the gay historical record 'straight' by deftly demonstrating the ways in which black gays played a pivotal role in the social and political movements of the last fifty years. Through meticulously researched archival material, Mumford persuasively argues that black gay men were neither silent nor passive participants in the gay or black liberation struggle. From the March on Washington to the AIDS epidemic, this book recuperates a history that has been shaded by other historical accounts that either erase black gay presence altogether or offer this presence as tangential. With this book Mumford affirms the humanity and fierceness of black gay men everywhere.--E. Patrick Johnson, author of Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South
Not Straight, Not White is a landmark book that adds a different voice, approach, and substance to the field of black queer studies. A joy to read, this astonishing and refreshing book is sure to be read closely, lauded, and debated.--Marlon Ross, University of Virginia

About this edition

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1469652218
• ISBN 13: 9781469652214
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272