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.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
Bonnie and Vern Bullough Book Award Winner, Foundation for the Scientific Study of Sexuality
A Stonewall Honor Book in Nonfiction, American Library Association Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Round Table
Finalist, Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction, The Publishing Triangle
Finalist, Lambda Literary Award, LGBTQ Studies, Lambda Literary
Softcover
272 pages
15.6 x 23.5 cm
Published 2019 by
The University of North Carolina Press