A Black Queer History of the United States
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- 11,99 €
Description de l’éditeur
The first-ever Black history to center queer voices, this landmark study traces the lives of LGBTQ+ Black Americans from slavery to present day
Gender and sexual expression have always been part of the Black freedom struggle
In this latest book in Beacon’s award-winning ReVisioning History series, Professors C. Riley Snorton and Darius Bost unearth the often overlooked history of the Black queer community in the United States.
Arguing that both gender and sexual expression have been an intimate and intricate part of Black freedom struggle, Snorton and Bost present historical contributions of Black queer, trans, and gender non-conforming Americans from slavery to the present day to highlight how the fight against racial injustice has always been linked to that of sexual and gender justice.
Interweaving stories of queer and trans figures such as:
Private William Cathay/Cathay Williams, born female but enlisted in the Army as a man in the mid-1860sJosephine Baker, internationally known dancer and entertainer of the early 20th century who was also openly bisexualBayard Rustin, prominent Civil Rights activist whose well known homosexuality was viewed as a potential threat to the movementAmanda Milan, a black trans woman whose murder in 2000 unified the trans people of color community,
this book includes a deep dive into the marginalization, unjust criminalization, and government legislation of Black queer and trans existence. It also shows how Black Americans have played an integral role in the modern LGBTQ rights movement, countering narratives that have predominantly focused on white Americans.
Through storytelling and other narratives, Snorton and Bost show how the Black queer community has always existed, regardless of the attempts to stamp it out, and how those in it continue to fight for their rightful place in the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This illuminating account from gender studies scholars Snorton (Black on Both Sides) and Bost (Evidence of Being) showcases cultural moments and famous figures that have influenced the fight for Black and queer rights, and pinpoints ways in which "blackness, queerness, and transness indelibly shape America's national culture." The authors argue that Black gender and sexuality became tethered to deviance during slavery, causing a tension that continues to affect understandings of queerness in the Black community and America more broadly. During the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras, Black leaders were asked or forced to hide their queerness, or else distance themselves from the civil rights movement. Queer Black activists found themselves excluded from fights for racial justice, as well as from the mainstream LGBTQ+ rights movement, where the focus on marriage equality failed to address more pressing concerns of people of color. But queerness, the authors argue, nonetheless found a unique foothold in the Black working class, where LGBTQ+ artists and drag performers emerged who would go on to shape the broader American entertainment landscape. Throughout, Snorton and Bost emphasize that Black queer and trans people persevered in "craft selves, communities, cultural expression, and political analyses that would appear to be impossible" given the obstacles. The result is an excellent window into a long-repressed past.
