Trigger Warning: Discussions of violence Whitepeople believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle. Swift unnavigable waters, swinging screaming baboons, sleeping snakes, red gums ready for their sweet white blood. In a way, he thought, they were right. The more coloredpeople spent their strength trying to convince them how gentle they […]
Category: LBGT*QIQTSAA
What Does Black Masculinity Look Like?
Over the past few weeks, in the midst of teaching a pre-summer class on black masculinity in which we have discussed, debated and dreamed about the possibility for fluidity in raced gender performance, I have listened to a black man weep and express his love for his teammates and his appreciation for the sacrifices of […]
Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: A Review of Janet Mock’s Redefining Realness
Anyone who knows me knows that I stan for Janet Mock. So, I couldn’t wait to get my hot little hands on her book, Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love and So Much More. What took a minute was finding the time to read it—and I’m so glad I finally did! Talk about […]
When You’re “the One”
It was the summer of 2004. I was a grad student with experience in resident life and I had taken on a job as co-director of a summer program hosted at my university. The pay was good and it gave me time to read and prep for my first go at teaching that fall. At […]
Black Queer Trouble in Literature, Life, and the Age of OBama: Part II
Originally Delivered by Cheryl Clarke as the Kessler Lecture on Dec. 6, 2013 at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center Scenes of black queer and feminist resistance; or “forced confinement and forced mobility” Recently I said the following at a “Symposium: Black Women’s Studies and the Transformation of […]
Black Queer Trouble in Literature, Life, and the Age of OBama: Part I
Originally Delivered by Cheryl Clarke as the Kessler Lecture on Dec. 6, 2013 at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center Note: Elizabeth Lorde Rollins, my friend and sister, introduced me at the event. Thank you, Beth. Wonderful to see you again. We miss your Mother. In case I […]
(Black First) Ladies First
I’ve been reflecting, this week, on black first ladies. FLOTUS Michelle Obama seems like an anomaly but black first ladies are commonplace in black communities. While Obama is the first black lady of the White House there have always been black first ladies of black churches. The wives of preachers, these big hat wearing, first […]
Somebody, Anybody? It’s Hard Out Here for a Sista
Trigger warning: Violent language “Somebody, anybody sing a Black girl song” Ntozake Shange, For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow was Enuf Being a Black woman or girl in the United States has never been easy. That much […]
Best of Summer 2013
Now that our days of wearing linen pants and rocking open-toed shoes are drawing to a close, we at the CFC have been thinking about the stuff we most enjoyed about this wild, wonderful, and weird summer. What follows is a short list of some of our CFs’ favorite things from this summer—from films, to […]
(Why) Does It Matter?: Raven Symoné’s Quiet Coming Out
As a close-enough-to 80’s baby I knew Raven Symoné as adorable Olivia on The Cosby Show. She was like the new Rudy, a yellow skinned toddler beauty to share banter and cute humor with Cliff once his fictional offspring were too old to pull it off. By the time Symoné emerged the star of her […]