|
|
|
|
Most
African-American Lesbian Literature is as concerned with racism as
it is with sexuality, causing many writers to construct Afrocentric sexual
identities that affirm the power of black women. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Playwright and Political Activist Lorraine Hansberry |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Jewelle Gomez
(b. 1948) seeks to merge her black, feminist, and lesbian identities
into an indivisible whole in her poetry, fiction, and essays. |
|
| |
| |
| |
Angelina Weld Grimké (1880-1958), a noted African-American writer from the
1900s through the 1920s, fell into obscurity in the 1930s and was only
rediscovered in the 1980s. Her inability to act on her sexual desires inspired
her writing and contributed to her ultimately abandoning it. |
|
| |
| |
| |
Lorraine
Hansberry (1930-1965) was a playwright and political activist
whose fight for social justice included support for the emerging
lesbian liberation movement. |
|
| |
| |
| |
The
Harlem Renaissance, an African-American literary movement of
the 1920s and 1930s, included several important lesbian writers. |
|
|
|
| |
| |
June Jordan
(1939-2002) called for the rejection of stereotypical views of
bisexuality in her poetry and essays. Jordan's work exhibits an
aggressive optimism and stresses the importance of individual and
collective self-determination. |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Nella Larsen
(1891-1964) was a bisexual African-American novelist who was covert in
her treatment of lesbianism because of the social conventions of her
time. |
|
| |
| |
| |
Audre Lorde
(1934-1992), an activist and writer who self-identified as a
black feminist lesbian poet warrior, started writing at 12 and never
stopped. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Ann Allen
Shockley (b. 1927), a popular short story writer and novelist,
as well as a librarian, critic, and editor, treats both interracial and
lesbian experiences in her work. |
|
| |
| |
| |
A'Lelia Walker (1885-1931), the "joy goddess" of the Harlem
Renaissance, was a hostess who especially valued the company of black
glbtq artists and writers, which gave her gatherings a distinctly gay
ambience. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Alice Walker
(b. 1944) is a writer who explores the damage done to the individual
self by racism and sexism. She views lesbianism as natural and freeing,
an aid to self-knowledge and self-love. |
|
| |
| |
Related Special
Feature |
|
| |
Spotlight:
African-American Literature, Gay Male
|
|
| |
| |
Photo
Credits: Portrait
of Lorraine Hansberry courtesy Library of Congress Prints and
Photographs Division. |
|
|
|
