A sincere and beautifully illustrated ode to queer Black figures who shaped the Harlem Renaissance.
Johnson, author of the acclaimed memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue (2020), presents profiles of 12 notable queer Black people from the Harlem Renaissance.
This work introduces readers to figures including Langston Hughes, Ma Rainey, Zora Neale Hurston, and Countee Cullen. Johnson laments growing up learning about “white heterosexual men” who were presented as “our saviors.” They explain that “as a Black queer child, I had the right to know that Black queer people existed before me.…They paved the road for me to walk on. Yet that road was hidden from me and so many others.” This book shines a light on Black figures from “one of the queerest historical periods,” honoring the legacies of these musicians, artists, and authors and offering their lives as representation for the present generation. Throughout the biographies, mostly about five pages in length, Johnson weaves their own personal narrative, drawing parallels between the historical figures and society today. These elements frequently contribute additional layers of depth and relatability, as, for example, with their description of the impact of Josephine Baker’s internalized homophobia on her gay son and Claude McKay’s rejection of elitism within Black nationalism. Johnson’s own poems are interspersed throughout, further illustrating their passion for this history. Double-page spreads featuring Palmer’s vibrantly colored portraits open each narrative, adding further life to the subjects.
A sincere and beautifully illustrated ode to queer Black figures who shaped the Harlem Renaissance. (sources/recommended reading) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780374391249
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
PROFILES
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Though not the most balanced, an enlightening look back for the queer future.
An adaptation for teens of the adult title A Queer History of the United States (2011).
Divided into thematic sections, the text filters LGBTQIA+ history through key figures in each era from the 1500s to the present. Alongside watershed moments like the 1969 Stonewall uprising and the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, the text brings to light less well-known people, places, and events: the 1625 free love colony of Merrymount, transgender Civil War hero Albert D.J. Cashier, and the 1951 founding of the Mattachine Society, to name a few. Throughout, the author and adapter take care to use accurate pronouns and avoid imposing contemporary terminology onto historical figures. In some cases, they quote primary sources to speculate about same-sex relationships while also reminding readers of past cultural differences in expressing strong affection between friends. Black-and-white illustrations or photos augment each chapter. Though it lacks the teen appeal and personable, conversational style of Sarah Prager’s Queer, There, and Everywhere (2017), this textbook-level survey contains a surprising amount of depth. However, the mention of transgender movements and activism—in particular, contemporary issues—runs on the slim side. Whereas chapters are devoted to over 30 ethnically diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual, or queer figures, some trans pioneers such as Christine Jorgensen and Holly Woodlawn are reduced to short sidebars.
Though not the most balanced, an enlightening look back for the queer future. (glossary, photo credits, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8070-5612-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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