About a week ago I posted this recent article on the blog. Here's a snippet:
The United States is home to the most severe HIV epidemic of any developed country, and the 1.1 million people infected in the U.S. make our HIV population the tenth largest in the world. The nine countries with higher rates of HIV infection than the U.S. are all located in sub-Saharan Africa.
And of course the folks bearing the brunt of this epidemic in U.S. are Blacks - black bodies everywhere are fighting this disease. All of this makes me that much more passionate about my latest play - This Ain't The Future. It's about a black gay man named Xzaveah challenging the silence of black leaders re HIV through his controversial, underground radio program. Whenever I get to work on this play, i get all riled up b/c thats exactly how i feel sometimes. we're up against so much with HIV. you got ppl's personal insecurities, fears, guilts, but then you got parents not talkin to their kids about sex, gay kids havin to learn about sex own their own, u.s govt pushin abstinence over condoms... it's just so much to battle against. that a personality like Xzaveah - channelling his frustration into his on air rants and raves - is a believeable, *possible* character in the fight against HIV in the blk community.
* * *
Last week me and my new roommate stopped at Hue-man bookstore in Harlem. I went in just to peruse but ended up buy 50 bucks worth of books - damn impulsive aries! i did get some good ones tho or at least i think - L.A. Bank's vampire book The Damned (haven't read her yet. actually was looking for an octavia butler book, but when i couldn't find any... they probably flyin off the shelves these days... i picked up banks. we shall see), James Baldwin's Amen Corner (can you believe i've never read or seen it!?) and Longing to Tell by Tricia Rose - which has rocked my world. Tricia Rose is an American Studies Professor out at UC Santa Cruz (what up gina!?!) who set out to write more of a traditional book about black women, sexuality, and intimacy, but after conducting the interviews with black women for the book she decided to make it just that, narrative/interview based. the book has totally rocked my world. every story is so powerful. i keep telling ppl that black gay men need this same type of book in which we can lay it all down - and in so doing learn, share, grow together. as a boy, i particularly value this book cause i don't necessarily have sisters talkin to me about their sexuality. so i feel like i have an honest window and perspective into their experiences, which i'm open to hearing and actually gain a lot of incite from.
The United States is home to the most severe HIV epidemic of any developed country, and the 1.1 million people infected in the U.S. make our HIV population the tenth largest in the world. The nine countries with higher rates of HIV infection than the U.S. are all located in sub-Saharan Africa.
And of course the folks bearing the brunt of this epidemic in U.S. are Blacks - black bodies everywhere are fighting this disease. All of this makes me that much more passionate about my latest play - This Ain't The Future. It's about a black gay man named Xzaveah challenging the silence of black leaders re HIV through his controversial, underground radio program. Whenever I get to work on this play, i get all riled up b/c thats exactly how i feel sometimes. we're up against so much with HIV. you got ppl's personal insecurities, fears, guilts, but then you got parents not talkin to their kids about sex, gay kids havin to learn about sex own their own, u.s govt pushin abstinence over condoms... it's just so much to battle against. that a personality like Xzaveah - channelling his frustration into his on air rants and raves - is a believeable, *possible* character in the fight against HIV in the blk community.
* * *
Last week me and my new roommate stopped at Hue-man bookstore in Harlem. I went in just to peruse but ended up buy 50 bucks worth of books - damn impulsive aries! i did get some good ones tho or at least i think - L.A. Bank's vampire book The Damned (haven't read her yet. actually was looking for an octavia butler book, but when i couldn't find any... they probably flyin off the shelves these days... i picked up banks. we shall see), James Baldwin's Amen Corner (can you believe i've never read or seen it!?) and Longing to Tell by Tricia Rose - which has rocked my world. Tricia Rose is an American Studies Professor out at UC Santa Cruz (what up gina!?!) who set out to write more of a traditional book about black women, sexuality, and intimacy, but after conducting the interviews with black women for the book she decided to make it just that, narrative/interview based. the book has totally rocked my world. every story is so powerful. i keep telling ppl that black gay men need this same type of book in which we can lay it all down - and in so doing learn, share, grow together. as a boy, i particularly value this book cause i don't necessarily have sisters talkin to me about their sexuality. so i feel like i have an honest window and perspective into their experiences, which i'm open to hearing and actually gain a lot of incite from.
posted by Andre Lancaster at
10:26 AM
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