Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South [Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

E. Patrick Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2008

Giving voice to a population rarely acknowledged in writings about the South, Sweet Tea collects life stories from black gay men who were born, raised, and continue to live in the southern United States. E. Patrick Johnson challenges stereotypes of the South as "backward" or "repressive," suggesting that these men draw upon the performance of "southernness"—politeness, coded speech, and religiosity, for example—to legitimate themselves as members of both southern and black cultures. At the same time, Johnson argues, they deploy those same codes to establish and build friendship networks and to find sexual partners and life partners.

Traveling to every southern state, Johnson conducted interviews with more than seventy black gay men between the ages of 19 and 93. The voices collected here dispute the idea that gay subcultures flourish primarily in northern, secular, urban areas. In addition to filling a gap in the sexual history of the South, Sweet Tea offers a window into the ways that black gay men negotiate their sexual and racial identities with their southern cultural and religious identities. The narratives also reveal how they build and maintain community in many spaces and activities, some of which may appear to be antigay. Ultimately, Sweet Tea validates the lives of these black gay men and reinforces the role of storytelling in both African American and southern cultures.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This fascinating—if excessively detailed—oral history subverts countless preconceptions in its illustration of black gay subcultures thriving in just about every imaginable rural and religious milieu in the South. Johnson (Appropriating Blackness) has an obvious fondness for the 63 men he interviews. Unfortunately, these interviews suffer from his failure to ask follow-up questions to revelatory or troubling responses and his adherence to set questions, for example, his insistence on asking his churchgoing subjects why they are attracted to the choir, keeps him from exploring the more interesting intersections (and contradictions) of their faith and sexuality. Responses are arranged by topics (Coming Out; Love and Relationships), an organization that provides thematic coherence, but makes it difficult to follow each recurring narrator. Still, the courage and honesty of Johnson's interviewees humble, and readers will find much to treasure in the stories of Stephen, who adopts the mannerisms of straight classmates because he lacks masculine gay role models; proudly effeminate Lamar, transgendered Chastity and gay men in every state in the South falling in love, growing up and growing old, negotiating and redefining their identities. (Sept.) ""
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Challenges queer, black, men's, and southern historiographies. . . . Illuminates the fabric of black gay men's history . . . [and] debunks the myth that southern black gay men live only fearful, silenced, and secret lives."
--Journal of Southern History

"A variety of biases, oversights, and material circumstances have conspired to push the narratives of southern black gay lives to the margins. Sweet Tea makes a monumental achievement by getting these stories out into the world. Every subsequent, serious engagement with the topic will have to address Johnson's work. This book is certain to be consulted, referenced, and discussed for many years to come."
-- John Howard, author of Men Like That: A Southern Queer History and Concentration Camps on the Home Front: Japanese Americans in the House of Jim Crow

"This fascinating . . . oral history subverts countless preconceptions in its illustration of black gay subcultures thriving in just about every imaginable rural and religious milieu in the South. . . . The courage and honesty of Johnson's interviewees humble, and readers will find much to treasure in the stories."
-- Publishers Weekly

"Johnson, who has never been one to shy away from the intricacies of race theory or queer theory, has put together a complex oral history of gay black men in the South."
-- The Independent

"Sweet Tea is an amazing book. Engaging from the very start, it is well written and thought provoking throughout. There were times I simply could not put it down."
-- E. Lynn Harris, New York Times bestselling novelist

"Interjecting apt questions only occasionally, the author allows his subjects to speak for themselves, which they do articulately, colloquially (a glossary is included), and graphically. . . . [A] very good book."
-- Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (August 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807886920
• ISBN-13: 978-0807886922
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,025,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Tea, March 6, 2009

By 

Edward Aycock (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South (Caravan Book) (Hardcover)

Thoroughly researched and completely engaging, "Sweet Tea" is a look into an overlooked minority: black, gay men of the South. The author spent time interviewing dozens of men - all natives who still call the South home -from all age ranges and transcribed the conversations. The interviews are eye-opening. The South is one of the most stereotyped and misunderstood regions of the United States and the personal histories these Southern men relate are illuminating. They are the stories of men who pursued an active gay lifestyle even while remaining part of their families, their communities and their churches.

One of the more unforgettable interview subjects is Chaz/Chastity, a drag queen whom the author discovers almost by accident in his own North Carolina hometown. There are several photos of Chaz scattered throughout the various sections of the book, as well as those of other subjects. The photos are intimate and touching, showing the breadth of these men's lives.

Another strength of the book is the author's own personal story: in the introduction, Johnson discusses his reasons for embarking upon this project and his own experience growing up in the South as a black, gay man. It's fortunate that Johnson wrote this book as it's an important piece of scholarship that deserves all the accolades it receives.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars May I Pour?, March 29, 2009

By 

John R. Lightbody (OCALA, FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South (Caravan Book) (Hardcover)

The author, E. Patrick Johnson, is to be commended for the end product of his research into the lives of black gay men of the southern United States! Through numerous interviews with men of varying degrees of "outness" he has recorded their stories, and grouped them in 7 primary subject headings. While they cover the full range from joyous to tragic, they all deserve to be heard, and Mr. Johnson has let them tell their stories. Now, it is up to us to read, and hear, those stories! It is a journey that will not leave you unmoved... you WILL take away a new heightened awareness of the issues facing these men, whether they are 19 or 90. Kudos to each and every one of the men who shared their lives and stories!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Tea Comments, February 25, 2010

By 

No One "Absent" (No Where) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South (Caravan Book) (Hardcover)

Sweet tea is a qualitative analysis of several southern gay black males with a mixture of stories about their past histories. It rarely touches on the "gay" aspect of their lives, yet it presents almost every other aspect. The book is mostly ethnographic verbatim interviews (some rather difficult to read, as at times the subjects' English is non-standard and hard to follow). This book is important should the reader wish to understand southern gay male black culture with its many and varied histories and dynamics.