African subject, and the use of religious resources among men who have
sex with men in Africa are understudied. How does the construction of
a spiritual landscape by self-professed "guardians of the gates" of
the spiritual world relate to the conservative origins of Black power
ideology in the African Atlantic and African worlds? What is the
importance of the emergence of an African gay masculine aesthetic?
Both western and African anthropologists, such as Stephen O. Murray,
Will Roscoe, and Malidoma Somé, provide rich starting points for the
historical analysis of the erasure of the central role that African
men who engage in homosexual relationships play in the creation of
spaces that are not widely known or discussed among historians of
Africa. How do we situate the history of homosexuality in the African
Atlantic world, for example, through an engagement with themes
initially outlined in the work of Joseph F. Beam? Spiritual Black
Nationalism and Pan Africanism, traditions that were first articulated
in the 18th century, exploded into a political Black Nationalism and
Pan Africanism during the 19th century and had a remarkable impact on
20th century Black writers and artists, yet the impact of Black power
ideology on Black homosexuals such as Joseph Beam, editor of the
groundbreaking In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology, remains ignored by
mainstream scholars in African American, African, and Atlantic
studies. The use of religious resources in the history of Black
Nationalism and Pan Africanism is indisputable. What roles did
homosexuals play in the invention of Black subjectivity and in the
intellectual history of Africa and its diaspora?
On May 2, 7:44 pm, Tracy Flemming <cafenegrit...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://semgai.free.fr/doc_et_pdf/africa_A4.pdf
> "Homosexuality in 'Traditional' Sub-Saharan Africa and Contemporary
> South Africa"
> An overview by Stephen O. Murray
>
> On Apr 27, 12:52 pm, Lavonda Staples <lrstap...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> >Tracy, I'm offering this to you. I'm not an African. I'm a Black American
> > woman of obvious African descent. Here's what I have to say regarding what
> > appears like homophobia in Africa (and I really and truly request that you
> > pick a country and not continue to say "Africa"). Ready? Here goes:
>
> > I don't know much. I'm just giving you what I got and you can take it or
> > leave it. If we pick the Yoruba culture there are linguistic, religious,
> > and artistic elements which glorify the feminine. Even to the every day
> > beauty of those staccato hip movements (I call it the booty flip) we know
> > that these people do not deny the power of one who assists the Creator.
>
> > As anyone who ever read "Things Fall Apart" knows the greatest sins are (1)
> > suicide and (2) being unable to produce children/child killing. Children
> > are treasure, they are abundance, they are fertility and they are life.
>
> > No matter what you do or say if you put two men or two women in the bed -
> > ain't nobody gonna get pregnant. Lack of fertility creates a civil death in
> > these societies. Who will take care of you? Who will learn the story of
> > your family? Who will you give your knowledge? For that matter, what will
> > you talk about with the other folks around the table/fireplace/inground
> > pool/village pond? My Nigerians friends and professors are constantly
> > amazing me with their dedication - to the end of all things - to their
> > children. By extension, the remittance economies of Ghana, Nigeria, et al
> > are proof positive of the need to cultivate children and elders.
>
> > So, it may indeed be homophobia. To answer the question, "Are their great
> > African leaders who were homosexual" is a worthwhile endeavour. But when
> > you combine homosexuality with the subjugation of men and boys into sexual
> > slavery you are mixing two things which have nothing in common. I do
> > believe that people are born gay. I do not believe it is a choice. Sexual
> > slavery TAKES AWAY that choice and that is why the subjects do not belong in
> > the same paragraph. One thing simply is and the other thing is created.
>
> > Just my nearly ignorant two cents....
>
> > On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 11:22 PM,TracyFlemming<cafenegrit...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > > Writing about Joseph Fairchild Beam
>
> > > I am in the early stages of developing a project on the history of
> > > homosexuality and Africa. Some of you may be familiar with the work of
> > > Joseph Fairchild Beam. His writings have played a critical role in the
> > > development of the activist and intellectual landscape in the African
> > > diaspora and in Africa. "Black men loving Black men" is a
> > > revolutionary act…those are indeed still revolutionary sentiments.
> > > They engage us and inspire us to think about things from the
> > > perspective of one who can write about a topic that touches on aspects
> > > of life which we have been taught to hide. For example, Joseph
> > > Fairchild Beam was not a person who I learned about at an elite
> > > historically Black college for men like Morehouse College in the
> > > Department of History or in the African American Studies Program ….
>
> > > Beam wrote about the politics of identification in the African world
> > > in his essay "Brother to Brother: Words from the Heart." He described
> > > an anger filled him as much as water, that he, too, like Audre Lorde,
> > > knew anger as a creative force. Creative anger has defined much of the
> > > history of homosexuality in the African diaspora and Africa but not
> > > exclusively.
>
> > > The work of Joseph Beam can open new windows of interpretation in the
> > > study of Africa and its diaspora, for African and African American
> > > histories are inextricably bound; they are in dialogue. My ongoing
> > > research on the controversy surrounding a pan-Africanist whose
> > > criticism of missionizing Christianity and his openness to Islam
> > > alienated him from western people of African descent (i.e., Edward
> > > Wilmot Blyden) is also interlaced with my own subject position as a
> > > writer, historian, and scholar of Africa. Beam reminds us that we have
> > > to make ourselves from scratch. A recent article on Beam can be found
> > > at the following link:
>
> > >http://www.thegavoice.com/index.php/aae/38-feature/2096-in-the-life-p...
> > > .
>
> > > On Pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial contexts, see _Boy-Wives
> > > and Female-Husbands: Studies in African Homosexualities_ Will Roscoe
> > > and Stephen O. Murray, Editor, for a general overview of the sub-
> > > field:http://us.macmillan.com/boywivesandfemalehusbands.
>
> > > _In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology_ (new edition)
> > >http://www.redbonepress.com/books/inthelife/index.htm
>
> > > Any assistance with this developing project is greatly appreciated in
> > > advance.
>
> > > --
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> > > Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> > > For current archives, visit
> > >http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
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>
> > --
> > La Vonda R. Staples
> > Adjunct Professor, Department of Social Sciences
> > Community College of the District of Columbia
> > 314-570-6483
>
> > "It is the duty of all who have been fortunate to receive an education to
> > assist others in the same pursuit."
--
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