A Book About Two Unsung AIDS Heroes

A book I am looking forward to reading is historian Martin Duberman's Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS, published by The New Press. I had the opportunity of meeting both men in the 1980s.

I learned about this book when I saw the last two copies of the March 2014 issue of A & U magazine on a recent visit to the Gay Community Center on 13th Street in Greenwich Village. Martin Duberman's photo was on the cover, with his name in red letters and a brief description of the book.

AIDS Elegy Book Considered For Publication

Art Mugs the Reaper, an anthology of AIDS elegies, edited by Jeffrey Lilly, a San Francisco-based poet and writer, is currently being considered for publication by the University of Wisconsin Press. I have two elegies that are included in the book: one about poet Essex Hemphill, the other about poet/novelist Melvin Dixon.

A Food Blog That Combines History And Recipes

A blog worth checking out is Frederick Douglass Opie's foodasalens.com, which combines culinary history and recipes from an African-American perspective.

A Book About Kitty Genovese Murder

I recently received from the book publishing company, W.W. Norton, a review copy of Kevin Cook's Kitty Genovese, which is about the famous March 1964 murder of the young woman in Queens, New York. I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing it. It looks like a page-turner.

Transcribing An Interview With AIDS Activist Craig G. Harris

I have a 90-minute cassette interview that I did with writer/activist Craig G. Harris, when he was the executive director of the Minority Task Force on AIDS in Harlem in 1988. I need to transcribe the interview and post it on this blog.

Back To Blogging

I haven't been posting anything for a while. I was taking a much needed break from the Internet. I'm ready now to resume blogging.

Church Homophobia In Harlem

The following are my Facebook comments regarding the homophobic message board in front of the Atlah Church on Lenox Avenue in Harlem. The message on the message board advocated the stoning of  homosexuals. My comments on Facebook were posted on March 20, 2014. Regard this as the early draft of a longer essay on this issue.


"In the 1980s and '90s, such blatant homophobia would have been confronted by mass demonstrations. It seems like the LGBT community is too concerned with being mainstream and too mesmerized by the latest trivia on social media to get out in the streets and let their feelings be known, loud and clear. Alas, many of our boldest, as well as best and brightest, activists like poet/playwright Assotto Saint were mowed down by AIDS. Their absence has definitely weakened the resolve of the LGBT community. When a church states on its message board that 'Jesus Would Have Stoned Homos,' then it is time to carry picket signs while chanting 'Hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia has got to go!'

One other thing, this church has a breakfast program for school-age children. It makes me wonder if they indoctrinate the children with homophobia as they serve them their morning cereal."