In the Bay Area? Sugartruck Recordings, with the cooperation of Black Funk, present “Grown Ass Men: Soliloquies of Solemnity and Silliness on Sex, Soul and Spirit,” a benefit for Fire & Ink! Featuring readings by Dr. Herukhuti, Marvin K. White, and Juba Kalamka. Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 7 p.m. at Z Cafe, Bar and Restaurant, 2735 Broadway @ 27th St. in Oakland. Light refreshments, cash bar; suggested donation $5-$100. Come one, come all!
Fire & Ink is embarking on our first pledge drive!
Your support will allow us to keep doing the important work of shaping the future of LGBTQ/SGL writers of African descent.
Every bit helps, small and large. Learn more about the why and how here.
Donate to Fire & Ink, Incorporated today!
For immediate release
Call and Response: The Black GLBT Literary Community Adds to the Dialogue on Bishop Eddie Long and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church
Hyattsville, MD (September 28, 2010)—The fallout about recent allegations regarding Bishop Eddie Long, leader of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, and sexual coercion of teenaged males has created an opportunity for dialogue across communities about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (GLBTQ) people and homophobia in the black church; sexual abuse; and power.
To further inform the discussion, Fire & Ink board members Lisa C. Moore and Steven G. Fullwood and MC Books publisher Michael Christopher have compiled a list of literature by GLBTQ people of African descent that explores the complex issues being talked about in recent days.
This list is not all-inclusive, but represents significant contributions of GLBTQ people of African descent in the 20th and 21st Centuries to the present conversation about Bishop Eddie Long and the climate of the black church. We encourage you to become informed readers.
Selected reader list
In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology, ed. by Joseph Beam (RedBone Press)
I Was Born This Way: A Gay Preacher’s Journey Through Gospel Music, Disco Stardom and a Ministry in Christ, by Archbishop Carl Bean with David Ritz (Simon & Schuster)
Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America, by Keith Boykin (Da Capo Press)
Unspeakable, by Michael Christopher (MC Books)
The Days of Good Looks: The Prose and Poetry of Cheryl Clarke, 1980 to 2005, by Cheryl Clarke – includes the essay, “The Failure to Transform: Homophobia in the Black Community” (Da Capo Press)
A Whosoever Church: Welcoming Lesbians and Gay Men into African American Congregations, by Gary David Comstock (Westminster John Knox Press)
Where the Edge Gathers: Building a Community of Radical Inclusion, by Rev. Yvette Flunder (Pilgrim Press)
Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians & Gays in Black Churches, by Horace L. Griffin (Pilgrim Press)
Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men, ed. by Essex Hemphill (RedBone Press)
Ceremonies: Prose and Poetry, by Essex Hemphill (Cleis Press)
Conjuring Black Funk, by Herukhuti (Vintage Entity Press)
Shaming the Devil, by G. Winston James — includes the story, “Church” (Top Pen Press)
Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity, ed. by G. Winston James and Lisa C. Moore (RedBone Press)
Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South, by E. Patrick Johnson (University of North Carolina Press)
The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings by James Baldwin, ed. by Randall Kenan (Pantheon)
does your mama know? An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories, ed. by Lisa C. Moore (RedBone Press)
Say Jesus and Come to Me, by Ann Allen Shockley (Naiad Press)
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Fire & Ink is a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing the understanding, visibility and awareness of the works of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender writers of African descent and heritage. http://fireandink.org
MC Books is owned by author, illustrator and photographer Michael-Christopher. http://www.michael-christopher.com
Fire & Ink Presents!
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, April 25, 2009
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ballroom A
4100 Presidential Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19131
Welcome to Pride season 2009! To ring in this year’s Pride calendar, Philly Black Gay Pride hosts Fire & Ink Presents! this coming Saturday, April 25, 2009. Come on out and get a taste of the latest writing from black gay and lesbian authors. Reading from their works are:
With a reading/tribute to Philadelphia writers Joseph Beam and Becky Birtha by host Lisa C. Moore!
Lamar Ariel
Lamar Ariel describes himself as a not-to-typical mid-Western boy who was easily seduced by the energy of New York City. Originally from Chicago, Ariel received a BS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s of arts management from Carnegie Mellon University. He lives in Manhattan. Ready to Male is his first published book.
Ready to Male provides fictional elaborations of memories, experiences and thoughts with a primary focus on Ariel’s journey through the “complicated realm” of his twenties. “I like to think of Ready to Male as a memoir in as well as a memoir of progress. When I go back and read what I felt, believed or wanted and then compare those moments to what my life is writing now, it’s a wonderful tool to document personal growth. I can read a letter like “Dear Funny Valentine” or a chapter of the book like “Is It Me or Is It New?” and always find a striking difference between the mental space that was ‘home’ at that particular space and time, versus the mental space which exists as my ‘home’ now,” says Ariel.
Marcel Emerson
Marcel Emerson has a degree in biology from the University of Washington, and an MBA from Trinity University. Emerson lives in Washington, D.C., where is works as a property manager for commercial real estate. My Eyes Are Green is his first novel.
In My Eyes Are Green, Jennifer Peele and Dontae Erickson have just entered the prestigious world of Georgetown University’s elite law school. A chance meeting brings them together and they realize they have a lot more in common than their green eyes. Personal tragedies have made them kindred spirits, both seeking to fill the empty space left by the deaths of their mothers. Dontae falls under the spell of a charming law student, Darrel, only to have Darrel quickly leave after the death of his father. When Darrel resurfaces later with a pregnant wife in tow, will Dontae accept Darrel’s offer of continuing their relationship? With My Eyes Are Green, Marcel Emerson makes a stunning literary debut with a gripping tale of passion, pain and the promise of love.
Kimberly “Q” aka the Lesbian Goddess is a self-published author, actress, singer and 3-time AUDELCO award winner. She has had two of her plays produced by various production companies in various cities; J’ai Deux Amours…A Journey with Josephine Baker, (winner of The Best Lead Actress award from AUDELCO) and The “Q” Stands for Queer. Her final installment of the Orchids erotic series, Lesbian Funk: A Journey into the Oblivion, is enticing, disturbing and explosive. The previous Orchids, Orchids I: African American Lesbian Erotica One Night Stands and Orchids II: Reality or Fantasy, broadened the thoughts, actions and creativity of the lesbian sexual experience. Her motto: Luxuriate in the positive stimulus of your sensuousness! It will enhance your ultimate fantasies!
Orchids III: Lesbian Funk, the final episode of the Orchids collection, is one woman’s search for the ultimate euphoric bliss. Her quest takes her on seven uniquely random journeys culminating in sexual oblivion. Lesbian Funk is enticing, disturbing, explosive and unexplainable; be warned that it may produce head shaking, stomach fluttering, dewy droplets of endless obscurity—not to mention a blown mind, a numb body, loss of memory, convulsions and a blackout!
H.L. Sudler
H.L. Sudler has been an editor, columnist, essayist and publisher. He is the president of Archer Media Networks, and has won the PATHS Humanitarian Writing Award for his short story on depression titled “The Way of All Flesh.” Sudler has completed work on his new books Man to Gentleman and Man to Gentleman’s Inspirational Diary, and is currently at work on two new books, Man to Gentleman’s Novice Chef and Patriarch, a memoir through essays. “Yesterdays and Tomorrows,” a quiet meditation on friends lost to AIDS, is a work from that collection. Sudler is a native of Philadelphia now residing in Washington, D.C.
Patriarch is a memoir in progress. “Yesterdays and Tomorrows,” an essay from Patriarch, is a quiet meditation on friends lost to AIDS.
We’ll see you in Philly!
Based on the best-selling book of the same name by best-selling author Laurinda D. Brown, “Walk Like A Man – The Play” is sex with an attitude for women of all ages and ethnicities. Based on nine characters taken from the collection of short stories, “Walk Like A Man – The Play” is presented in spoken word and dramatic monologues that spotlights issues and stereotypes in the lesbian community. It features an all-female cast portraying women loving women in everyday situations like falling in love with the boss, losing a partner through the casualty of war, domestic abuse, emotional infidelity, rape, true romance, the joy of new love, sex and religion, and the pitfalls of realizing that you’re the one getting played. “Walk Like A Man – The Play” is a gender studies course wrapped in lesbian erotica.
Don’t miss upcoming shows:
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Walk Like A Man – The Play | @ Woodruff Arts Center – Rich Theatre | ||
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Walk Like A Man – The Play | @ New Daisy Theatre | ||
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Walk Like A Man – The Play | @ The Attucks Theatre | ||
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Walk Like A Man – The Play | @ Atlas Performing Arts Center – Sprenger Theatre |
Missed us in Portland or Newark?
Well fear not! Because we’re just getting started. Stay tuned for more information about upcoming Fire & Ink Presents! events, as well as continuing programming from Fire & Ink that you won’t want to miss.
Fire & Ink thanks Newark/Essex Pride and everyone who participated in Fire & Ink Presents! on Saturday, June 14, 2008.
Here are a few pics from the event, with thanks to Steven G. Fullwood:
Don’t miss more fabulous pics of the event by featured reader (and blogger extraordinaire) Sharon Bridgforth.
Did you capture photos at a recent Fire & Ink event? We’d love to share them with the world, so Email ‘em in! Let’s show the world what we’re doing both small scale and large!
The first Fire & Ink Presents! event at DC Pride was a hit! The work was amazing and the audience was juiced.
You? What’d you think? Let us know!
Us? We’re keepin’ it movin on to Newark, New Jersey! Come on out and don’t miss it!
Save the Date for upcoming Fire & Ink Presents! events coming to a city near you:
June 12th: Portland, Oregon
June 25-29: Columbia, S.C.
Dates soon to be announced for Fire & Ink Presents! events in Memphis & Nashville.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE WRITERS AND THEIR WORK HERE: –> Continue reading ‘Fire & Ink Presents! in Newark’
Thank you to everyone who participated in the first Fire & Ink Presents! event, on Saturday, May 24, 2008, curated by Fire & Ink for DC Black Pride.
Here are a few pics from the event, with thanks to Steven G. Fullwood:
Have some pics to share? Email ‘em in! We’d love to share them with the world.
Art and culture, our stories and our fantasies, are a crucial part of our lives. Fire & Ink is excited to continue in its mission to strengthen and nourish our creative community by rolling out Fire & Ink Presents! – a new initiative through which we are curating literary events at Black Pride Celebrations around the country.
Memorial Day Weekend 2008 brings the first in the Fire & Ink Presents! series, and we are starting it off on a high note. This year, in honor of the 18th Anniversary of D.C. Black Pride, Fire & Ink launches this exciting new program with a roster that will leave you jumping up and down and screaming for more.
Fire & Ink Presents!
2-4 p.m. Saturday, May 24, 2008
Renaissance M St. Hotel, Potomac Room, Lower Level
Come share this afternoon with us, and hear 10 exciting authors read from their latest books:
Save the Date for upcoming Fire & Ink Presents! events coming to a city near you:
June 12th: Newark/Essex Pride (featuring: James Earl Hardy, Jonathan Plummer, Kimberly Q, Sharon Bridgforth)
June 12th: Portland, Oregon
June 25-29: Columbia, S.C.
Dates soon to be announced for Fire & Ink Presents! events in Memphis & Nashville.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE WRITERS AND THEIR WORK HERE: –> Continue reading ‘Fire & Ink Presents!’