Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South (Caravan Book) (ISBN 080783209X)

Hearing What is Not Usually Heard:
Johnson, E. Patrick. "Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South", University of North Carolina Press A Caravan Book, 2008. Hearing What Is Not Usually Heard Amos Lassen If there is any group in the GLBT community that we know little of, it is the Southern Black Gay male. I have never understood why this is so but I must congratulate E. Patrick Johnson for helping to fill that void. Incidentally he is now on tour with his one man show based on this book and bringing awareness to the matter. "Sweet Tea" (what a great title) is a detailed oral history of the subcultures of Black gay men in the South and it covers all milieus. Johnson interviewed sixty-three men to give us a picture of what it is like to be gay and Black. He uses a set slate of questions for all he interviewed and this is one of the two faults of the book in that there is little variety especially in the matter of faith issues. The other problem that I see it that Johnson did not follow up on some of the answers that he received that showed a new insight into Black gay life. I did like the way that the book is arranged by categories such as love and relationships, coming out, etc. It is extremely difficult for a Black man to claim both Southern and Black cultures as we read here and we are all well aware that racism is not dead. It is indeed difficult to find acceptance in rural areas of the Bible belt south and in many cases identities must be redefined. Those interviewed are indeed a cross section, Johnson interviewed men between the ages of 19 and 93 and we learn that there is a Black gay subculture in the South and we learn how this community is maintained, Here in Little Rock, for example, we were able to have a Pride celebration in 2008 because of a lack of volunteers. I was very surprised when I learned that there was a very successful Black Gay Pride festival especially since I knew nothing about the local Black gay community. I do not go out much in Little Rock and I do not recall seeing Black gay men when I did. The book reads wonderfully, almost as if it is a collection of stories instead of honest testimonies and thereby proves that in the South we know how to tell a tale.

Amazon Censcorship Loses Them A Customer:
Why is there only one review of this book? How many more could there have been if amazon.com had allowed their online publication? I submitted an amazon.com review of this book shortly after it became available. It does not appear here; it was rejected. It's the third of my reviews to be rejected by amazon.com customer service, usually with a snarky email message and a rejection reason that made no sense. This time, I didn't even bother to ask why. I've had it with amazon.com. Evidently, they don't ascribe to the wisdom that the customer is always right and deserves to be treated with respect. I no longer buy CDs and DVDs from amazon.com. I'm looking for an alternative source for books, so in the near future, I won't be buying books from amazon.com either. There's a word that amazon's customer service department should become familiar with: BANKRUPTCY. This is what can happen to a company that mistreats its customers. If it happens to amazon.com, it's exactly what they deserve, and I won't cry over it. On the contrary, I just may be cheering and clapping my hands.