Staff at the Library were deeply saddened today by news of the passing of pioneering scholar, and LGBT Committee Ambassador, Eve Kosofksy Sedgwick. Sedgwick’s breakthrough studies, like Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire and Epistemology of the Closet, transformed LGBT scholarship across the humanities. She taught us to read in a whole new way—not to read homosexuality as much as the productive power of its invisibility. She also radically widened the possibilities of scholarship with deeply personal, vulnerable, autobiographical thinking, like her essay “White Glasses.” An entire generation of scholars are deeply in her debt. 

Steven Fullwood, archivist at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, is a very busy man. In addition to his pioneering work as Project Director of the Black Gay and Lesbian Archive at the Center, he is also a prolific writer, editor, and publisher. Last year, Fullwood co-edited an essential bibliography of Black LGBT writings with Lisa C. Moore, editor of RedBone Press, Carry the Word: A Bibliography of Black LGBTQ Writings. Recently, Steven and Lisa slowed down for a few moments to answer a few questions about Carry the Word and their upcoming plans.

Jason Baumann: How did you get the idea for the book?

Lisa C. Moore: The idea was a joint one, between Steven, Reginald Harris (author of the Lammy-nominated collection of poems, Ten Tongues) and I. We’re all on the board of Fire & Ink, Inc., and we thought that a bibliography of black LGBTQ books would be a great way to fundraise for Fire & Ink, an organization devoted to increasing the understanding, visibility and awareness of the works of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender writers of African descent and heritage.

Steven and Reggie are librarians, and know the wisdom and value of bibliographies; I liked the idea of such a singular resource. It’s never been done like this before. There was a bibliography of black lesbian writing edited by J.R. Roberts called Black Lesbians: An Annotated Bibliography published by Naiad Press back in 1981, but not much since. Steven and I agreed to enter into a co-publishing agreement and donate all proceeds to Fire & Ink. We—Steven, Reggie and I—began compiling it just before the first Fire & Ink writers festival in 2002; we constructed a pamphlet titled “Our Black Books,” and we listed all the titles we knew of. It was a little thing printed at Kinko’s. After the conference, we added to the list as we discovered new titles, and as new titles were published. We scoured library lists; Amazon.com; resource lists in the backs of books such as Black Like Us, edited by Devon Carbado, Dwight McBride and Donald Weise (Cleis Press); we perused our own bookshelves (since we’re serious bibliophiles); we asked for recommendations from all manner of folk; we kept in touch with self-published authors. We really do think we’ve obtained a good list with breadth and depth.

Steven G. Fullwood: Yeah, what she said. No, seriously though, Lisa encapsulates the history of this project quite wonderfully. In addition to the Roberts’ bibliography, Robert Reid-Pharr, author of Black Gay Man: Essays, and Once You Go Black: Desire, Choice and Black Masculinity in Post-War America, compiled a bibliography of black gay men’s writing that appeared in Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men, recently republished by RedBone Press, which listed a series of books, journals, and periodicals by black gay authors and publishers. And recently I discovered Colorful People and Places, a resource guide for “Third World Lesbians and Gay men…and for White people who share their interests,” edited by Michael J. Smith in 1983, produced by the Quarterly Press of Black and White Men Together, now Men of All Colors Together. Although the publication primarily lists places that are specifically queer, Smith also includes a number of publications produced by organizations or independently, some that I have never heard of before. I invoke both items up because they serve as precedents to Carry the Word, along with Roberts’ bibliography, as well as nod to every black queer magazine or journal that featured interviews with writers, or reviewed books by lesser known writers in the community. I’d also add that Carry the Word “carries” the mission of Fire & Ink in supporting black queer writers and literature in both a substantial and functional way. Bookstores and libraries benefit from having this resource, as well as casual readers who simply want to know what’s out there.

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This week, September 27-October 4, is Banned Books Week, a national celebration of the freedom to read. The American Library Association compiles an annual list of most banned books based on newspaper reports and the reports from librarians across the country. These are books that have been challenged with a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that the book be removed because of its content or appropriateness. Banned Books Week serves as an annual reminder of the fragility of intellectual freedom and as a barometer of issues being debated in American culture. Sadly, every year many of the top-ten banned titles are books addressing LGBT lives, particularly books for children on non-traditional families and for adolescents coming to terms with their sexuality. Case in point, this year’s number one banned book—for the second year in a row—is Justin Richardson and Peter Pannell’s charming children’s book And Tango Makes Three, illustrated by Henry Cole. The book is based on the nationally publicized, true-life story of the pair of male penguins at the Central Park Zoo that formed a couple and raised a penguin chick together. Parnell and Richardson used this story to address the challenges facing non-traditional families in a sweet and accessible way. Despite winning numerous national awards and recognition—including the American Library Association Notable Children’s Book Award, the ASPCA’s Henry Bergh Award, the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award, Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Book of the Year, and Bank Street Best Book of the Year—it is the most challenged book in the country. Thankfully, And Tango Makes Three is readily available at branches across The New York Public Library. So are past top-ten banned books, such as Annie on my Mind. For more information about Banned Books Week see their official website and ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.