Courtesy of Northwestern University

The Stone Center hosted E. Patrick Johnson last week to speak about his book, Black. Queer. Southern. Women. He performed dramatic readings of certain women’s stories and discussed with audience members the book’s oral histories about black lesbian identity in the South.

Johnson, who is a performance studies and African-American studies professor at Northwestern University, decided to write the book following reactions to Sweet Tea, his book on black gay men living in the Southern US. He said he discovered a thriving community of queer women, talking with 79 women over 16 months, and had a difficult time determining which stories to use.

“It was about, ‘I’ve been hearing these themes about gender non-conformity across these narratives,’” said Johnson. “‘Which ones are unique among the whole set of these stories?’ So, that’s how I would make those decisions.”

A graduate of UNC, Johnson returned to campus during a time where racial issues are still happening. With the ongoing debate over the Confederate monument Silent Sam and the resurfacing of a yearbook photo portraying a student wearing blackface, it’s difficult to celebrate black history without running into the school’s checkered past.

Johnson said it’s an example of how the university exists with some contradictions attached. He reflected on how when he was a student at UNC, he marched with other students to fight for a black cultural building.

“Even when I was here,” Johnson said, “the Stone Center wasn’t here, we were marching to make it happen, and we were marching against the apartheid movement. So, it’s always been a place of contradictions, but it’ll always have a fond place in my heart.”

Johnson also said he believes the next step in addressing these racial issues and tolerance of all people lies with today’s youngest generation.

“I feel inclusiveness is a part of Generation Z’s DNA,” he said. “I think if there’s any hope for us to get over these racial, gender, sexual or class differences, it’s in the next generation. Within each generation, some of those differences dissolve. We have a long way to go, but I think [by looking at Generation Z], the future looks promising.”

The Stone Center’s next writer’s discussion series will be on February 26.

Photo courtesy of Northwestern University

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