Living Out Loud by Tommie L. Watkins Jr ~ Dr./Rev Tommie L. Watkins Jr, an African-American ordained minister. As a proponent of AIDS ministries in his church – he is convinced HIV/AIDS will not be properly dealt with until the church addresses it – he’s found it very hard to get the community to open its eyes, accept gays and accept the current AIDS situation. They even assume because he’s gay and wants to talk about HIV, that he is positive; but Watkins says he doesn’t have to have HIV in order to educate about it. “The AIDS rate in the African-American culture is one in 46 blacks have HIV, and one in three gay black males are infected,” Watkins says. “I’ve been trying to work with the black churches to build, fund and sustain their own HIV ministries. “It’s not just a gay disease, and even if they don’t agree, they need to leave their options open,” he continues. “With people of color – Asian, Hispanic, Afro-Caribbean, etc. – the church is one of the most influential aspects of their culture. “There’s some that even believe – because they don’t trust the government – that AIDS is manufactured by the government. When the pastors are silent because they don’t want to talk about sex, sexuality, and orientation, it keeps a lot of misinformation [out there] about AIDS and about gay culture." Denial and the spread of misinformation seem to be a trend in several communities of color when it comes to discussions of AIDS and/or sexual orientation. What does it mean to be a minority with the GLBT minority?

Forty-seven black gay male writers speak boldly about who they are and the world they live in in this outstanding collection of poetry, prose, essays, and fiction. Edited, compiled, and thoughtfully prefaced by best-selling novelist E. Lynn Harris, Freedom in this Village is both vital and entertaining as it dazzles with a myriad of rich literary styles and re-challenges with thought-provoking, soul-stirring discourse. How wonderful it is to revisit Essex Hemphill, regarded the premiere black gay poet in America at the time of his death from AIDS related complications in 1995. His bitter/beautiful five-part poem about love and lust in the ghetto, "Tomb of Sorrow" (1989), represents him here: "Gunshots ring out above our heads,/ a few of us are seeking romance,/ others a piece of ass,/ some--a stroke of dick./ The rest of us are killing./ The rest of us get killed." From James Baldwin's excerpted swan song "Just Above My Head" (1979) to Randy Boyd's infuriating interracial fiction excerpt "Walt Loves The Bearcat" (2004), we are treated to, shocked by, and enthralled with the literary profound and profane. Marlon Riggs' 1991 essay "Black Macho Revisited: Reflections of a SNAP! Queen". Marvin K. White's "FOR COLORED BOYS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED S-CURLS WHEN THE HOT COMB WAS ENUF" (1990) still retains its sass and sting. Don Belton's 1994 interview "Where We Live: A Conversation with Essex Hemphill and Isaac Julien," conducted on the heels of Marlon Riggs' AIDS related death, is a conversation around Marlon Riggs' film "Black Is...Black Ain't" which explores the nexes of black identity and masculinity and features appearances by Essex Hemphill, bell hooks, Michelle Wallace, Cornel West, and Angela Davis.