Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little) is the most controversial of the Black men discussed in this essay. Having become "streetwise" through his experiences in Harlem and the Roxbury area of Boston, Malcolm held a fairly typical male view of women in general and Black women in particular. Some of this was learned through various experiences […]

A staunch defender of women’s rights—particularly those of Black women—Du Bois proclaimed that the uplift of women, next to the problem of the colorline and peace, was the greatest modern social issue.14 He did not mean by this, however, that the issue of women’s rights is of secondary significance to or is completely isolated from […]

An ex-slave, renowned abolitionist, advocate for women’s rights, ora­tor, and newspaper editor, Frederick Douglass began his work of lib­eration trying to free Blacks from slavery and economic exploitation. Given his broad commitment to equality, it is not at all surprising that he became a supporter of the women’s movement of the nineteenth century. Although other […]

Rufus Burrow, Jr. THE PURPOSE OF this essay is twofold: (1) to present how Black women are represented in the political philosophies of four popular African American men: Fredrick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Malcolm X, and James Hal Cone; and (2) to discuss the role(s) African Ameri­can men should play in eradicating sexism […]

Huey P. Newton During the past few years strong movements have developed among women and among homosexuals seeking their liberation. There has been some uncertainty about how to relate to these move­ments. WH AT EVER YOUR PERSONAL opinions and your insecurities about homosexuality and the various liberation movements among homosexuals and women (and I speak […]

Luke Charles Harris MUCH OF THE idea that Black politics should center on men seems driven by the notion that a Black male-centered political agenda best promotes Black unity and empowerment. The costs of this misguided logic are enormous. For pseudo-nationalistic male-centered visions of politics lead us to support figures, like Justice Clarence Thomas, whose […]

Michael Awkward MANY ESSAY S BY male and female scholars devoted to exploring the subject of male critics’ place in feminism generally agree about the uses and usefulness of the autobiographical male "I." Such essays suggest that citing the male critical self reflects a response to (appar­ent) self-difference, an exploration of the disparities between the […]

PROFESSOR CULP: We are here to talk about "The Dennis Rod­man Elixir." You have read the article and Janet Halley and William Eskridge’s articles on how sexual orientation and the law function. What do you think? FIRST STUDENT: If I may say so, Professor Culp, your article misses the point. Professor Halley raised the question […]

Race, Sexual Orientation, and Anti-Essentialism Jerome McCristal Culp Lesbian identity—and our playing out of it—matters. At the same time, Lesbian performances are not unconstrained. We do not choose freely from an unlimited set of possibilities. While we make and remake our identities, we do so within the boundaries of con­ventions; and while we may choose […]

In 1994, the fine-art photographer Lyle Ashton Harris’s drag and whiteface work took him to New York’s Whitney Museum, and, later, a solo show about the relationship between black nationalism and the idea of "family" brought him wide acclaim. Given that Harris has chosen to negotiate his social identity as a gay black man through […]