SGL Soul Food Book Club

"The Fabulous Sylvester" by Joshua Gamson

By Stacey D’Erasmo

Stacey D’Erasmo is the author of the novels “Tea” and “A Seahorse Year.”

March 27, 2005

THE FABULOUS SYLVESTER: The Legend, the Music, the ‘70s in San Francisco, by Joshua Gamson. Holt, 306 pp., $26.

Biographers, says the truism, inevitably end up hating their subjects by the time they’ve finished writing the biography. Years spent with the same, all too human person, no matter how extraordinary that person’s achievements, can only puncture the dream, leaving a small, deflated creature. If you’re smart, you won’t look at the man behind the curtain; he’s never the wizard you had imagined.

Joshua Gamson, however, in his delightful look at Sylvester, the pop star whose most famous hit was “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” defies this and much other received wisdom about what can and can’t happen in considering a famous life. He is obdurate and excessive in the love that rarely speaks its name: the love, that is, for one’s subject. I’m not sure I’ve ever read an account of a life that has so much sheer joy, raffishness and humor on each page. Gamson, apparently, doesn’t just admire Sylvester or wish to study him in a perceptive but cool cultural studies sort of way. He thinks Sylvester rocked the galaxy. And, from the evidence of “The Fabulous Sylvester,” Gamson is right.

Indeed, it’s Gamson’s delight in Sylvester that not only brings Sylvester back to life on the page, but also reanimates a topic - the ‘70s, disco and San Francisco’s gay history - that might otherwise seem all too well-known by now. The culture has digested and redigested the ‘70s so many times that it’s difficult to experience that history with any sort of perceptive edge. The fact that it was capped by the beginning of the AIDS epidemic also overdetermines the way those years are often read: well, fun, yes, but look what happened.

Gamson avoids these traps, first by looking with great care and specificity at the black drag queen and the radical commune scenes of which Sylvester was a part. But mostly he keeps the spotlight - where else? - on the tall, flamboyant, glowing figure of Sylvester himself. Moreover, under the sign of Sylvester, as it were, he unabashedly tosses off such bon mots as, “Wigs flew; nails were broken. History was made,” or “The Disquotays were wound up, jittery in that way you turn when you’re getting ready for something you know you can’t get ready for, like a tornado or a spanking or a first kiss.” Somehow, one doesn’t imagine that, say, Robert Caro had the same kind of fun with LBJ.

Sylvester, born Sylvester James in 1947 in South Central Los Angeles, was the oldest of six children. His mother was a ferociously churchgoing, no-nonsense woman who tossed her effeminate son out of the house when he was in his mid-teens. He graduated from high school at the age of 22, but by then he was already a veteran superstar of a black, gay, mid- ‘60s drag scene known as the Disquotays in Los Angeles. He knew how to rat a wig and carve ladylike hips out of foam (the best kind came from the seats of Cadillacs) like no one else.

His outfits are still the stuff of legend: babydoll dresses and buckled Pilgrim shoes; full-length sequined gowns; a dress accessorized with a knife, fork, spoon and canteen; checkerboards or Star-Spangled Banner glitter painted on his eyelids, with earrings to match. He was 15, 16; he was a beautiful black girl. He was, comments a friend from those days, “in a Doris Day musical, and it was ongoing.”

When Sylvester moved to San Francisco in 1970 and hooked up with the Cockettes, the famous commune-performance troupe-gender-anarchist-psychedelic-continual happening, he began, both with and in resistance to their free-floating ethos, to forge in earnest the performance persona that would, all too briefly, make him famous. In the company of the Cockettes, he transformed himself from gorgeous black girl to indeterminately gendered hippie fantasy to “vintage blues diva” in the tradition of Billie Holiday. When the Cockettes bombed in their first New York performance in 1971, Sylvester shone.

But it wasn’t until 1978, after several albums and various thudding non-starts, that Sylvester, with the backing of Two Tons of Fun (Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes), finally found his moment with “Mighty Real” and “Disco Heat.” Of the former iconic hit, Gamson perceptively observes, comparing the song to the “realness” aspiration of drag ball participants, “To feel real, in this sense, is to make the costume into your skin, to bring the fantasy self into actual being.” For perhaps a year, perhaps a bit more, Sylvester was, indeed, mighty real. His star fell as disco went out of fashion; he died of AIDS in 1988 at the age of 41.

The word “fabulous,” Gamson reminds us, is from the Latin fabulosus, or “celebrated in fable.” In this fable, the beautiful princess grew up to become an even more beautiful queen who was ... admired by many, many, many suitors (Sylvester once joked that he wanted to be reincarnated as a bicycle seat) and had many wigs and ruled a peaceful land. If she didn’t entirely live happily ever after, she did, in her short reign, truly live. As fables go, this is a good one.

"Lazarus" by Rashid Darden

ADRIAN is handsome, brilliant, and devoted to serving others. Under the cool exterior, however, he is tormented and unfulfilled. Abandoned by his father and emotionally distant from his mother, he feels alone – adrift on campus - until he meets SAVION. With rhymes dripping from his lips like honey, Savion has just what Adrian needs: stability, maturity, and love. Although their friendship is filled with peaks and valleys, their relationship is threatened by Adrian’s biggest challenge: BETA CHI PHI.

Finding the appeal of pledging his father’s fraternity irresistible, Adrian decides to take the plunge and pledge Beta Chi Phi in an attempt to fill the void in his heart, even after his relationship with Savion blossoms. Almost immediately, Adrian is thrust headlong into a world of mind games, controlled behavior, and strokes from the paddle--tempered with the brotherhood that bonds men in times of adversity. Adrian knows that he must keep his relationship with Savion a secret at all costs, for if his new-found family were to learn the truth, he may have to choose…

The one he loves…or his brothers.

Reserve Lazarus Now!

$14.95 Trade Paperback, 356 pp
Old Gold Soul 2005
ISBN 0-9765986-0-4

Rashid Darden is a refreshing new voice in African-American and gay literature. He brings to his writings a flavor influenced by years of eclectic experiences, from studying in Moscow and London to competing in poetry slams in his native Washington, DC. A graduate of Georgetown University who is currently unsigned to any publishing house, Rashid's debut novel is Lazarus.

Old Gold Soul is an interactive glimpse into one writer's struggle to become published. We hope that this site is not only entertaining and informative, but that it in some small way helps all other aspiring writers achieve their dreams.

Read a review:  http://oldgoldsoul.com/sunpiperreview.pdf

www.oldgoldsoul.com

"Scrub Match" by Bill Eisele

From Market Street to Chinatown to the Castro, San Francisco is the city of cultural harmony, sexual acceptance and, for a young man with a broken heart - hopefully a fresh start. But first, he'll have to learn the rules of a very important game...

After college, San Francisco seemed like the ideal place for Paul Carter to start a new life and escape the memory of a painful breakup. What could be better than a town where the minority was the majority, the flirting flowed freely, and a mixed-race background and a strawberry afro like Paul's was no big deal? But a string of dreary temp jobs and sky-high rents soon put a damper on his spirits - until Evan Hartwitch, aka Twitch, comes along.

The first time Paul ventures onto the local basketball court, it's for the love of the game. Then it's for the love of the players - Jessie, a gentle, cornrowed giant with a heart almost as breakable as Paul's; and Curtis, bald, fierce, muscular, and mean. Then it's about one player in particular. Twitch is tall, thin, spikey-haired and powerful. He's a white guy with the moves of a pro, and eventually, he puts the moves on Paul. For Paul, Twitch quickly goes from stranger to soulmate. Paul's well read; Twitch is a poet; they share a pasion for basketball - and after a late night encounter, it seems they also have a passion for each other. But as Paul becomes a regular with the Gamblers - the Gay Men's Basketball League, he soons finds himself nursing a new heartache and caught in the middle of a bi-racial love feud that's destined to spill onto the court – and change him from innocent new-boy-in-town to the man he needs to be...

"Down For Whatever" by Frederick Smith

Wednesday, February 23, 2005 at 11:32

My novel, DOWN FOR WHATEVER, will be published in July 2005 by Kensington Books (ISBN: 0-7582-0979-7). DOWN FOR WHATEVER is a Latino and African American 'Queer as Folk' meets 'Sex and The City' set in L.A., and explores four friends who wonder if true love can be found in a city where Latin, Black, and Gay Pride collide with the intricacies of family, social life, and ethnicity and class issues. As a new novelist, I am doing all I can to generate an audience for my book's release. I am writing to you in hopes that you will consider: Inviting me for a reading, discussion, or event with your organization Writing a notice or review about DOWN FOR WHATEVER in a publication, newsletter or web blog you work with Ordering the novel from Kensington Books, your local bookseller, or online retailer Using the book as a text or resource in your class or organization Telling your friends, students and colleagues about the book and its upcoming release Checking out my website, "Fresh, funny and real... queer Latino and African American male characters living, loving and telling it like it is in present day L.A." -- Monica Palacios, writer/performer, THE ORIGINAL SURFER CHOLA "Few of us write with more honestly or so entertainingly." -- Jervey Tervalon, author, THE COCAINE CHRONICLES and UNDERSTAND THIS "A must read! Frederick Smith's seductive and vivid literary style offers layered and complex portraits of L.A. and African American and Latino gay men devoid of stereotypes and cliched sentimentalities." -- Rev. Irene Monroe, religion columnist, IN NEWSWEEKLY and QUEER TAKE "With his wonderfully wicked sense of humor on every page, Frederick Smith's DOWN FOR WHATEVER, is a fabulous romp of colliding egos and cultures, longing and lust, and most of all, friendship. An absolute delight to read." -- Kerry Madden, author, GENTLE'S HOLLER. Born and raised in Detroit, I am a graduate of the University of Missouri Journalism School and Loyola University Chicago. I was a finalist for the 2004 PEN Center Emerging Voices Fellowship and a member of the 2004 VONA (Voices of our Nations Art Foundation at University of San Francisco) novel seminar. An advocate for social justice issues, I live in the Los Angeles area. Thank you for your time and consideration. I can supply other materials upon request. I look forward to discussing the possibility of a review, feature, or reading. Sincerely, Frederick Smith Author, DOWN FOR WHATEVER Kensington Books, July 5, 2005 ISBN: 0-7582-0979-7 e-mail: fsmith827@gmail.com web:  www.fredericksmith.net Fred's novel, DOWN FOR WHATEVER, a black and Latino 'Queer as Folk' meets 'Waiting to Exhale' meets 'Sex & The City' in L.A., drops July 2005 on Kensington Books ( www.fredericksmith.net, for Chapter 1 excerpt, updates and events)

"Beyond The Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America" by Keith Boykin

Avalon Publishing Announces New Book

Beyond The Down Low Hits Bookstores Soon

New York, NY - Nov 30, 2004 Keith Boykin's new book, BEYOND THE DOWN LOW: SEX, LIES AND DENIAL IN BLACK AMERICA, is becoming one of the most anticipated books of 2005. As the first popular nonfiction book to separate fact from fiction in the story of black men who sleep with men but identify as straight, BEYOND THE DOWN LOW has created a buzz among booksellers and the national media. Scheduled for a February 2005 launch date, the book has already generated requests for appearances on national television shows, for interviews in major publications, and to excerpt portions of the book in major magazines.

Keith Boykin, a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, is one of the nation's leading commentators on race, sexuality and politics. A former top aide to President Bill Clinton, Boykin has appeared on CNN, Fox News and NPR, and he has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today. In the fall of 2004, he was a featured contestant on Showtime's reality series American Candidate. He is the author of One More River to Cross: Black and Gay in America and the Lambda Literary-Award winning book, Respecting the Soul. Boykin is president of the National Black Justice Coalition. He lives in New York City.

Selected Quotes from Beyond The Down Low

On Keith's Personal Life: "There was something about Mike that I found both intriguing and terrifying. He turned me on and turned me off at the same time. Every time I looked into his eyes, I knew at some level that I was looking into my own, and the experience scared me to death."

"What was I doing in this man's house? And what would his wife think about all this if she saw us together? How do you bring home another man while your wife is at home, lock him in the bedroom and not tell her about it? I knew he was a smooth talker, but this was hard to understand."

"I met Yvonne in my first year of law school. She was almost everything I thought I wanted in a woman: attractive, intelligent, articulate, spiritual and physically fit. She didn't drink too much. And she didn't smoke cigarettes. She was a modern woman. She would have made a perfect wife. A perfect wife for someone else, that is."

On The Down Low: "America's recent obsession with the down low is not about the truth. It is about avoiding the truth. The truth is, more than a generation after the so-called sexual revolution and decades after the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, we are still a nation in deep denial about sex, race and relationships."

"Quiet as it's kept, there is a dirty little secret about the down low that most of the media have not discussed. Here's the secret. The down low is not only about closeted gay men and bisexuals. Straight men and women are on the down low too. In fact, if gay men and bisexuals have now popularized the down low, then heterosexuals might have actually perfected it."

"By chance or fate, I found myself in the thick of the down low story when it first broke in the media in 2001. I had known, or come to know, all the major players involved in the story-the reporters, the advocates and the critics."

"Like many observers of the scene, I tried to stare into the soul of Dina McGreevey as her husband made his announcement. I wondered if her eyes would betray her disappointment, or if she would reveal an inner peace that suggested she had known all along."

"We may wonder where these men get off by endangering the lives of women, but we should also stop to think about the ways in which we contribute to our own oppression by participating in a culture that drives these men underground."

On AIDS: "While black America struggled to explain the heterosexual AIDS cases, far fewer people seemed concerned about the thousands of black gay and bisexual men who were already dying in cities all across the country."

"For some reason, we in the black community just can't seem to stay focused about AIDS. First we denied it affected us. Then, we ignored it because we thought it only affected a few of us. Next, we preached morality because we thought it only affected the ones we didn't like. Then, we tried to figure out which secret laboratory developed it. And, finally, we dramatized it by creating a self- destructive story line about victims and villains. At what point do we just deal with it?"

"AIDS doesn't care if you are the biggest slut on the street or a virgin on a first date. It only takes one time to be infected. You can sleep with a different person every night of the year and never get infected, or you can sleep with only one person one time in your life and be infected the same day."

On J.L. King: "'This is J.L. King,' the voice replied. I had heard of J.L. King before, and he surely must have known that I knew him. In fact, I knew a lot more about him than I could say on the phone call."

"He had called with a purpose and a proposal. Then he told me the purpose. He wanted me to help him write his book."

"As the conversation ended, it seemed to me that money was the primary, if not the sole, motivation behind the book, the media appearances, and the lucrative speaking engagements he was doing. It was as if money was everything to him."

"After a life spent deceiving everyone around him, King may now feel the need to make amends for the lies of his past, but that has not stopped him from sensationalizing serious issues into dramatic parody."

"As the only one who was talking publicly about this secret lifestyle, anything he said was taken as fact because no one could repudiate it. He had constructed quite a clever ploy without any other evidence to back up his claims, King skillfully turned his individual life stories into a public, and soon to be profitable, truth."

On Racism: "The down low fit perfectly into larger cultural dynamics because it confirmed stereotypical values that many of us already believed. For some whites, it confirmed their hypersexualized perception of black people, and for some blacks it confirmed their hypersexualized perception of gay men."

On Black Women: "Before we consider who is married, incarcerated or gay, we have to remember that there were 2.7 million more black women in the population than black men. That is a big part of the problem. Even if every black man in America was single, straight and not in jail, there would still not be enough for all the black women in the population."

On Black Men: "Most black men are not in jail and not on the down low. Millions of black men are hard-working, law- abiding, tax-paying citizens. We are not all saints, but we are certainly not all criminals either. The mass media have constructed an image of us that reduces black manhood to a cultural commodity to be bought and sold in the marketplace. But we are more than XXXL T-shirts, oversized jeans and basketball jerseys."

On Sports: "From my experience, I can think of no place in America that is as homophobic and as homoerotic as the sports team locker room."

On Hip Hop: "Privately, everyone in the industry knows there are gay and bisexual men in the hip hop world, but publicly the industry seems unwilling to admit the presence of homosexuality, except in stereotypical expressions. Several of the most powerful men in hip hop are gay or bisexual. Some have arranged marriages. Some date women and sleep with men. Some have never really tried to hide. And some just don't talk about it."

"The rap artist 50 Cent becomes a legend for being shot nine times as a drug dealer. The rapper Shyne goes to prison on gun charges and ends up with a record deal behind bars. And R. Kelly's album sales soar after he is busted for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with a minor. We can forgive all that, but we can't forgive an artist for being gay?"

On The Church and Religion: "In fact, if you want one explanation as to why men are on the down low, look no further than our local churches."

On The Need For Love: "As long as we focus our energy primarily on what someone else has done to us, we limit the energy we have left to do for ourselves. If we turn our attention outside, we lose sight of all that we can do inside. Most important, we have to love ourselves before we can love anyone else."

keithboykin.com

Keith Boykin

email: kb@keithboykin.com

Avalon Publishing

Blanca Oliviery, Senior Publicist

blanca@avalonpub.com

phone: (646) 375-1065

"One Night Stand" by Walter Wright

Neesie was beautiful, successful, and in love, everything in her life was perfect, or so she thought.

Dante, Neesie’s brother, was always looking for Mr. Right, but always waking up with Mr. Right Now.

Jermaine loved to talk about people, he though that his catty behavior was his biggest asset, when actually it was his worst liability.

Washington, DC will be forever transformed as its African American Gay community readies itself for the biggest party of the year! Everyone who is anyone will be there with one question on their minds: Who's going home with who? While some will come to mend their broken hearts and some will come to get their groove back, all have one thing in common: A One Night Stand! This book promises to deliver we take a vacation from reality and party ourselves into oblivion with Dante, Jermaine, Kateri and Neesie. Sometimes a One Night Stand is all we need to be rejuvenated and revived. Everyone wants to happy, but not everyone knows how to get there.

About the Author:

Walter Wright is a veteran of the U.S. Army and currently lives in Atlanta, GA. As a former DC resident, he has experienced the dual nature of the Black Gay community; kindness and friendliness reside on one side, while avarice and duplicity mire the other. Walter began to chronicle these experiences and infused them with his creativity and wicked sense of humor to create One Night Stand. As avocations, Walter enjoys reading, Japanese anime, DC & Marvel comics, world travel, and of course, writing.

For more info visit www.onenightstandthebook.com

"Hip: The History" by John Leland

How an underground idea shaped American culture, from sex and music to race, fashion, drugs, commerce and the national rites of rebellion.

Hip: The History is the story of an American obsession. Derived from the Wolof word hepi or hipi ("to see," or "to open one's eyes"), which came to America with West African Slaves, hip is the dance between black and white -- or insider and outsider -- that gives America its unique flavor and rhythm. It has created fortunes, destroyed lives and shaped the way millions of us talk, dress, dance, make love or see ourselves in the mirror. Everyone knows what hip is.

This is the story of how we got here. Hip: The History draws the connections between Walt Whitman and Richard Hell, or Raymond Chandler and Snoop Dogg. It slinks among the pimps, hustlers, outlaws, junkies, scoundrels, white negroes, Beats, geeks, beboppers and other hipsters who crash the American experiment, and without whom we might all be listening to show tunes.

Along the way, Hip: The History looks at hip's quest for authenticity, which binds millions of us together in a paradoxical desire to be different. Because, as George Clinton said, "You can't fake the funk."

"All The Things She Told Me" by T.D. Faison

Christopher's life, as he knows it, is perfect. He is marrying the woman that he loves, he has the financial status he's always dreamed of. Not to mention the most perfect wedding anyone has ever been to in his town. It looked as if everything was going great for them, as if they had a bright future ahead of them. That is until that fateful night that sends Christopher's life on a downward spiraling effect that would introduce him to a world of lies,prostitution,taboo sex, drugs and even murder. Our character also finds himself battling with himself spiritually and mentally while trying to hold on to a troubled love affair. Christopher finds himself lost on a tough journey of love and life without a road map to go by.

About the Author

T.D. Faison was born in Wilmington, N.C. on September 21, 1975 to the parents of Michael and Cherrie Jackson; also of Wilmington N.C. Faison is receiving much deserved critical acclaim for his first novel "All the Things She Told Me." In a very innovative marketing ploy Faison is selling a CD with the title song "All the Things She Told Me." In which Faison arranged and wrote five of the nine songs on the album. He also is singing on the album with a host of other artist, including up and coming R&B sensation Keith Keign. Faison currently lives in New York where he is a single father to his daughter Gabriell. Not yet 30 Faison has already led a very fascinating life. For 3 years he made a living as a male exotic dancer,where he would pay child support for three children; only one being his biological child. Faison's commitment to the children did not end with the romance. Not surprisingly, Faison's Christian faith and relationship with God has been in the forefront of his life. He participated in the Teen Ministry at the New Life Christian Center in Wilmington N.C. growing up, under the tutelage of Pastors Ralph and Lucille Moore. Fans of "All the Things She Told Me" will be happy to know that it's much anticipated sequel "Somethings Better Left Unsaid" is due out in 2005.

Source: www.allthethingsshetoldme.com

"Journeys of a Tortured Soul" by Caesar Brunswick

Reviewed by Dorothy Cooperwood

Journeys of A Tortured Soul is one story that captivates you from beginning to end. Inspired by the works of E. Lynn Harris this story is told in narrative voice by the main character Arthur Wilson, a young African American male, who's struggling to find his own identity. His home life is difficult because his father mentally and physically abuses him. Although he is a gifted student and talented musician the abuse continues. There are approximately five journeys that Arthur uses to tell his story. Begining with his first bus trip. Arthur and his friend Daniel, who is white, run away from home when Arthur is suspended from school and choose Atlanta as their destination. They arrive in Atlanta and are introduced to male prostitution, and drugs. Arthur has in his possession a book of poems given to him by his great-grandmother on her deathbed. The poems, which are spiritual in nature, are awesome and spiritually uplifting. The poems are intended to give Arthur some guidelines for making the right choices in life and in any given situation. He goes on to finish college by supporting himself in the only way he knows how.

One poem that is a favorite of the narrator, and also mine, is "And God Created A Tortured Soul", written by Nicole J. NiBlack. There is power in the words of this poem. "For it is man who exists within the struggle of Good and evil". "He must choose between The Glory of God and the absence of His love". " The path of Satan is clear and his soul is complete".

Brunswick expertly created a storyline that keeps the reader captivated. The characters are well developed, the writing clear. Brunswick's storyline relates to issues that affect African American families.

I enjoyed reading this fast paced book and look forward to reading Brunswick's next novel, "Things Found In My Father's Closet", which he is currently writing. This book centers on the characters of "Journeys" twenty years later.

Caesar Brunswick's new novel, Things Found In My Father's Closet, will be available spring 2005. For more information visit www.caesarbrunswick.com

"Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War" by Melvin Patrick Ely

Thomas Jefferson condemned slavery but denied that whites and liberated blacks could live together in harmony. Jefferson’s young cousin Richard Randolph and ninety African Americans set out to prove the sage of Monticello wrong. When Randolph died in 1796, he left land for his formidable bondman Hercules White and for dozens of other slaves. Freed, they could build new lives there alongside white neighbors and other blacks who had gained their liberty earlier.

Fittingly, the Randolph freedpeople called their promised land Israel Hill. These black Israelites and other free African Americans established farms, plied skilled trades, and navigated the Appomattox River in freight-carrying “batteaux.” Hercules White’s son Sam and other free blacks bought and sold boats, land, and buildings, and they won the respect of whites.

Melvin Patrick Ely captures a series of remarkable personal and public dramas: free black and white people do business with one another, sue each other, work side by side for equal wages, join forces to found a Baptist congregation, move West together, and occasionally settle down as man and wife. Even still-enslaved blacks who face charges of raping or killing whites sometimes find ardent white defenders.

Yet slavery’s long shadow darkens this landscape in unpredictable ways. After Nat Turner’s slave revolt, county officials confiscate and auction off free blacks’ weapons–and then vote to give the proceeds to the blacks themselves. One black Israelite marries an enslaved woman and watches, powerless, as a white master carries three of their children off to Missouri; a free black miller has to bid for his own wife at a public auction. Proslavery hawks falsely depict Israel Hill to the nation as a degenerate place whose supposed failure proves blacks are unfit for freedom. The Confederate Army compels free black men to build fortifications far from home, until Lee finally surrenders to Grant a few miles from Israel Hill.

Ely tells a moving story of hope and hardship, of black pride and achievement. He shows us an Old South we hardly know, where ties of culture, faith, affection, and economic interest crossed racial barriers–a society in which, ironically, many whites felt secure enough to deal fairly and even cordially with free African Americans partly because slavery still held most blacks firmly in its grip.

Melvin Patrick Ely, a native of Richmond, Virginia, is Professor of History and Black Studies at the College of William and Mary. He is the author of The Adventures of Amos ’n’ Andy: A Social History of an American Phenomenon.