On Tuesday, February 1st, 2011, there will be a dramatic reading by E. Patrick Johnson. Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales, is a stirring oral history stemming from E. Patrick Johnson's latest book, Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South - An Oral History and an adapted play which toured last Spring.
E. Patrick Johnson, a scholar and artist, is the chair of the Department of Performance Studies, and Professor in the Department of African-American Studies at Northwestern University. He is the author of Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity and Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology .
Sweet Tea explores and gives tribute to the voices of black gay men in the South. Men both young and old from ages 19-93 share their histories, covering topics ranging from religion, sex, transgenderism, love stories, violence, maturation and coming out. Feeling that the characters voices went flat on the pages of his book, Johnson developed the show as a way of embodying the characters. In his portrayal of the men's stories, he allows their full voices to connect to the audience, and create a deeper understanding of who these men were, and why their stories need to be heard.
"The one thing that I hope people come away from this show with, is that these men are human, all of them have a very unique story, but that story, is a universal story..." - E. Patrick Johnson
Join us as we celebrate Black Heritage Month through the voices of others, who in speaking for themselves, speak to our own histories, and remind us that we all share in the commonality that is humanity.
Sponsored by the Office of LGBTQ Student Life and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs with our co-sponsors, University Theater, the Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts, the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, and the Black Youth Project
-Aaron Talley
Class of 2013, Student Intern
