A groundbreaking collection tracing the history of intellectual
thought by Black Lesbian writers, in the tradition of The New Press's
perennial seller Words of Fire
African American
lesbian writers and theorists have made extraordinary contributions
to feminist theory, activism, and writing. Mouths of Rain, the
companion anthology to Beverly Guy-Sheftall's classic Words of
Fire, traces the long history of intellectual thought produced by
Black Lesbian writers, spanning the nineteenth century through the
twenty-first century.
Using "Black
Lesbian" as a capacious signifier, Mouths of Rain
includes writing by Black women who have shared intimate and loving
relationships with other women, as well as Black women who see
bonding as mutual, Black women who have self-identified as lesbian,
Black women who have written about Black Lesbians, and Black women
who theorize about and see the word lesbian as a political descriptor
that disrupts and critiques capitalism, heterosexism, and
heteropatriarchy. Taking its title from a poem by Audre Lorde, Mouths
of Rain addresses pervasive issues such as misogynoir and
anti-blackness while also attending to love, romance, "coming
out," and the erotic.
Contributors
include:
Barbara Smith
Beverly Smith
Bettina Love
Dionne Brand
Cheryl Clarke
Cathy J. Cohen
Angelina Weld Grimke
Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Audre Lorde
Dawn Lundy Martin
Pauli Murray
Michelle Parkerson
Mecca Jamilah
Sullivan
Alice Walker
Jewelle Gomez