Sweet Tea: Mahatma Gandhi is not in hell.
I met so many interesting people in June! My friend Sanjay emailed me a few weeks ago inviting me to an event his company would be sponsoring. He briefly described the event as “aiming to bring together the black and gay populations by starting a conversation.”
Fair enough. I enjoy discussions about marginalized groups! It was a vague synopsis, but Sanjay is quite the cultured individual and I trust his judgment when it comes to social gatherings. I also like to jump in headfirst and experience things that don’t happen every day.
As one of the first to arrive at the Baker & McKenzie offices in the Prudential building downtown, I marveled at the view from the 39th floor and chatted with a number of other guests over cocktails and h’ors d’oeuvres.
After talking with some Baker associates, I learned that a Dr. E. Patrick Johnson of Northwestern University would be speaking and reading to the group from his book, Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South. Awesome.
Dr. Johnson is chair of Northwestern’s Department of African-American Studies, as well as a graduate professor of performance studies, theatre and drama, screen culture, and African-American studies.
In addition to his scholarly work, he is an award-winning author and actor who has toured the country performing his solo show, “Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Stories,” based on excerpts from his most recent book.
I knew I was in for a treat– and some inspiration.
Dr. Johnson’s pleasant and gentle demeanor instantly connects with the audience; you could feel the room warm up to his presence immediately. He began by reading an excerpt from the introduction of Sweet Tea.
***
Race relations in the South are literally the stuff television shows, movies, and novels are made of, and they have directly affected the lives of most of its inhabitants…
But for every yin, there is a yang. Complementing the tortured past of the South is the gentility, civility, and general ‘good manners’ of folk.
…The aim of Sweet Tea is manifold: to fill a void in the historical accounts of racialized sexual minorities in the South; to call into question the construction of the South as inhospitable to African American gay men…and to highlight the ways in which black gay men build and maintain community through southern cultural forms that, on the surface, appear to be antigay.
…
Screencaps from “Pouring Tea” performances by Dr. Johnson (from his website):
***
After the introduction, Dr. Johnson explained the stories behind the narrators: the individuals who talk about their own lives in the pages of Sweet Tea. He interviewed over 70 men (ages 19 to 93) from 15 different southern states, transcribed the conversations, and worked hard to maintain each personality on the written page.
I died after watching his first narrative performance, so I busted out my camera to capture this incredibly talented man as he embodied the true natures of the men he was sharing with us.
The following four clips (Dr. Johnson performed six) are short stories/performances of four very different southern, black, gay men– in their own “voices;” with their own unique mannerisms.
***
“People might be afraid to approach me about whether I’m gay or whateva, but they’re not gonna say anything.”
***
“That’s why they can’t believe I’m still celebratin’ with my Bush/Cheney pin– you gonna spend the next four years hatin’ George Bush? No, I’m not. If you think you gonna steal my joy, I’m joining your party!”
***
In perhaps the most emotionally moving monologue, Dr. Johnson performed a story by a man named Steven.
“I vividly remember hearing my mama say, ‘don’t you grow up to be no faggot’…everyone’s telling me I’m wrong. So I decided to change who I am…I got good at it…I was known as the only straight guy in the drama department. I fixed what they thought was wrong…I stopped going to my church because of the pressure…because of how deeply rooted I was in the church, I wanted to die…”
“I believe in a God who has created me; I believe I’m not a mistake; I believe this is how I was created…It’s not a choice…I read up about ex-gay treatments…It got to the point where I was like NO.”
“It’s so easy to be loved for something you’re not than to be hated for something that you are.”
“We held Martin Luther King as being THE man; well Gandhi would have been MLK’s man.”
“I started to think…Mahatma Gandhi is in hell? God hates me because of how he made me? Mahatma Gandhi is in hell? It was so liberating to be like, No. NO!”
***
Dr. Johnson’s performances were entertaining, but most of all, inspiring. The way he chose to embody and interpret each man was riveting. The audience was engaged– laughing, listening, nodding. The following question and answer segment went nonstop; people eagerly wanted to know and learn more about Dr. Johnson’s journey.
After the reading, most everyone in the room lined up to have a moment to talk with Dr. Johnson about his nearly 600-page book and have it personally signed by him.
While in line, I chatted with a pretty stylist named Aeleise. I’d noticed her beautiful naturally-textured curls and we started our discussion from there. She and I talked about a number of things: natural hair and its care; how she met her now-wife; the event we had just witnessed. Of all the people I met that evening, I probably connected the best with her in the short time we were together.
When it was finally my turn, Dr. Johnson was quite personable and friendly, and I understand that authors at book signings really just want to get through the line of waiting fans while making each encounter special. I told him about my book in progress, The Fierce Entrepreneur: Redefining Success, and how I understand the struggle with the time-consuming act of transcribing interviews and maintaining the authenticity of each person.
It was a nice bonding moment (at least on my part), and I had him sign his book to “mizChartreuse,” as I did with David Sedaris earlier this month.
I love meeting writers and overall creative types who do “off the grain” things for the greater good. I admire good, raw storytellers– the realness is what many people relate to most.
I’ve yet to finish Dr. Johnson’s 600-page book, but I will likely review it (or segments of it) as I read my way through it. Based on his performances, I highly recommend seeing his show and picking up Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South, which you can find here. Also, keep your ears open for the release of Dr. Johnson’s lesbian take on the south: Pink Lemonade. 
