BLACKSBURG, VA – E. Patrick Johnson, a teacher, author, performer, and scholar of African American studies, will give a dramatic reading on Monday, Feb. 9, at 6 p.m. in Haymarket Theatre Squires Student Center as part of the Virginia Tech Africana Studies Program’s speaker series.
Titled “Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales,” his presentation will be based on his 2008 book “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South—An Oral History.” The book’s accounts are from men 19 to 34 years old who were born and continue to live in the South.
“This performance will allow us to reflect on the intersections of race and sexuality within the context of the unique culture of the South,” said Ellington Graves, director of the Africana Studies Program. “We started the speaker series to expand the connection between Africana Studies at Virginia Tech and the modern American South, and Dr. Johnson’s presentation is an exciting opportunity to continue to grow in that area.”
Johnson is the Carlos Montezuma Professor of Performance Studies and African American Studies at Northwestern University and director of graduate studies. He has published widely on topics of race, class, and gender. His first book, “Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity,” won a number of awards.
He has edited and co-edited several more volumes and is working on the companion text to “Sweet Tea,” titled “Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women—An Oral History.”
Also in this series, Maurice Hobson of Georgia State University will speak on April 13 at 6 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the library. His talk is entitled “The Legend of the Black Mecca: Race, Class and Politics in Modern Atlanta.”
This program received support from the Women and Minority Artists and Scholars Lecture Series, the Office of the Dean of Students, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, the Department of Sociology, the Race and Social Policy Research Center, Multicultural Program Services, and the Gloria Smith Professor of Africana Studies.
