{"id":5852,"date":"2014-02-24T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=5852"},"modified":"2020-05-07T20:42:43","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T00:42:43","slug":"living-as-a-lesbian-by-cheryl-clarke-feb-2014-pick-of-the-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=5852","title":{"rendered":"Living as a Lesbian by Cheryl Clarke (Feb. 2014 Pick of the Month)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Publisher\/Date:<\/strong>\u00a0 A Midsummer Night’s Press, Jan. 2014
\nGenre(s):<\/strong>\u00a0 Poetry, Politics, Sexuality
\nPages:<\/strong>\u00a0 152
\nWebsite:<\/strong>\u00a0 http:\/\/www.sinisterwisdom.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> \"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"☆\" <\/p><\/strong><\/p>\n

LIVING AS A LESBIAN<\/em><\/strong> is a book right wingers warn you about. About riots and clits and pride in being black and lesbian, Living<\/em> takes these subjects, infusing them with her observations and insight, pouring a wickedly-worded brew that wakes up your senses.<\/p>\n

To read Living<\/em> is to know Cheryl Clarke. Born in 1946, this poet, educator, essayist, feminist and activist was raised in segregated Washington, D.C. where she became captivated by words, learned deprecating humor from her mother, father and aunt, and spent time spying on grown folks conversations. Clarke saw and felt the turbulence of the 1960s, especially the violent outcome following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a disturbance that haunts her still to this day. This unjust world nurtured her poetry beginnings, especially when she was an English major at Howard University from 1965 to 1969. Her Chocolate city education \u2013 followed by a Masters and Ph.D. from Rutgers University, where she later retired after 41 years as a professor \u2013 is what lead her to become the rebel she is, even to this day.<\/p>\n

This realization of Clarke is integral to reading Living<\/em>. It frames the words you\u2019ll find inside: metaphors draped in turquoise, descriptions of dirty politics and provocative sex, jazz riffs that carried Clarke into adulthood.<\/p>\n

When I was approached to review Living<\/em>, I was told it was a reprint of the book originally published in 1986. In saying yes to this review, I was slightly intimidated. Clarke is one of our living legends, a woman who has written influential essays and pronounced her lesbianism proudly and apologetically. She doesn\u2019t mince words, but instead asserts her own capabilities as a black gay woman. In Living<\/em>, Clarke poetry reflects this strength and her considerable knowledge of the world through her black lens.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, almost 30 years later, Living<\/em> still has resonance. The police brutality Clarke refers to in “Miami: 1980”, still as relevant with our black men being gunned down by crooked cops, mostly recently with recent FAMU grad Jonathan Ferrell last year in North Carolina. The unadorned passion Clarke shows to her woman in “Kittantiny”, can be found in our own bedrooms. The same white privilege Clarke denounces in “we are everywhere” now shows up in racially inappropriate social media posts and half-assed apologies (I’m looking at you, Madonna). When blacks are increasingly undervalued, Clarke told you that back then with “urban gothic”.<\/p>\n

And poor people<\/em><\/strong>
\n black, purple, umber, burgundy, yellow,<\/em><\/strong>
\n red, olive, and tan people.<\/em><\/strong>
\n In neat-pressed vines.<\/em><\/strong>
\n On crutches.<\/em><\/strong>
\n In drag.<\/em><\/strong>
\n With child and children.<\/em><\/strong>
\n Dissidents, misfits, malcontents, and marginals<\/em><\/strong>
\n serving out our sentences on the streets of<\/em><\/strong>
\n America<\/em><\/strong>
\n spread-eagled against walls and over car hoods.<\/em><\/strong>
\n Frantic<\/em><\/strong>
\n like rats in a maze<\/em><\/strong>
\n an experiment in living<\/em><\/strong>
\n down at the jail,<\/em><\/strong>
\n the courthouse on the highway.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think it should be said that Clarke\u2019s Living as a Lesbian<\/em> can be complex, daunting almost. It\u2019s not a quick read, and it should definitely be consumed with plenty of thought and afterthought. Some of her references are from a different time, but the reprint of Living<\/em> does include Clarke\u2019s notes that fill in the gaps, for the generations that might not understand her references. It\u2019s as if Clarke is a godmother of sorts, passing along the history that she\u2019s seen and overheard and lived, and that is worth the challenge Living<\/em> presents.<\/p>\n

Reviewed February 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Publisher\/Date:\u00a0 A Midsummer Night’s Press, Jan. 2014 Genre(s):\u00a0 Poetry, Politics, Sexuality Pages:\u00a0 152 Website:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.sinisterwisdom.org LIVING AS A LESBIAN is a book right wingers warn you about. About riots and clits and pride in being black and lesbian, Living takes these subjects, infusing them with her observations and insight, pouring a wickedly-worded brew that wakes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"NEW SOTS REVIEW: Living as a Lesbian by Cheryl Clarke (Feb. 2014 Pick of the Month) http:\/\/wp.me\/p3r7qG-1wo"},"categories":[4,17],"tags":[41,115,119,195,201,294,366,370,374],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5852"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5852"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7170,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5852\/revisions\/7170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}