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ABSTRACT
Examining the afterlife of slavery, mainly interrogating the futurity of black sexuality and contemptuous Black queer bodies as possible identities of radical futurism in a queer homiletic. I position this essay within the framework of a futuristic queer homiletic, such that, Black queer identity reimagines itself within the plane of Afrofuturism disrupting the continuum of heterosexuality, and Black respectability. The futurity of Black queerness re-turns itself into a living bound subject. I make use of James Baldwin and his gender sexual politics as a Black gay man. Drawing upon his semi-autobiographical essay, “Here Be Dragons,” Baldwin illustrates how he was eliminated from his family, primarily by his step-father, who was disgusted by Baldwin's ugliness and dark skin, and moreover, his effeminate and queer mannerisms. Baldwin, feeling “dumped” by his family, was also displaced, or, “removed” from his black community of Harlem because of his sexuality. He seeks refuge in Greenwich Village, a white community which houses many gay clubs and bars. It is here that Baldwin faces a similar reality of being isolated, neglected, and eliminated for not only his queer identity, but his Black skin and Black identity. Baldwin, in public view, renders as a site of failure in that he is unacknowledged because of his Black queer identity and is rendered, or read as disgust, an 'other.' Thus, he is bounded “out” of society, “out” of sight, and ultimately left searching for a place, a home to call his own. Baldwin reimagines himself, a living subject, bound for life. As such, a futuristic queer homiletic enables Black queerness to the center of Black sexuality and Black identity.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The Price of the Ticket. Documentary, Maysles Films, August 14, Citation1989.
2 Cone, God of the Oppressed, 7–8.
3 Ibid., 16.
4 Ibid., 17.
5 Alondra, Social Text, 9.
6 Cone, Black Theology and Black Power, 8.
7 Cone, Said I Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody, 161.
8 Gates, “The Welcome Table: James Baldwin in Exile,” 312.
9 Ibid., 312.
10 Ibid..
11 Ibid..
12 Gates, “The Welcome Table,” 312.
13 Ibid., 312.
14 Vincent, The Delectable Negro – Human Consumption, 197.
15 Maynard-Reid, Diverse Worship: African-American, Caribbean & Hispanic Perspectives, 104.
16 Ibid., 104.
17 Ricœur, Essays on Biblical Interpretation, 119–120.
18 Floyd-Thomas et al., Black Church Studies: An Introduction, 179.
19 Costen, 2.
20 Ibid., 2.
21 Floyd-Thomas, Black Church Studies, 179.
22 Wimberly, Soul Stories: African American Christian Education, 13.
23 Ricœur, Essays on Biblical Interpretation, 138.
24 Cone, God of the Oppressed, 93.
25 Floyd-Thomas, Black Church Studies, 105.
26 Wimberly, Soul Stories, 13–14.
27 Cone, God of the Oppressed, 94.
28 Cone, God of the Oppressed, 47.
29 Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket, 677.
30 Rosser, Women, Science, and Myth Gender Beliefs from Antiquity, 195.
31 Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket, 677.
32 Foucault, The History of Sexuality, 38.
33 Ibid., 43.
34 Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket, 681.
35 Ibid., 685.
36 Ibid., 689.
37 Ibid., 685.
38 Ibid., 685.
39 Calmore, “Reasonable and Unreasonable Suspects,” 138.
40 Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket, 681.
41 Calmore, “Reasonable and Unreasonable Suspects,” 138.
42 Hemphill, Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men, xvii.
43 Ibid., 684.
44 Hemphill, Brother to Brother, xix.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Terrance Dean
Terrance Dean, PhD is an Assistant Professor in Black Studies at Denison University. He received his PhD in Religion and African American Diaspora Studies from Vanderbilt University. His research interests include gender, sex, sexuality, Black religion and Homiletics, Rhetoric and Communication, African Diaspora, Black Cultural Studies, James Baldwin, and Afrofuturism. Dean earned his Master's in Theology from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and, is a John Seigenthaler Journalism Fellow from Vanderbilt University. He is a Tutu Desk Brand Ambassador for the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Foundation, and he also serves on the editorial board for The Columbus Dispatch helping to bring awareness and visibility to marginalized groups of people, particularly people of color.