Shade

Shade: An Anthology of Fiction by Gay Men of African Descent

“Shade” is an interesting look at black men and where they fit in the wider scope of gay culture. There are both upsides and downsides to reading an anthology; one upside being that it’s like a buffet of literature in that you can sample a generous amount of offerings and focus on what you really like. One downside some find about anthologies is that just when you’re getting into the story, it’s over too quickly. On the upside you can easily pick your favourite authors and search out more of their work based on their pieces in an anthology. I decided to focus on several stories that I really found quite interesting.

“Powers that be” by L. Phillip Richardson:

This story focuses on George a young black male living in NYC. He frequents sexbooths and gets high while he’s there. Feeling down and depressed about a recent job interview that didn’t go well; George decides to go to burger for a large fry and coke. While dining He meets Bill; a Southern gentleman in NYC for school and work. The two instantly hit it off (based on their common interest in comic books) and decide to meet again the next night at a local club. After parting for the evening, George goes back to the sexbooths and arranges a sexual liaison (for compensation) with a young white male named Mark. Things go left and it’s alleged that George stole money from Mark. The next night George and Bill meet up for a drink, when none other than Mark comes bounding through the club screaming about George stealing money from him for a trick. The two start fighting and the piece is left with George back at the sexbooths wanting to get high.

I liked this entry because it didn’t focus on George as a drug-addict; it showed him as a normal person who happened to use drugs. One can surmise from the tone of the story that the author wants to get across the point that drugs can ruin even the most promising of relationships. Bill had gone to graduate school and had a good job; George however was living with his aunt/uncle in their home and scrounging for bus fair. YET, Bill saw something in George that he really liked and wanted to know more about. The reader is left to draw their own conclusion as to why these two characters from seemingly opposite “sides of the tracks” wind up taking an interest in each other. I would venture to guess that the author was trying to show that a relationship doesn’t have to be based on a certain parameters set by society, and can oftime be even more powerful/transitive when it’s organic and sprouts from just a basic mutual liking of one another.

“Church” by G. Winston James:

This story follows Langston Ambrose on his souljourn back to the small New Jersey town of his childhood. In this entry Langston is going to a church service at the Baptist church that he grew up in. When the greeting for visitors is announced; Langston stands up and states that he has been away from the church for awhile, but he’s back home. The minister knows him and has seen him grow up, so he asks him what he’s been doing in the 14 or so years since he hasn’t been at the church. Langston tells him that he got a degree in Latin American studies from NYU, has traveled allover the world and lived in places like; Venezuela, Mozambique, Angola, and England. The preacher asks him why he has returned home to their small town and Langston informs him that he has returned home to die. A stunned silence falls over the audience as the pastor asks Langston what he is dying from. Langston replies that he has cancer”. After a bit more of their conversation Langston addresses his mom and tells her that he loves her very much, hearing this, his mom jumps from her seat crying and declaring that “ain’t no AIDS gonna take her baby”. The story ends with the church congregation offering support for Langston and singing spirituals to comfort him and his mother.

This piece really struck a nerve with me in that the main character and I are both from the same denomination, and I understand exactly what it is like to be at a Sunday church service with your church family; the music, the devotional, the sermon, the support and love are unmatched. Langston’s honesty was interesting in a time (the early 90s) when AIDS was considered equal to leprosy. Even still, his church family embraced him and rallied around his family to support him in his fight. Upon reading the story, the reader isn’t made aware that the protagonist is living with AIDS (until the last few pages), but as I read more into the piece and really examined the circumstances, and content it became obvious to me; even before he had announced it himself. One thing I based my opinion on is the fact that he was coming home and going to church with his mom after being away for approximately 14 years. That makes me think that he had experienced some radical shift in his life/living situation/job situation/etc. Additionally when he said Angola I immediately thought about the Cuban soldiers who brought AIDS back to the island of Cuba from Angola throughout the 70s and 80s. (Along with the European sex tourists who still frequent the Caribbean island). Since he had visited Angola I thought he might have been exposed to the virus there.