“That's why we exist so that another generation of lesbians of color will not have to invent themselves, or their history, all over again.”
—Audre Lorde
“Where my girls at?”
Women in Blacklight 1979 - 1985
During my decade-long journey as the official biographer of Alice Walker, I made repeated attempts (with Walker’s support and encouragement) to interview a woman with whom she’d been linked, romantically: singer Tracy Chapman. Years passed like a fast car. Silence.
As the deadline for delivery of my manuscript drew near, I found myself one day visiting Walker in her Northern California home.
“Have you heard from Tracy? ” asked the famed activist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple (among other works). I allowed that I had not. Walker calmly removed a photo that had been affixed to a cabinet in her kitchen.
“Put this in your book,” she said. The image? Chapman and Walker picnicking in the mid-1990s (see Alice Walker: A Life, WW Norton, 2004).
In a 2006 Guardian (London, England) interview, Walker expanded on conversations we’d had about the relationship: “It was delicious and lovely and wonderful and I totally enjoyed it and I was completely in love with [Tracy].” To my knowledge, Chapman has yet to utter a syllable (publicly) on the subject.
The material Sidney Brinkley has compiled for this volume sparked my reflections on the Walker/Chapman liaison. Covering topics ranging from Coming Out, to homophobia in the Black Church, to reports on groundbreaking conferences, interviews with change makers and reviews of landmark books, the pieces serve as irrefutable evidence of the vibrancy of Black Lesbian life...
"Where my girls at?" finally takes us to the root. Vintage fiction from filmmaker Michelle Parkerson, interviews with emerging musical genius Linda Tillery and Audre Lorde help us rediscover the desire, conflict, flamboyance and unity which fueled our lives back in the day! This collection will re-ignite the flame of Black Lesbian passion and politics now, when we need it most." —Jewelle Gomez, Author The Gilda Stories
"The word 'feminism' seems to have lost some of its meaning in the confused political landscape and agenda in the 21st century. Where my girls at? brings it all back home to people who have forgotten this important piece of the women's movement and it should breath new life into people who didn't know. Where my girls at? represents a compilation of work from some of the best writers from the feminist/womanist movement. Read it, embrace it, and most importantly understand whence it came." —Sean Reynolds, Author, Dying For A Change
Paperback 6x9 inches
120 pages
ISBN: 978-0-615-36677-7
List Price: $18.95