The African-American Pavilion Heads to Los Angeles for Their 5th Record-Breaking Year

National (BlackNews.com) - BookExpo America, one of the largest book trade exhibits in the world, provides independent African American book publishers, self publishers, authors, Black Interest Imprints at major publishing houses, distributors, literary agents, publicists, librarians and bookstore owners exposure to more than eighty thousand book buyers and booksellers from across the globe. Organizers of the African American Pavilion at BookExpo America are finalizing plans for the event to take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA May 30 - June 1, 2008.

Now in its fifth year, the African American Pavilion at BEA is the marketplace for thousands of African American publishing industry professionals. Influential exhibitors and book buyers form a community of unprecedented strength. "The African American Pavilion is a growing presence at BEA," says exhibitor C. Sunny Martin , CEO and Founder, Who's Who Publishing and the 2007 African American Pavilion at BEA "Independent African American Publisher of Note." "There will be great opportunities to learn, share, educate, sell and network and it's making black book history a vital, visible part of the 107-year history of BookExpo America/American Booksellers Association."

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A belatedly published roman a clef about the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance.

By Alice Randall,

Gentleman Jigger
A Novel of the Harlem Renaissance
Da Capo Press: 332 pp., $18 paper

Richard Bruce Nugent's novel "Gentleman Jigger" is a strange cocktail of glamour and dirt that goes down easy, quickly intoxicates and leaves a pungent taste. It may just give you a hangover. But anyone who has ever lamented that he or she was born too late to spend an evening at Georgia Douglas Johnson's legendary Washington, D.C., salon frequented by black writers, artists and politicians, or to spend any hour at 267 W. 136th St. "when Harlem was in vogue," should rush to risk the head pounding.

Cracking "Gentleman Jigger," however, is a bit like opening a door to a party full of very interesting, sometimes dangerous, sometimes dazzling people who all know one another -- but don't know, and perhaps don't want to know, you. The experience is also akin to sitting beside a bold-living, wild-loving, deliciously indiscreet man of fine lineage willing to regale you with juicy gossip from the world of art and letters and tender but explicit favored incidents in his sexual history, all the while reeling off the names of dozens of books you might want to poke into and why, and pausing to provide a primer of social etiquette among certain elements of black bohemia before tutoring you on how to capture the un-capturable man.

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MBG - Men Who are Black and Happen to be Gay
by author/owner Leo Shelton.

“A hilarious and fun read with a punch” is how it is being described…. MBG is a humorous look at stereotypes, those people put on themselves, and that sometimes culminate from those we put on others. They often become unwritten rules, even lifestyles or those ever-funny true-isms for how we live, love and laugh at and with each other.

MBG takes you through some of the unwritten rules, and even downright stereotypes that define how some black men look at themselves and each other, how they laugh at, even mock or feed into the stereotypes or simply change the rules to define who they are, sometimes proudly, sometimes ridiculously and sometimes cleverly, in terms of dating, being down-low, on grooming, living, even sex.

Leo Shelton is an author, poet, writer, educator, scholar, and a self-proclaimed life long learner and student of life. An urban renaissance, influenced by the classic works of artists and legends as Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes and Marlon Riggs, he also credits influences such as Robert Hayden, Richard Wright, Walt Whitman, and Paul Laurence Dunbar as well as many of the artists today in music, spoken word, and creative expressions like Terrance Hayes, Tim’m West, Common and Floetry, for helping him to find his voice and place in writing. And this one goes outside of the poetry and prose of RHYTHMS – Poetry and Muse and SOUL-FULL – Poetry that introduced many readers to his writing talent and abilities.

By Robert Dorit

The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West, and the Fight Against AIDS.
Helen Epstein. xxv + 326 pp. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. $26.

The development of effective antiretrovirals has transformed AIDS into two diseases—one for the rich and quite a different one for the poor. In the developed world, people infected with HIV who have access to health care can now think of their illness as a chronic condition with which they may live for decades, and the incidence (the number of new cases diagnosed each year) has declined significantly. By contrast, in much of the developing world HIV infection is still largely a near-term death sentence, and the far greater incidence is only just beginning to level off.

Why have we not yet prevailed over HIV? Part of the answer is to be found in the biology of the virus, which evolves quickly, hijacks and eventually destroys the host's immune system, and depends on the most powerful of human urges—sex—for its transmission.

But the AIDS pandemic has been a formidable adversary for other reasons as well. As Helen Epstein makes clear in The Invisible Cure, the fight against AIDS in Africa, where nearly 70 percent of the world's HIV patients live, has been a chronicle of missed opportunities, well-intentioned fiascos, greed and folly.

Epstein, a trained scientist who is now a journalist eager to make a difference in the lives of others, has spent many years in the AIDS trenches. With clarity and precision, she describes the human dimensions of the crisis in Africa, casting a cool and analytical eye on the way the world has responded. The book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the pandemic by focusing on the many ways in which foreign aid, foreign experts and unresponsive Western governments have collided with long-standing traditions and emerging dysfunctions of the African continent.

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Larry Wilson, Jr. is an accomplished author of several books, The King of Erotica I: the Throne  and The King of Erotica II: the Crown. Tired of the issues that a sexually liberated man faces with the publishing industry, Larry took control of his image and his writing and self-published his first book. That book sold over 2,500 copies online in just five months.

Larry accomplished this feat by leveraging  his talent and  reputation that he had built in gay market. In his books Larry addresses his bisexuality, sexuality and the black church and sexuality in the black family. The books are fictional; however, Larry does expose the exploitation that he personally experienced and that exist in the black environment today.

In Larry's own words....

When I looked in the mirror this morning, what reflected back wasn't Langston Hughes. When I smiled, what reflected back wasn't Alice Walker. I looked around; I didn't see the Color Purple. I may not have Oprah Winfrey's money nor have an estate built next door to Bill Gates. I may still catch the Metro Bus and walk around broke. I may still be looking for a job. I may have gone to prison ten years ago.  I may have a past. I may not be what Mama preferred. I may not be talking to my brothers, and probably never will again. I may not drive a flashy car and on my fingers may not gleam the brilliance of materialistic jewelry. I may be a lot of things in your mind and I may not live up to your expectations. I may have done some things that disappointed you, and half of the people I know say I'm out of control because I'm out of THEIR control. I may sleep late into the day and bump Janet Jackson from my SONY walkman at night. I may not be perfect.

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GBM Book club invites you to an On-line interview / discussion With your host Eric L. Jones from www.Blogtalkradio.com, and author Vertell J. Dodd, The Damaged Mind

• When: Sunday, February 10, 2008
• Where: www.blogtalkraido.com\ericljones
• Time: 10.15 am Eastern Standard Time

We urge all listeners to call in and give their opinions Call-in number (646) 915--9508

The Damaged Mind

Dr. Tanenbaum has a string of male clients of color: an ex-gang member, a minister, a man on the down-low and Jiair, a young man dealing with the pressures of having grown up in an abusive home. Each of these men is living with great pain, particularly Jiair, who seems to have had it tougher than the others. After his mother’s death, he finds himself even more in battle with his damaged mind. He seeks revenge on his father, a reverend, the man responsible for his damaged mind. Jiair didn’t go to his father’s church to listen to the sermon; he went home to settle a score.

By Reyhan Harmanci

The research for LaShonda Barnett's book "I Got Thunder: Black Women Songwriters on Their Craft" was exhaustive, but Barnett, a Sarah Lawrence College writing professor, took her time.

For a two-book set, the first of which is "I Got Thunder," Barnett interviewed 40 of her favorite female African American singer-songwriters, including Abbey Lincoln, Brenda Russell, Chaka Kahn, Dianne Reeves, Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Nona Hendryx, Odetta, Shemekia Copeland, Shirley Caesar, Toshi Reagon and others.

"Because I really love these women, I know their music like the back of my hand," Barnett says. "I've been researching for this book for the past 20 years, listening to these songs over and over again."

LaShonda Barnett

But the real impetus for the book came more recently, when Barnett went searching for a book about the creative processes of some of her favorite artists. It didn't exist. "So often when we think of creative woman singers, particularly African American women, we tend to negate the intellectual aspects of their work. We think that they're born with a gift - and I'm not negating that fact, that they are born with gifts - but there's a lot of work that precedes the moment she steps up to the mike."

Barnett says that she expected to have trouble securing interviews with her subjects, but her focus on the professional, not necessarily the personal, must have been refreshing, because everyone she asked agreed to talk. Despite that, Barnett says that more than one of her subjects broke down during the interview. The emotion came from discussing what went into individual songs.

"I was blown away that so many women were called to music before the age of 10. That was a stunning similarity, despite genres.

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Edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Gene Andrew Jarrett

By Erin Aubry Kaplan

WHEN I was in first grade, I wrote in an assignment that I wanted to be "a poetess like Phillis Wheatley" when I grew up. I'd seen only one drawing of Phillis Wheatley, but it made an impression -- a black woman in a frilly cap, quill pen poised in one hand, chin in the other. She was prim, serious, purposeful. In the mid-1700s, she'd somehow gone from being a slave to being a poet, who mastered complicated forms of poetry that had been the exclusive domain of the white folks who once owned her. This felt like the height of heroism to me, and I resolved to become a Phillis Wheatley in my own time. I would be a New Negro.

Wheatley lived long before the official age of the New Negro, a long-standing trope that came into vogue in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, when a critical mass of black writers based in New York broadened the narrow definitions of black literature and black artistry in general. But the concept goes as far back as Wheatley; slavery's dehumanizing legacy demanded a New Negro, who would literally throw off the chains of history to become something different, as Wheatley had. Of course, in her time, Wheatley was seen as an "exceptional" Negro, not the vanguard of a new one.

By David Ninh

Photographer David Yellen (Time, Life and People) and writer Johanna Lenander (I.D., Surface and The New York Times' T) explore the jaw-dropping outrageousness and artistic coiffures from African-American hair trade shows in a new book called Hair Wars.

The arresting images in this slick photo book, which is sure to brighten any coffee table, highlight extravagant, fantasy hairdos from professional hairstylists who participate in "hair entertainment" shows around the country. Armed with limitless imagination, these stylists work with loads of human-hair pieces, pounds of glitter and lots of colorful makeup, and they incorporate unusual props (everything from fishbowls to barbecue grills and Bibles) into those hair-raising styles.

Just wait, we're betting a reality show will get cooked up about these over-the- top competitions.

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Chalk up one more celebrity who never wears the same underwear twice. E. Lynn Harris is an author who writes novels about complicated relationships between African-American men and women, straight, gay, and bisexual, and the secret lives they live. I've never read one of his works, but he's a best-selling novelist, so I can't argue with him. His latest book is titled "I Say A Little Prayer", which deals with homophobia in the black church.

The Home & Garden section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution did a feature on his Atlanta townhome (he has three homes -- one in the Fayetteville, Arkansas area, where he teaches at the University of Arkansas, a condo in Houston, Texas, and this three-story townhome in Atlanta). In a newsbites section at the end of the article, the reporter lists six things that Harris can't live without, and one of Harris' answers is "a new pair of underwear." Harris says that he never wears the same pair of underwear twice, and that this lifestyle is something he promised himself he would do if he ever made some money. His favorites: black boxer briefs from Calvin Klein.

By Zack Rosen

Rodney Lofton begins his memoir, “The Day I Stopped Being Pretty,” in the bleakest of all literary locations: rock bottom. After a failed suicide attempt, he ends up dry-heaving in an emergency room, and his identity as a gay, HIV-positive black man becomes the lynchpin of his journey into and out of despair.

As with many gay men, Lofton’s relationship with his father was a tumultuous one. His delicate physical attributes, evidenced since childhood, were a sticking point between father and son, especially when a woman the father was dating called his young son “pretty.” The tension between the two only increased as Lofton acknowledged his gay sexual orientation.

“We never had the best relationship when it came to my sexuality,” Lofton says about his father. “It was like clockwork. The same way I go quarterly to get my viral load checked, my dad would ask me every three months if I had met a nice girl. This happened until the last time I saw him in July of 2003. “

Dancehall dons' anti-gay lyrics fuel local calls for Jamaica sanctions

By Sigcino Moyo

In his book "Words to Our Now", Thomas Glave, SUNY Binghamton prof and gay Jamaican-American author, ponders the “gnawing fear” of the Jamaican LGBT experience.

"How will it happen?" he asks of the all-too-inevitable violence faced by gays and lesbians in Jamaica. "With fire... gasoline... machetes" pickaxes" hammers" guns" knives" simple strangling" or a good old-fashioned stoning?

"Will our father do it to us, or a neighbour? A boyfriend, or a co-worker? Will everyone in our community turn on us?"

Considerable international attention has been given recently to anti-gay violence in Jamaica following a rash of deaths there.

The seeming Jamaican government authorities' reluctance to do anything about it, despite calls from Amnesty International, has Helen Kennedy, the executive director of Egale Canada, the largest gay-lesbian group in this country, openly questioning the Harper government's pledge to dole out $600 million to bolster the infrastructure of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries over the next 10 years.

"Why are we using taxpayers' dollars to support countries that don't observe basic human rights?" Kennedy wonders. Jamaica still has a prohibition against the "abominable crime of buggery" on the books.

And nowhere in recent talk of constitutional reform on the island is the issue of gay rights addressed.

“I suppose my writing is different than that of a lot of people because ‘I do not own the words.’ The words come through me, not from me. I only write when I’m inspired by the Holy Spirit. The purpose of all my writing is to help people on their spiritual journey. “

Those rather weighty words provide keen insight into C. Mark Ealy, author of the new book, The Making of a Preacher: Naked in the Pulpit. Largely autobiographical, it’s the saga of a minister (“Larry”) who “bares all in his journey to find truth.”



After overcoming nearly impossible odds—growing up poverty-stricken and hopeless, being trapped in an all-Black ghetto in South Central Los Angeles (L.A.)--Ealy become an ordained Baptist minister.

Over the past 27 years, he has held major positions of leadership in the secular and church worlds. Currently, Ealy serves as a consultant for various churches. And, he is the founder of The Institute for Living, an organization whose mission is to assist individuals in their spiritual growth.

D Everett-White just completed the book titled "You’ll Never Be Nothing," an autobiography of his life. The manuscript tells a heartbreaking story of the entertainer. First, as a boy and then as a young man and how a series of events, time and time again, could derail the power of the human spirit. As he tries to rise above his father's words, "You'll Never Be Nothing", a single performance at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles brings him full circle and back to the audience he loves. The show includes a four song tribute to D Everett's mentor Sammy Davis Jr., who got him his first solo engagement at the Sahara Hotel, and later introduced him to Frank Sinatra.

D Everett-White's smooth, classically trained voice effortlessly moves through Pop, Rock and Roll and Rhythm and Blues with a distinct sound of his own. He has chosen eleven standards from the forties and fifties immortalized by Frank Sinatra on a debut album entitled, "The Voice Revisited," featuring the classic "I'm A Fool To Want You/My Funny Valentine" included in the major motion picture released by Miramax Films ASeasons Of Life.

D Everett-White . . . Headlines a Variety/Night Club Show with 16 dancers, 4 back-up singers with a 28- piece orchestra. Conducted by: Roberta Lydecker

D EVERETT-WHITE’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY “YOU’LL NEVER BE NOTHING” IS AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW VIA HIS WEBSITE  DEVERETTWHITE.COM

This is an excerpt from the new novel and musical I'm working on. I would love for you to read it and share your comments. Enjoy!

Chapter One: Get Loose

It’s Valentine’s Day and the sweet scent of love is in the air. It’s thick and smooth, sweet and strong. Intoxicatingly and hypnotically filling the nostrils of every human being bold enough to step out on a night like this with an aroma of sex so strong that if you dared to do something naughty you could swear it wasn’t your fault. Cupid’s playing a game and he’s picking his subjects with much delight, and if his arrow hits you, you’ll quickly discover that you’re simply his puppet so you might as well give in. Besides it’s better that way. The less you resist the easier it’s all going to go down. And isn’t that what everyone wants anyway?

Cosby's Crusade: Performer reflects on humor, families and his new book.

By Robert Philpot

When the phone rings, you don't expect the voice at the other end to say, "Hi, it's Bill Cosby." Sure, an interview with the comedian had been in the works. But it hadn't been nailed down yet, and even if it had, stars of much lesser caliber usually don't dial the phone themselves.

But here's Cosby, calling from home, more ready to chat than the underprepared reporter he's calling, talking for 55 minutes with occasional interruptions to receive reports from his wife that this year's Primetime Emmy Awards had the lowest ratings since 1990 - a statistic that Cosby relays with some glee. The former star of an iconic sitcom, as well as several other series (the last ended in 2000), says he's given up on TV because of its emphasis on puerile subject matter and put-down humor.

But Cosby, 70, still has a lot to say about it and a lot of other topics, especially the family life that fuels his observational stand-up act - as he says, he has 44 years of marriage to work from, as well as children who are now in their 40s and have children of their own.

“I have little tolerance for small minds. If people hate others because they are different, that’s their problem.”   The outspoken and articulate Stanley Bennett Clay, the renowned actor, writer, producer, director, composer and author, spoke those rather emphatic words.
 
It was his response when this journalist asked him if he felt that some individuals would be offended by his upcoming musical album, which is the companion piece to his new novel, Looker.   This music project is described as having “unapologetic gay sensibilities, with progressive lyrics and content that are ‘straight-up-in-your-face’ gay.” The cuts are inspired by passages from the novel. And, various artists will perform on the album.

HIV educator and activist tugs at the heartstrings in his first published work.

A great conductor once said about the virtuoso cellist Jacqueline du Pre “If you possess no excesses in the bloom of youth, what will there be to pare away on the long road to maturity?”

In the matter of Rodney Lofton’s first outing as an author we may rephrase the question thus: If a new writer is capable of this level of rawness, emotional force and forthright vulnerability in his first outing, what will subsequent offerings disclose?

by Kris Larson

A bookstore in Oakland that caters to the African American community is refusing to sell the new book by gay author Jonathan Plummer.

Plummer is the ex-husband of author Terry McMillan. McMillan's bestselling novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back was based on her relationship with Plummer, whom she met in Jamaica, and was turned into a blockbuster movie. After a very bitter divorce in 2005, McMillan publicly accused Plummer of concealing his homosexuality from her in order to get her money and a green card. Plummer denied the charges.

Plummer's novel, called Balancing Act (Simon and Schuster), is the story of a young man who meets and forms a romantic relationship with an older rich woman, but eventually realizes he is gay. Still, Plummer insists the novel is not autobiographical. "It's fiction," he said. "The best way possible to tell the [coming out] story was to do fiction, where we can elaborate on characters and embellish on their lives."

"I am gay, I am the South -- Miss South," proclaimed a proud Patrick Johnson, impersonating a man he once interviewed in Atlanta named Duncan.

Johnson, author of the forthcoming book Sweet Tea and director of graduate studies in the performance studies department at Northwestern University, performed the oral histories of six men featured in his book in front of a packed Union Theatre on Wednesday night.

The book dispels myths about what it might be like to be black and gay in the South, such as the perception that gay men aren't welcome, Johnson said.