Black Male Outsider

Gary L. Lemons is Visiting Professor of English at the University of South Florida.

"In this compelling, readable volume that is part memoir, part classroom case study Dr. Gary L. Lemons employs the theme of moving from silence to voice, and what this means for anti-racist, feminist pedagogy. He eloquently writes about his experiences teaching and learning in majority white classrooms as a pro-feminist, African American man." — Feminist Review"After the manner of bell hooks … this memoir is a captivating mixture of 'professional' and 'confessional' approaches … In the end, [Lemons] emerges not only as one of the most influential black male feminists, but also as a 'wounded healer' of no small magnitude … Reading Black Male Outsider, we must gladly admit that something subtle but profound has shifted in our culture and society." — Ms. Magazine"Lemons … takes readers on a fascinating and provocative journey into what it means to be black, male, and pro-feminist." — SirReadaLot.org"Feminist politics is a choice. When men make that choice, our world is positively transformed. Prophetically, Gary Lemons speaks to the value of males assuming accountability for feminist cultural revolution—this is a book all men should read along with the rest of us." — bell hooks"Gary Lemons blurs the distinction between theory and practice and illuminates, as few have, how black feminist theorizing is important conceptually and pragmatically and how it is useful in one's everyday life. This is a groundbreaking and passionate book." — Beverly Guy-Sheftall, coauthor of Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women's Equality in African American Communities "Lemons memorably uses his own experience to engage timely issues, such as domestic violence, the education of African Americans, and the role of religious fundamentalism in black identity formation. I found the personal narratives riveting, and the author's courageous voice of love and protest unflinchingly exposes what others would rather keep hidden." — Joseph Downing Thompson, Washington University in St. Louis

• Acknowledgments Preface: Writing in the Dark, Writing from the Inside Out Introduction: When the Teacher Moves from Silence to Voice: "Talking Back" to Patriarchy and White Supremacy PART 1: FORMULATING A PEDAGOGY OF BLACK FEMINIST ANTIRACISM Chapter 1. Toward a Profession of Feminism Chapter 2. A Calling of the Heart and Spirit: Becoming a Feminist Professor; The Proof Is in the Pedagogy PART 2: FROM THE MARGIN TO THE CENTER OF BLACK FEMINIST MALE SELF-RECOVERY Chapter 3. Learning to Love the Little Black Boy in Me: Breaking Family Silences, Ending Shame Chapter 4. White Like Whom? Racially Integrated Schooling, Curse or Blessing? Chapter 5. "There’s a Nigger in the Closet!": Narrative Encounters with White Supremacy PART 3: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE: CLASSROOM CASE STUDIES Chapter 6. Complicating White Identity in the Classroom: Enter Color, Gender, Sexuality, and Class Difference(s) Chapter 7. When White Students Write about Being White in a Class Called "Womanist Thought" Chapter 8. Screening Race and the Fear of Blackness in a (Majority-)White Classroom Chapter 9. On Teaching Audre Lorde and Marlon Riggs: Ten Thousand Ways of Seeing Blackness A Pro-Wo(man)ist Postscript: Return to the Margin of Masculinity: Teaching and Loving outside the Boundary Notes Works Cited Index