Black LGBTQ Narratives

Diversity Matters with Oscar Holmes IV

Season 1 Episode 6 Season Finale

Episode Title: Black LGBTQ Narratives

Guest: James Earl Hardy

Diversity Matters with Oscar Holmes IV is a podcast that explores all things diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) related. In each episode, Oscar and his guests have lively discussions around DEI topics, explore the latest research on the topic, and discuss the implications so that listeners will be more knowledgeable about the topics and be able to apply the insights to their lives.

 

Show Summary: In this episode, James Earl Hardy, the author of the groundbreaking B-Boy Blues series, an honors graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and an entertainment feature writer and cultural critic for a number of well-known outlets like Entertainment Weekly, Essence, the Advocate, and the Washington Post, shares his coming out story and his motivation to write Black gay and bi narratives.

 

He was still a journalist when the B-Boy Blues series was published in 1994. But he saw the unexpected response in 1995 where he figured that it wasn’t just a one-off thing. He knew back then that it was really about them; the community.

 

According to him, artistic expression can move and change the world if used properly. It is one’s responsibility to speak and stand up against the injustices that we experience daily. And he’s blessed to witness that in his community which supports him and helps spread the message.

 

Description: This episode teaches self-acceptance and courage to speak up and defend the rights of each community that exists all over the world. It explains how writing serves as an instrument to hear different narratives from the lives of the people we think doesn’t exist.

 

Don’t be afraid to let people know who you really are. You deserve to be heard, loved, and accepted.

 

Guest Contact & Promos: 

James Earl Hardy Facebook

James Earl Hardy LinkedIn

James Earl Hardy Instagram

James Earl Hardy Twitter 

Men of the House: A B-Boy Blues Novel ebook 

Men of the House: A B-Boy Blues Novel Paperback

B-Boy Blues on eBook

3 Value Bombs:

 

 

• Be fearless not only in your craft but also in your purpose.

 

• Is it important to have a community of artisans who do artistic expressions and you're not doing this alone.
• I don't know what tomorrow brings but I'm doing everything in my power to fight injustices.

Show Highlights: 

 

Are there ways that you would describe yourself that might not show up in a formal bio but that are important to your sense of self?

3:00 James

 

• Well, that's pretty much an open book most to the public. And that's probably because most people assume that the B- Boy Blues series is my story. Which is, which it is, naturally. It definitely is an extension of me.

 

Who and what inspired you to become a writer and to specifically write Black gay and bi narratives?

 

11:47 James

 

• Well, writing to me has always been like breathing. I've always done it. I don't remember ever not doing it. I can't think what would happen if I couldn't. So it's always been a part of me.
• So, I was doing my thing and having a lot of fun doing it. But it wasn't until B-Boy Blues that I really understood the power of the pen.

 

What is the origin of jood and why do you feel it necessary to keep it alive in your work? 

 

23:41 James

 

• Well, actually, the word has been a creation of a very Jewish friend of mine. He's been saying it forever when I was constructing Raheim as a character. I wanted him to have a language that was all his own and so Jood just fits him, perfectly.

In the book, Raheim identifies as bisexual. What it important to you to make him bisexual and not just gay?

32:28 James

 

•  I guess first of all, Raheim doesn't really identify as bisexual is kind of like a convenient marker for other people to tag him as that, as you see with you know, with the world. When they have a conversation about Raheim and Mitchell being a couple. He's a man who has clearly had sex with both sexes, and who finds both sexes attractive.

 

38:14 James

 

• Well, we still have so many from A to Z.
• I can't really say that those weren't told, because I know many SGL writers who have written stories that very much illuminate other aspects of our lives. So, it's not that they haven't been written, it's just that they really haven't seen the light of day.

 

Call to Action:

Subscribe to Diversity Matters and get exclusive access to all episodes of Beyond the Mill, which is my live diversity dialogues talk show that I host on campus at Rutgers University-Camden. 

 

Episode Sponsor Links: 

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Producer Links:

WH Consulting Firm

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