Department of English

This course provides a critical introduction to Black Queer literature, art, and politics. Whether inaugurating the Harlem Renaissance or black feminist theory, creating iconic works of art or advancing social justice, Black LGBTQ artists and activists have always stood at the forefront of radical aesthetics and politics. Spanning the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, this course considers major figures in the tradition, including James Baldwin, Lucille Bogan, Cheryl Clarke, Cheryl Dunye, Marsha P. Johnson, Audre Lorde, Richard Bruce Nugent, Ma Rainey, Marlon Riggs, and Byard Rustin. For first-year students only.