Kevin Mumford is a professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he teaches African American history, civil rights, and the history of sexuality. His research looks at long-term social inequalities and the dynamics of oppression and resistance in cities. He is author of Interzones: Black/White Sex Districts in Chicago and New York in the Early Twentieth Century (1997), Newark: A History of Race, Rights, and Riots in America (2007) and Not Straight, Not White: Black Gay Men From the March on Washington to the AIDS Crisis (2016).
This lecture surveys the contributions of black gay men to the social movements of their times--from civil rights and black power to gay liberation and AIDS activism. It also examines the sources of stigma and silences and evaluates two generation of black gay men's responses and resistance to prejudice. Major themes include black masculinity, sexual objectification, religion and social community, and the ongoing search for inclusion, recognition, and equality.