Black Lesbian in White America

Divided into three parts, this book features Anita Cornwell's essays, an interview with Audre Lorde, and a collection of autobiographical pieces written, as if fiction, in third person. At a little over 100 pages, the anthology is a quick read, and engaging all the way. Cornwell's conversational

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prose is direct and sprinkled with humor, and she doesn't mince words or worry about offending the sensibilities of straight women or black men when calling them to task.

Quotes:

"During that time, about the only visible Gays were the swaggering butch and the swishing faggot, who were about as welcome in that 'genteel' climate of the fifties as a grizzly beat. In fact, I do believe the bear would have had a decided advantage." p. 18

"The thing I find most disturbing regarding womyn in general is the seeming impossibility of their thinking clearly when it comes time to deal with men. Womyn with advanced university degrees often seem utterly unable to dot an i when they are confronted with the realities of man's barbaric treatment of womin. To put it bluntly, I find it absolutely terrifying to see just how effective men have been in eradicating womyn's sense of self, a condition that seems to prevail in at least 90 percent of all womyn all over this male-infected globe." p. 19

"And since it is patently impossible to free people who not only don't want to be free but who will emphatically insist they are not oppressed, I am through trying. I have had my last argument with your straight Sisters as to whether men or 'the system' are the oppressor. If you choose to think 'the system' runs by remote control from the planet Pluto, then more power to you." p. 117

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