Black Queer Freedom : Spaces of Injury and Paths of Desire

210 Pages·2020·6.256 MB·English

by  GerShun Avilez

BLACK QUEER FREEDOM
THE NEW BLACK STUDIES SERIES
Edited by Darlene Clark Hine
and Dwight A. McBride
A list of books in the series appears
at the end of this book.
BL ACK QUEER
FREEDOM
SPACES OF INJURY AND
PATHS OF DESIRE
GerShun Avilez
© 2020 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Avilez, GerShun, 1980– author.
Title: Black queer freedom : spaces of injury and paths of
desire / GerShun Avilez.
Description: Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2020]
| Series: The new black studies series | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020023362 (print) | LCCN 2020023363
(ebook) | ISBN 9780252043376 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
| ISBN 9780252085284 (paperback ; alk. paper) | ISBN
9780252052255 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: African American gays. | Gays, Black. |
African American arts. | Gay artists. | Homophobia. |
Racism. | Queer theory.
Classification: LCC HQ76.27.A37 A95 2020 (print) | LCC
HQ76.27.A37 (ebook) | DDC 306.76/608996073—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023362
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/
2020023363
Dedicated to
Thadious, my inspiration,
and
Corey, my foundation

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Freedom in Restriction 1
PART ONE. THREATENED BODIES IN MOTION
CHAPTER 1. Movement in Black:
Queer Bodies and the Desire for Spatial Justice 21
CHAPTER 2. Geographies of Risk:
Migratory Subjects and the Uncertainty of Travel 54
PART TWO. BODIES IN SPACES OF INJURY
CHAPTER 3. Uneven Vulnerability:
Queer Hypervisibility and Spaces of Imprisonment 87
CHAPTER 4. The Shadow of Institutions:
Medical Diagnosis and the Elusive Queer Body 118
Conclusion: Lives of Constraint, Paths to Freedom 151
Notes 157
Index 173

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My name is on the cover of this book, but I did not write it alone.
Phone conversations with friends, Q&A sessions after conference presenta-
tions and lectures, discussions in graduate seminars, and brief chats in depart-
mental hallways all made this book what it has become. These interactions
helped give flesh to this text, and I am grateful for all of them. Many of us
often think of writing as a solitary affair, but friends and colleagues over the
past few years have kept me from feeling isolated.
Even though I am a number of years outside of graduate school, Thadious M.
Davis has continued to influence me and my work. Her intellectual imprint
is vividly apparent throughout this book. It is because of her that I know that
finding joy in life is as important as, if not more important than, “the work.”
I am very lucky to have a set of dear friends whose love and support keep
me going. Lamonte Aidoo, Darius Bost, and Marcus Anthony Hunter are
sources of laughter and light in my life. I am constantly blown away by each
man’s unassuming brilliance. Each is a scholar who stands alone in his field,
but none ever lords his gifts over others. Lamonte is kind. Darius is kind.
Marcus is kind. Each is more concerned with cultivating friendships and
helping others than needing to feel smarter than another person. Although
I group them together, each is singularly important to me, and I hope each
one knows that.
I began writing the earliest pieces that would help form this book while I
was still finishing my first book, and a number of people lived through my
writing and became a constant resource to me. Tshepo Masango Chéry is a
“friend of my mind,” to quote Toni Morrison’s Sula. Tshepo is an absolutely
devoted friend, who helps bring order to my life when it feels like chaos. She