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A review by bgg616
Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS by Martin Duberman
5.0
I waivered between 4 and 5 stars and decided that this important work by the historian Martin Duberman deserves my highest rating. This is not a book for everyone, and I have to admit with my New England puritanism and Catholic upbringing, some of the details about the lives of gay men in the 1980's and on weren't easy reading. But this story of two men, Michael Callen, a white midwestern man from a conservative religious family, and Essex Hemphill, a black poet from Southeast Washington DC, is the story of the struggles gay men faced in the AIDS era on many fronts.
Callen, a gifted singer, had moved to New York City, to pursue a career in music. Callen became HIV positive early in the 1980's and came to be known as a long term survivor. Callen was an early proponent of educating the gay community as well as other vulnerable communities including urban minority populations about HIV and AIDS and safe sex. As readers we have to remember that AIDS appeared at a time that gay liberation was focused on sexual liberation. Callen was a proponent of sexual liberation at the same time he was working tirelessly to promote safe(r) sex.
Hemphill was a black gay man in Washington DC and a gifted poet. Hemphill experienced tremendous racism within the gay community. Clubs were segregated as were most venues and events in the gay community. Hemphill confronted and challenged this racism over and over again. One of the memorable scenes for me was the experience he had when he sent one of his books to the Washington Post Book World for review. He followed up and the editor denied that it had arrived. Hemphill sent the book 3 times via registered post and each time the editor said it hadn't arrived. Someone working at the Post later reported that the editor in fact had said he wasn't going to review a book by a black gay man, though he used much cruder language.
I learned a great deal, not only about the fight to find medications and drugs to alleviate the effects of AIDS, but the lack of political consciousness within the gay male community. Callen had many close friends in the lesbian community and was a feminist. The feminist movement was more politically sophisticated than the gay men's community. Callen and his lesbian feminist allies were at the forefront of many of the efforts in fighting AIDS and pushing the fight forward.There is also a great deal of detail about ACT UP. Callen wasn't convinced that their approach was the right one, and the reader sees inside the ups and downs of this movement. Callen was also very critical of others in the movement such as Randy Shilts who he portrays as extremely conservative.
The book also provides us with many samples of Hemphill's poetry. I read a lot of poetry, and his work is powerful. Callen made a number of recordings with various groups he was in as well as on his own. Sadly, it is not readily available, and none is in digital form. Considering the artistic gifts of these men, it is a huge loss that so little of their artistic legacies remain. It is a reminder of the huge toll of AIDS. The filmmaker Marlon Riggs who worked with Hemphill is also mentioned in the book. Fortunately his films are in print, but they are not the kind of films you find readily on Netflix etc.
This was a read for one of my book clubs. Unfortunately, the discussion was dominated by members who hadn't read the book. One man asked numerous questions of a gay man in our group such as how to gay men meet one another, what were bathhouses like, etc. It was very inappropriate but perhaps because the questionner is in his 70's they were answered. There were important themes in this book we didn't get to discuss such as racism in the gay community of the time, and Hemphill's insistence that his primary fight was against racism and then against homophobia. But an appropriate choice for a group that reads books about social justice and diversity.
Callen, a gifted singer, had moved to New York City, to pursue a career in music. Callen became HIV positive early in the 1980's and came to be known as a long term survivor. Callen was an early proponent of educating the gay community as well as other vulnerable communities including urban minority populations about HIV and AIDS and safe sex. As readers we have to remember that AIDS appeared at a time that gay liberation was focused on sexual liberation. Callen was a proponent of sexual liberation at the same time he was working tirelessly to promote safe(r) sex.
Hemphill was a black gay man in Washington DC and a gifted poet. Hemphill experienced tremendous racism within the gay community. Clubs were segregated as were most venues and events in the gay community. Hemphill confronted and challenged this racism over and over again. One of the memorable scenes for me was the experience he had when he sent one of his books to the Washington Post Book World for review. He followed up and the editor denied that it had arrived. Hemphill sent the book 3 times via registered post and each time the editor said it hadn't arrived. Someone working at the Post later reported that the editor in fact had said he wasn't going to review a book by a black gay man, though he used much cruder language.
I learned a great deal, not only about the fight to find medications and drugs to alleviate the effects of AIDS, but the lack of political consciousness within the gay male community. Callen had many close friends in the lesbian community and was a feminist. The feminist movement was more politically sophisticated than the gay men's community. Callen and his lesbian feminist allies were at the forefront of many of the efforts in fighting AIDS and pushing the fight forward.There is also a great deal of detail about ACT UP. Callen wasn't convinced that their approach was the right one, and the reader sees inside the ups and downs of this movement. Callen was also very critical of others in the movement such as Randy Shilts who he portrays as extremely conservative.
The book also provides us with many samples of Hemphill's poetry. I read a lot of poetry, and his work is powerful. Callen made a number of recordings with various groups he was in as well as on his own. Sadly, it is not readily available, and none is in digital form. Considering the artistic gifts of these men, it is a huge loss that so little of their artistic legacies remain. It is a reminder of the huge toll of AIDS. The filmmaker Marlon Riggs who worked with Hemphill is also mentioned in the book. Fortunately his films are in print, but they are not the kind of films you find readily on Netflix etc.
This was a read for one of my book clubs. Unfortunately, the discussion was dominated by members who hadn't read the book. One man asked numerous questions of a gay man in our group such as how to gay men meet one another, what were bathhouses like, etc. It was very inappropriate but perhaps because the questionner is in his 70's they were answered. There were important themes in this book we didn't get to discuss such as racism in the gay community of the time, and Hemphill's insistence that his primary fight was against racism and then against homophobia. But an appropriate choice for a group that reads books about social justice and diversity.