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By Laura Matanah
RedBone Press has been in business for ten years and publishes work celebrating the cultures of black lesbians and gay men, and work that further promotes understanding between black gays and lesbians and the black mainstream. RedBone’s first book, does your mama know? An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories, won two 1997 Lambda Literary Awards, for Small Press and Lesbian Studies. The second title, the bull-jean stories by Sharon Bridgforth, won the 1998 Lambda Literary Award for Small Press. RedBone’s most recent book as of this interview is Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity.
Tell us about what led you to found RedBone.
My youngest sister was in college, and I was picking her up every day. An acquaintance of hers had seen the pink triangle on my car and asked if she could have a ride home, even though she didn’t live anywhere close. We went back to my house first; she was looking for books about lesbians, and she found a bonanza! She asked if there were any books for black lesbians coming out, and I could have sworn I had one, but when I looked through my shelves there wasn’t. There were some stories in The Coming Out Stories by Julia Penelope and a few other stories in various places, Sojourner and Common Lives, Lesbian Lives (which is now out of print). I got permission to anthologize those and put out a call for new stories and started getting them. That became does your mama know? An Anthology of Black Coming Out Stories.
That was the first book, but you’ve got a bunch now.
I do have a bunch. Ten and number eleven at the printers. It’ll come out in a few weeks (and should be available by the printing of this article). After does your mama know? I found I really liked publishing, distribution, and marketing. Next I did the bull jean stories, and the author said, “Are you going to do more?”
RedBone publishes anthologies, poetry, and fiction. Why those genres?
I haven’t shied away from genres except romance. I don’t like romance. The bull jean stories is fiction, but on the page it looks like poetry. It’s meant to be read out loud, performed, but it also works on the page. I’ve had to educate audiences about what they can read. People get scared off by something that looks like poetry.
Because I’m a one-woman press I can choose what I like. When I got Blood Beats, which is reviews, film and music criticism, and interviews, … I really liked it. I thought, “He’s clear, he’s smart, and he makes you think.” I hope to appeal to an audience who is hungry for this kind of writing that makes them think and broadens their horizons.
How is the marketing/selling going?
[It’s going] well, especially now that I’m targeting academia. Targeting people who are looking to think. With bull jean, I did lots of marketing with black lesbian support groups around the country, and I still do that.
This is [also] the first year with [RedBone having a] web site. It’s interesting to have to do maintenance, update it, keep people interested.
Spirited examines how black same-gender loving people affirm themselves as both sexual and spiritual beings. What led you to choose this topic?
It fell into my lap. LaShonda Barnett approached me with an anthology of black lesbians writing about spirituality and religion. I knew G. Winston James had put out a call for black gay men, so I asked them if they wanted to collaborate. Then LaShonda left to pursue fiction writing, and I ended up as one of the editors, although I hadn’t been to church, just weddings and funerals. That was as close as I’d gotten to organized religion of the Christian sort.
Did anything surprise you?
It surprised me personally about how important religion and spirituality [are] to black gay men and lesbians. I hadn’t been raised in a church, in a traditional black Christian background. I was Christian/Catholic as a young girl; then my mom joined the Nation of Islam when I was seven, but I left for college at sixteen, so I was never that connected to any of it.
G. Winston James (the other editor) is from Jamaica and had a strongly Christian background. I think we did well in selecting what resonated with us and what would resonate with audiences from different backgrounds.
How do you see the experiences of black GLBT people illuminating spiritual and religious life?
I think black GLBT people have so much to give, spiritually, religiously, and artistically. Once people begin to realize that it’s about spirit, not about who you sleep with, there’s a lot of barriers that can be broken.
I think that’s one of the messages that GLBT people bring to the world. “Hey, we’re different, but we’re not so different that you need to treat us like dogs on the street.”
Religion has so much turmoil when it comes to sexuality of any kind, not just gay people. It’s not comfortable with sexuality unless it’s tied to procreation. [That’s] not spiritual. Somebody just made those rules up.
There is so much pain among GLBT people over differing interpretations of God’s intentions around same-sex love. Do you see a path to reconciliation?
I think that the path is to educate yourself, to read and learn more about religion and spirit. It doesn’t have to be what you grew up with. People’s paths aren’t one and the same. If it's painful, don’t do it; it should be easy and feel right.
How do you see GLBT people as parents, aunts and uncles, and friends playing a role in providing religious education and spiritual guidance to our young people?
[We have to tell them] it's not all Shrek and the Incredibles! (Laughter) My nine-year-old niece just left here, and that’s all I’ve heard for the past two weeks.
We have a responsibility to be true to ourselves and show people there’s other ways to live. I raised my sisters; they always tell me that if it wasn’t for me, they wouldn't know there were other ways to be in the world.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers— parents, children, and allies?
Parents: Much luck to you, you’ve got a hard row to hoe. My partner has two teenagers. I’ve only raised young kids. You’ve got the hardest job in the world. That’s what my dad told me, and he told me, “The two hardest things are to teach them how to use the bathroom and how to eat.” My hat is off. Keep on keeping on; it’s worth it.
Kids: Find out what you’re good at, and do it. That’s the secret to life.
Allies: Keep your eyes open, your mind open, 'cause diversity and variety, that’s what we got here. [People say] “God created this diversity?” Well, yeah! Continue your work as allies.
Where can people find your books?
They’re at independent bookstores across the country. Also at spdbooks.org, a small press distributor that’s been in business almost thirty years. They’re also at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble online, and you can get them through me at www.RedBonepress.com.
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