Unabridged: Queer Icons & Banned Books with George M. Johnson

In this episode of The Stacks Unabridged, we’re joined by George M. Johnson, author of Flamboyants, to explore the often-overlooked Black queer icons of the Harlem Renaissance. George discusses why they chose to write about these influential figures and how they used rumors and gossip as historical sources to bring these stories to life. We also dive into the current wave of book banning, exploring what’s truly driving it and the common misconceptions surrounding this troubling trend. It’s a powerful conversation about history, censorship, and resilience.

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Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes. You can also find what we talked about on Bookshop.org and Amazon.

• Flamboyants by George M. Johnson

• All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

• Charly Palmer

• Stonewall Riots

• Countee Cullen

• Jimmie Daniels

• Gladys Bentley

• Langston Hughes

• Looking for Langston (Isaac Julien, 1989)

• Zora Neale Hurston

• Patti LaBelle

• Patti LaBelle on Watch What Happens Live

• Luther Vandross

• Bruce Vilanch

• Thomas Jefferson

• W. E. B. Du Bois

• Bessie Smith

• The Life of Herod the Great by Zora Neale Hurston

• Octavia E. Butler

• “Ep. 330 Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler — The Stacks Book Club (Emily Raboteau)” (The Stacks)

• “Years after her death, science-fiction writer Octavia E. Butler lands on bestseller list” (Sarah Laing, The Globe and Mail)

• James Baldwin

• Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

• Their Eyes Were Watching God (Darnell Martin, 2005)

• Passing by Nella Larsen

• Passing (Rebecca Hall, 2021)

• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

• Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

• Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

• Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

• Glenn Youngkin

• Terry McAuliffe

• Moms for Liberty

• “Day 1 -- Banned Books in The Stacks with Katrina Stokes and Thursday Williams” (The Stacks)

• Banned Books Week

• Josephine Baker

• Living Single (Fox)

• Girlfriends (UPN, The CW)

• Catfish (MTV)

• Major Crimes (TNT)

• Rizzoli & Isles (TNT)

• Castle (ABC)

• The Golden Girls (NBC)

• Hot Cheese Popcorn

• Smoke, Lilies and Jade by Richard Bruce Nugent

• The New Negro by Alain Locke

• The New Negro by Jeffrey C. Stewart

• Jeremy Pope

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