Committed to the struggle for civil rights, in the late 1950s Joan Steinau marched and protested as a white ally and young woman coming to terms with her own racism. She fell in love and married a fellow activist, the Black writer Julius Lester, establishing a partnership that was long and multifaceted but not free of the politics of race and gender. She will discuss her memoir about this experience, Loving Before Loving, with writer Jewelle Gomez.
As the women’s movement dawned, feminism helped Lester find her voice, her bisexuality and the courage to be herself. She describes her own shifts in consciousness, from an activist climbing police barricades by day and reading and writing late into the night to a woman navigating the coming-out process in midlife, before finding the publishing success she had dreamed of. Speaking candidly about every facet of her life, Lester illuminates her journey to fulfillment and healing.
Dr. Joan Steinau Lester, a national op-ed writer for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN, USA Today, Common Dreams, and other platforms, is the author of six books. They include the novel Black, White, Other and classic essays in The Future of White Men and Other Diversity Dilemmas. Loving Before Loving won the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award. Her social justice commentary for NPR’s All Things Considered won a Seigenthaler Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and Mama’s Child was a Finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction.
Jewelle Gomez (Cabo Verdean/Wampanoag/Ioway; she/her) is a novelist, poet, essayist, playwright and lesbian/feminist activist. Her ten books include five collections of poetry and the first Black Lesbian vampire novel, The Gilda Stories. In print for more than 30 years, the novel was recently optioned by Cheryl Dunye (“Lovecraft Country” “Watermelon Woman”) for a TV miniseries. Her latest collection of poetry, Still Water, is from BLF Press.
This program is in partnership with the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center.
Author Readings & Lectures
Engage with your favorite writers and discover your next read.
LGBTQIA+ Interest
Gather, share knowledge and celebrate our unique identities at the queerest library ever.
For more resources, the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center is the gateway to the Library’s broader collections documenting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual history and culture, with a special emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area.
More Than a Month: Black Interest
Connect to engaging discussions and performances related to the Black community.
More Than a Month recognizes important events in Black history, honors community and national leaders and fosters steps towards collective change. Programming features authors, poets and craft classes.