Black Women & Sexuality
Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk About Sexuality and Intimacy
A Book Talk and Discussion with Dr. Tricia Rose, Professor of American Studies at University of California at Santa Barbara

Recital Hall, Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center at Morgan State University
Wednesday, 24 March 2004

Relationships.  Intimacy. Sex.  No matter where or why women meet, it seems as if these topics, or subjects related to these topics, creep into conversation, often because women are in need of advice, affirmation, validation, and support from their friends. 

But when discussions about relationships and intimacy occur among black women, are the dimensions different for them than they are for their non-black counterparts?  Is the black women's sense of sexual belonging influenced by the fact that "desirable" women on television and in film are almost always white?  Is her self-esteem affected by recent media reports that black men are seeking out and marrying non-black partners in greater numbers than ever before?  Does she feel less respect for the doctor who assumes she's a single mother when she comes in for a prenatal exam? 

In Tricia Rose's LONGING TO TELL: Black Women Talk About Sexuality and Intimacy, the stories behind these questions and many others-- most of which are rarely heard in public-- are present in one compelling and thought-provoking volume.  "Almost all of the women with whom I spoke believed that by allowing their stories to be read by a wide audience, they were making an important contribution to the underdocumented story of black women's sexuality," says Rose, who is also the author of BLACK NOISE: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America.  "My hope is that LONGING TO TELL will help us develop new and more productive ways of thinking about how black women's sexual lives are lived."  

Attendance:  88 persons
Books sold:  49

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