Howard Brown Health Center (HBHC) recently placed two of its key personnel, CEO/President Michael Cook and CFO Mark Joslyn, on paid administrative leave. Since then, some hints about the reasons for their ouster have emerged. The Windy City Times report prompted an open letter from David Ostrow, soon followed by a press release from Michael Cook announcing his resignation; both documents have brought more questions and speculations into the open. Meanwhile, HBHC’s press releases have also prompted more unanswered questions.
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore was recently in Chicago as part of a book tour for her latest novel, So Many Ways to Sleep Badly. The book is about life and politics in San Francisco as seen through the eyes of a radical queer activist. Sycamore was recently named one of Utne Reader’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.” Her previous work includes the anthology Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity and the novel Pulling Taffy.
E. Patrick Johnson is the author of Sweet Tea: An Oral History of Black Gay Men of the South, which consists largely of transcribed oral narratives. Johnson, the department chair of performance studies and a professor of African-American studies at Northwestern University, began researching the book in 2004. In October 2006, he began enacting solo performances and recreations of the narratives. The performances (called “Pouring Tea”) are now part of his current book tour. Windy City Times spoke to Johnson about his book; the accompanying performances and the lure of the South.
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