E. Patrick Johnson, a performance studies professor at Northwestern, was shocked when his book “Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity” was named a finalist in the 2004 Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards.
After all, his competition for best nonfiction included the biography of Zora Neale Hurston, the co-namesake of the award that honored the best books by black authors of the year on Oct. 1.
“I figured I didn’t have a chance over the biography of the person the award was named after,” said Johnson, who is director of graduate performance studies. “When my name was called it was just absolutely exciting. There was a big black-tie dinner — my mom was there, my partner was there — it was amazing.”
Johnson came to NU in 2000 and teaches courses on the performance of black literature and gender.
He currently is on leave, collecting interviews for “Sweet Tea: An Oral History of Black Gay Men in the South.” He is traveling from Georgia to Texas interviewing men from 21 to 90 years old for the first book of its kind.
Johnson said he did not expect this honor when he began writing essays about the performance of identity, or how people act out their race or other characteristics, in 1996.
“I started out writing separate essays about performing identity and I thought ‘Hey, this is a book,'” Johnson said.
“Appropriating Blackness” discusses the performance of black identity, the social construct of “blackness” and what it means to be black. What it means to be black was a question that interested Johnson, who said his “blackness” has been judged throughout his life.
“I had personal experiences where I was ostracized by particular communities and my blackness was called into question because I was gay or a Southerner,” Johnson said.
“For African Americans there’s a fight over who defines who is black and excluding other identities,” he continued. “Identities such as gender and sexuality are considered secondary to identities based on race. This is not always the most prudent way because people have multiple identities.”
In his book Johnson gives examples of “performing blackness” such as Eminem and includes a chapter on a white, atheist Australian gospel choir.
He also discusses an experience during his tenure at Amherst College when a white student’s performance of a monologue of a Southern black woman offended black students.
“Many of the black students who criticized the work were not from the South, were not working-class and ironically this white student’s experience was closer to the character’s experience than theirs,” Johnson said.
Johnson also uses performance exercises at NU to challenge students. White students in his class were uncomfortable with playing the roles of racist, white Southerners.
Johnson said that working at NU is his “dream job.”
“I love the students, my department,” Johnson said. “I’m a performer and a scholar and Northwestern’s really one of the few places I can do both and feel validated.”
Reach Diana Scholl at [email protected].
