does your mama know?: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories
Edited by Lisa C. Moore
314 pages; Redbone Press; 0965665909

An excerpt from the introduction:

______Black women have a rich oral history of lesbianism: Everybody knows of the bulldagger up the block that their mamas used to talk about. Of the auntie the family used to dog. Of the rumors about the bgasketball player at college. And when Black women talk at get-togethers, the coming out stories fly! "What was your first girlfriend like? When did you know you were in the life? Do you remember the first girl you kissed? The first girl who kissed you?"
______But I realized that these stories weren't written; there was nothing that a young black lesbian -- riding the train, passing for a boy with a good-looking woman on her arm -- could go to for reference, to know that she's not the only one. That she has stories of bulldaggers and he-she's and femmes and butches and old maid aunties. Old ones and young ones. And that we are here, we've always been here, and look how glorious it all is!

This anthology is a great selection of coming out experience featuring black lesbians of all ages, backgrounds, cultures. Contributors include several well-known writers/activist: Shay Youngblood, Sharon Bridgforth, Jewelle Gomez, Terri Jewell, Michele Hunter, Donna Allegra, Makea Silvera, and others.

These pieces (both fiction and nonfiction) explore different levels of coming out: to self, to parents, to the (sometimes homophobic and sexist) black community, and the (sometimes racist) GLBT community, etc. They don't all have a we-love-and-accept-you ending. Even when the women do not quite get the response they are hoping for, it is clear that the experience has strengthened them. Coming out is more than a desire for acceptance; it's also an act of self affirmation.