Overview

In this landmark collection of personal essays, stories, brief memoirs, and polemics, a broad swath of black Americans unite to bear witness to the devastation AIDS has wrought on their community. Not in My Family marks a new willingness on the part of black Americans--whether prominent figures from the worlds of politics, entertainment, or sports, or just ordinary folks with extraordinary stories -- to face the scourge that has affected them disproportionately for years. Editor Gil Robertson has enlisted a remarkable group of contributors, including performers like Patti LaBelle, Mo'Nique, and Hill Harper; bestselling authors like Randall Robinson and Omar Tyree; political leaders like Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders; religious leaders like Rev. Calvin Butts, and many, many more.

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9781932841244

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Reviews

As I read LaBelle became Sharpton became the next writer as each essay bled into the other to present a sobering and often prophetic picture of HIV/AIDS.In essence, the book presents an interesting picture-in-text of a beleaguered group, a picture taken through the lenses of hope and prayer in order to confront a common enemy that crept in as people slept, and continues its assault as they lie half-awake the book is guaranteed to make you think, and perhaps inspire you to do something. Though wet with tears, it is also full of love, compassion, and the kind of strength that, according to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., allows people to .. . go on anyhow. --Joseph P. Blake Philadelphia Inquirer Edited by journalist and media consultant Robertson, whose brother has HIV, this collection of 58 essays intends to give voice to the multitude of experiences felt by the African-American community living in the age of HIV and AIDS. Essay after essay presents the grim statistics, but nearly all go beyond the numbers, featuring personal stories, advice, and calls to action. Contributors represent a variety of viewpoints and experiences and include preachers, entertainers, writers, activists, and patients and their families. Some are famous (e.g., Rev. Al Sharpton, former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders), while others are simply ordinary people whose lives have been touched by HIV/AIDS. Though the collection includes diverse perspectives on how to address the epidemic, information about HIV/AIDS is presented accurately; all of the essays approach the subject with compassion rather than judgment or intolerance. Taken together, these essays send a powerful message: take care of yourselves, take care of one another, and speak out. Appendixes include a glossary and lists of HIV/AIDS hotlines and testing facilities. Highly recommended.--Janet A. Crum Library Journal I didn't get around to reading Gil's book until this past weekend. I should've started sooner. It's humbling to be confronted by the specter of one's own ignorance, especially when it is a subject as immense as AIDS and HIV. 'Not in My Family' is an eclectic collection of 50-plus essays, a poem, several rants and plenty of thoughtful meditations by notable, notorious and not-so-famous African Americans writing about AIDS.--Tony Norman Pittsburg Post-Gazette Not in My Family is a must read, but not merely as a heart-wrenching collection of moving AIDS memoirs. For perhaps more significantly, this seminal work simultaneously serves as the means of kickstarting candid dialogue about an array of pressing, collateral topics, ranging from homophobia to incarceration to brothers on the down low to low self-esteem to the use of condoms to the role of the Church in combating this virtually-invisible genocide quietly claiming African-Americana.--Kam Williams AALBC.com

"As I read LaBelle became Sharpton became the next writer as each essay bled into the other to present a sobering and often prophetic picture of HIV/AIDS.In essence, the book presents an interesting picture-in-text of a beleaguered group, a picture taken through the lenses of hope and prayer in order to confront a common enemy that crept in as people slept, and continues its assault as they lie half-awake the book is guaranteed to make you think, and perhaps inspire you to do something. Though wet with tears, it is also full of love, compassion, and the kind of strength that, according to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., allows people to .."". go on anyhow."" --Joseph P. Blake ""Philadelphia Inquirer """" Edited by journalist and media consultant Robertson, whose brother has HIV, this collection of 58 essays intends to ""give voice to the multitude of experiences felt by the African-American community living in the age of HIV and AIDS."" Essay after essay presents the grim statistics, but nearly all go beyond the numbers, featuring personal stories, advice, and calls to action. Contributors represent a variety of viewpoints and experiences and include preachers, entertainers, writers, activists, and patients and their families. Some are famous (e.g., Rev. Al Sharpton, former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders), while others are simply ordinary people whose lives have been touched by HIV/AIDS. Though the collection includes diverse perspectives on how to address the epidemic, information about HIV/AIDS is presented accurately; all of the essays approach the subject with compassion rather than judgment or intolerance. Taken together, these essays send a powerful message: take care of yourselves, take care of one another, and speak out. Appendixes include a glossary and lists of HIV/AIDS hotlines and testing facilities. Highly recommended.--Janet A. Crum ""Library Journal "" I didn't get around to reading Gil's book until this past weekend. I should've started sooner. It's humbling to be confronted by the specter of one's own ignorance, especially when it is a subject as immense as AIDS and HIV. 'Not in My Family' is an eclectic collection of 50-plus essays, a poem, several rants and plenty of thoughtful meditations by notable, notorious and not-so-famous African Americans writing about AIDS.--Tony Norman ""Pittsburg Post-Gazette "" Not in My Family is a must read, but not merely as a heart-wrenching collection of moving AIDS memoirs. For perhaps more significantly, this seminal work simultaneously serves as the means of kickstarting candid dialogue about an array of pressing, collateral topics, ranging from homophobia to incarceration to brothers on the down low to low self-esteem to the use of condoms to the role of the Church in combating this virtually-invisible genocide quietly claiming African-Americana.--Kam Williams ""AALBC.com """

A compilation of 58 short essays and one poem from a broad spectrum of African-Americans giving their opinions, reactions and counsel on the subject of HIV and AIDS. Robertson prefaces this uneven collection with a statistics-laden introduction that reveals the extent of the problem in this country: e.g., AIDS deaths are 10 times higher among African-Americans than among Caucasians; about two-thirds of the reported cases of AIDS in women and children are African-American. Some of the contributors, like Robertson, whose older brother has AIDS, write of the impact of having a family member with the illness. Others, like Robertson's brother, write of their personal experience with it. Then there is the perspective of political and social leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who write more impersonally of what needs to be done to deal with the problem. Robertson includes AIDS activists, lawyers and clergymen professors, and he has sought out writers, editors and performers, including a TV talk show host, a porn star, a soul singer and a comedian. Gay and straight men, married and single women, the young and the not-so-young-all have their say. The writing consequently varies from formal and didactic to uninhibited street talk. Among the issues addressed are the perils of dating and marriage; homophobia and denial about homosexuality, especially in religious communities; safe and risky sex; the emotional toll of having the disease or loving someone who has it. A surprising number of the men speak of Magic Johnson's announcement that he had been infected as the event that abruptly changed their disregard of HIV and AIDS as the problem of gay white men. Robertson has included some appendices intended to be useful: a glossary of terms that may be encountered in discussions with a physician, health worker or social worker; phone numbers of hotlines and the location of testing facilities throughout the country. A collection of disparate, often repetitive pieces that, taken as whole, give a disturbing portrait of a serious problem. (Kirkus Reviews)

I didn't get around to reading Gil's book until this past weekend. I should've started sooner. It's humbling to be confronted by the specter of one's own ignorance, especially when it is a subject as immense as AIDS and HIV. 'Not in My Family' is an eclectic collection of 50-plus essays, a poem, several rants and plenty of thoughtful meditations by notable, notorious and not-so-famous African Americans writing about AIDS.--Tony Norman Pittsburg Post-Gazette

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