Rod 2.0:Beta #gay #news #lgbt #gaynews

Attention All Size Queens

One Friday night a few years ago, a few friends threw a surprise party to mark our recent promotion as a coordinating producer at the network. It was a very cute soiree at Cafeteria on 17th Street, which at the time was fairly popular with models and gym boys. All the more reason to go, right? Later, we walked one avenue over to SBNY. After a few Evians, it was time to pay the water bill. The downstairs bathroom featured open, mosaic-inspired urinals so it was fairly easy to size up the guy standing next to you—if you were so inclined. So let's illustrate the truly Woody Allen moment: yours truly, 6’4, 200 and some change, pumped from the gym, looking quite regulation in our usual uniform at the time: Engineered Levis slung low, black D&G tank top and matching boxers, and a do-rag. (Brooklyn meets Chelsea. Just gay, right?) Despite there being several other free spaces, a short, balding white guy with over-sized glasses and a pocket protector walked up next to us and unzipped. Noticing the looks in his direction—or possibly the eye-rolling from yours truly—he quickly announced in the loudest, nelliest voice this side of Paul Lynde: “I know what you're all thinking. Big black man. Little white guy. BUT I WON'T LET HIM LOOK!"

Everyone laughed at the irony and shrill delivery, because it confirmed what we all were knew: he wanted to size up the big black man standing next to him. That's the premise in Scott Poulson-Bryant's fabulously well-written new treatise that dropped last week: Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America. "We are still at the center of this unspoken question that gets asked all the time," the author writes in his prologue, which is a letter to Emmett Till, the black teenager who lynched in 1950s Mississippi ostensibly for whistling at a white woman. "And often that question centers around sexual behavior."

The pervasive mythology surrounding black men is that we're all hugely endowed; the construct pervades almost every facet of social interactions, from standing in line at the urinal to competition within the workplace. The result is that black men are often handicapped by the stereotype and it's had an enormous influence on how we perceive ourselves and each other.

Blacks "Programmed for Speed"

Air Force Coach Fisher Deberry is now under fire for racially-charged comments that suggest blacks are "programmed for speed." Deberry was lamenting his program's poor record this season. In a quantum leap of logic, he says Air Force would have beat No. 20 Texas Christian University if they only had more black players.

It just seems to be that way, that Afro-American kids can run very, very well. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me they run extremely well. I just want to recruit speed. We need to find speed as much as anything. The black athlete seems to have, statistically, programmed, programmed, programmed an edge as far as speed is concerned.

The statements are most disheartening because they reinforce the common perception that blacks are very good at physical tasks—lifting, running, boxing, activities that require strength and/or speed—but not capable of more advanced intellectual capacity. Such as, black players are great receivers, but do not make good quarterbacks. Even more disappointing is that Deberry can make comments like this and still keep his job. Deberry is the winningest coach in academy history with a record of 161-94-1. He has had 17 winning seasons and won 12 bowl games. But he's not racking up that many wins this year; the Falcons have struggled to a 3-5 overall record and 2-4 conference mark. Maybe that recent losing streak has encouraged the Air Force Academy to "investigate" Deberry's comments, but not much else is being done. Critics say show him the money door. ESPN: "This is looking like an excellent time for Fisher Deberry to retire"

BTW, Coach Deberry is a "devout born-again Christian." Last November, he was forced to remove a banner in the team's locker room that read in part, "I am a member of Team Jesus Christ." Deberry's comments are eerily similar to Jimmy the Greek, who was fired by CBS in 1988 for saying, among other things, that blacks were "bred" to be big, black and strong.

On a related note ... Scott Poulson-Bryant's new book Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America debuted yesterday. He examines and deconstructs the mythology of the big black man. Our review should run later tonight.

News: Scott Poulson-Bryant

Scott Poulson-Bryant makes New York's Intelligencer column, a sure sign that (a) he's officially one of the city's literary elite and/or (b) he has a great publicist. SPB describes how he arrived at the concept for the soon-to-be-released Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America.

The title came to me before the book did. I loved the idea of black men historically and stereotypically being considered well hung. But there was also a time when black men were being hung from trees for being well hung—a supposed threat to white American culture during slavery, Jim Crow, and afterward.

Regarding the book cover and the stereotypes, the author keeps it real and gives you a lil Bill Moyers, too: "I wanted a ruler on the cover. I’d be lying if I said there’s no power to be derived from the myth." (Thanks Mal)

Diddy + Penelope = America

Run—don't walk—to the newsstand for your copy of the latest America, which is becoming one of our favorite fashion and entertainment glossies. It has just the right amount of cache to attract A-list stars for some honest Q&A; yet, the editorial premise is still edgy and seeks new talent and notes from the underground.

Among the many highlights of Issue 05 is an absolutely brilliant, mostly b&w photo layout of Sean "Diddy" Combs and Penelope Cruz. The 42 page spread by the noted fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh is entitled If I Was Your Boyfriend and obstensibly captures the mood and music of the noted Prince ditty song. But the layout does much more; the stark photography, period styling and retro-inspired Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Sean John pieces are evocative of pre-revolutionary Havana or 1960s era Spanish Harlem or Miami. People having fun, kids playing in the street, romance in the air—and just a hint of danger in the air. "We had a lot of fun with that shoot," explained Scott Poulson-Bryant, America's senior editor. "With the black and white, we wanted something unique."

The wait is over. Scott Poulson-Bryant's eagerly anticipated new book debuts tonight. Well, at least for the glitterati. Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America will be presented at Scott's book release party (which, unfortunately we cannot make) in just a few hours.

The swank event will be hosted by Courvoisier, and should rival the Condé Nast tower for the number of models and editors per square foot. Amazon's blurb is a love letter: "a brilliant, multi-layered analysis ... of the pervasive belief that African American men are prodigiously endowed, Scott Poulson-Bryant interweaves his own experiences as a black man in America with witty analysis of how black male sexuality is expressed in books, film, television, sports, and pornography." Hung hits the shelves on October 25.

Books to Watch Out For

Over the weekend, writer-critic-essayist Scott Poulson Bryant was out and about at the Harlem Book Fair. For the few who don't know him, SPB is the senior editor of America and a founding editor of Vibe. SPB's upcoming Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America will be released in October.

Two other authors familiar to these pages—both, first time novelists—get additional coverage.

Much more below.