Under My Skin
Orville Lloyd Douglas, 2014
Guernica Editions
80 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781550718492
Summary
Under My Skin is an incendiary collection of poetry which explores the life of a gay black man. The collection is semi-autobiographical and is separated into six sections. The poems explore taboo subjects such as a discussion about male homosexuality in the black community.
Under My Skin also looks at the conflict Douglas has with his Canadian identity. Many of poems ask what does it mean to be a Canadian? Is it just about skin colour? Are Canadian people only white? The poems also challenge the ideology that gay male sexuality should be hidden and not in the public sphere.
Author Bio
• Birth—September 26, 1976
• Where—Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Education—B.A., York University
• Currently—lives in Toronto
Book Reviews
Douglas is an essential poet just as his publisher's logo exclaims, for he's able to wrangle pure anger into pure poetry.... The fiery African-American poet Amiri Baraka is dead? No his spirit could drive Douglas's howls against the glib appeal of multiculturalism, so silent about anti- black, anti-native racism. But Douglas is sick of hypocritical cries of racial unity that exclude gay black men.
George Elliott Clarke - Chronicle Herald
Discussion Questions
1. Does multiculturalism really mean racial unity exists between people in Canada?
2. Why are gay black men invisible in black heterosexual and gay communities?
3. Is anger a valid emotion, or is it simply a waste of energy?
4. Why are some gay black men afraid to come out of the closet?
5. Are heterosexual black people hypocritical they whine and cry about racism yet they discriminate against black LGBT people?
6. Is Canada really more advanced than the United States in relation to race issues? Although gay rights have progressed in Canada do LGBT issues really matter or are discussed in non white communities?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)