I really don't like it when people say to anyone, "are you this? or this?" as if any of us is just one thing, one label, one dimensional, as if who we are is a "this or this," and not a "both/and."

For author and activist Barbara Smith, "the most maddening question anyone can ask me is, 'Which do you put first: being black, a woman or gay?'" What I really appreciate in this book is a chance to reflect upon the struggle for equality for African Americans and gays and lesbians with the help of a variety of voices. The editor has included a wide selection of authors to help with that reflection including Audre Lorde, Cornel West, Samuel Delany, Henry Louis Gates, and more.