Beyond the Down Low : Sex and Denial and Black America

Rating:
Summary: Excellent analysis of the Down Low phenomenon.
Review: A compassionate yet analytical look at the Down Low fervor that has been sweeping America for the past three years. Using anecdotes, research and real statistics, the author provides us with the facts to better understand this issue and make our own decisions. His research establishes that the Down Low isn't anything new nor is it unique to African Americans or males. He examines how society's insecurities and hypocrisy about sexuality and fidelity have led us to this sorry point where some women do not trust Black men and suggests how we can begin to regain trust in each other and move forward.
You will fly through the almost 300 page book because the writing flows so well. Anyone who has been following this topic should really pick up this book.

Rating:
Summary: Boykin does it again
Review: After a year of media hype about the down low, Keith Boykin's book finally gets it right. Mr. Boykin tells his own story, including being wrongly fired from his high school job at Sears, and uses it as an example to show how black men make easy targets to blame for everything that is wrong in our community.

But he doesn't just stop with his own story. He also gives us real facts and figures based on research and reliable information about the down low and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He not only quotes men and women dealing with the down low, he also quotes doctors and researchers who have studied the issue carefully. This is the first time I've seen a book that deconstructs the media frenzy about the down low. Yes there is a down low, but is the down low responsible for the AIDS epidemic? No other book has ever answered that question as thoroughly as this one does.

As a black man, I'm glad to see a brother who doesn't use his writing to attack and vilify other black men. Instead, Boykin encourages us to stop blaming one another and start figuring out solutions to end the down low and the AIDS epidemic. Best of all, he suggests concrete solutions about what we can do in our own lives to protect ourselves and to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Finally, someone is talking about the down low without all the hype and the sensationalism. This is a very important book that is long overdue!

Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, Personal, & Encouraging.....Beyond the Down Low
Review: Beyond the Down Low by Keith Boykin was a breath of fresh air in a conversation on sex and race that has grown very frustrating. In a climate where people capitalize on their supposed ability to offer women steps to determine whether their man is gay, Beyond the Down Low refocuses. Keith has broadened the discussion to include men, women, black, & non-blacks, thereby helping to do away with the view of the black man as the sole perpetrator of deceit. Whether referred to as the "down low" or "in the closet", there are communication issues in all communities. Boykin has shifted the conversation so that we deal with the real problem in our community, which is our inability to communicate openly about sex and sexuality. He forces the community to look in the mirror and discuss the hang-ups that exist where sexuality is concerned, which directly affect people's ability to be truthful with themselves and their family/friends. Make no mistake, this book does not just identify problems, it also offers solutions. Beyond the Down Low holds us all accountable for our personal sexual choices as well as challenging us all to become involved in our communities to battle HIV/AIDS. Beyond the Down Low is a call to action. Buy it, Read it, then ask yourself.... Do I have the courage to take on the charge of being responsible for myself, and the humanity to be involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS? This impacts us all!

Rating:
Summary: Yeah, right
Review: Beyond The Down Low doesn't say anything new and what it does say it doesn't say well, and that's because it's a "So, there!" book: something written in reaction/response to something else (a recent example being "Michael Moore is a Big, Fat Stupid White Man"). Granted, there's been little to no serious analysis of JL King's memoir, but it deserves a more scholarly dissection than what this book attempts to dole out. Because he probably wrote it in a month, Boykin's "research" is just as spotty and suspect as King's (an in-depth overview of the media's DL coverage can't begin and end with a Google search, nor can the majority of voices heard be your colleagues and friends). Most of all, he's a big-time hypocrite, and on two levels: 1) he dismisses, even questions the truthfulness of King's experiences but delves into his own background for anecdotes to anchor the book; and 2) while he apparently passed on helping King write his tome, he wrote his own to capitalize on the DL frenzy (it's not a coincidence that the book is coming out less than ten months after King's - and during Black History Month!). At least King's book is an interesting, engaging read: Boykin's is a boring, repetitive, meandering mess, in which he tries to be an expert on things he isn't (leave the ruminations about homo thugs/gay rappers to James Earl Hardy and the dating/mating crisis between black men and black women to the sociologists). Like everything he writes and says (check out his comments in the current VH-1 Black in the `80s series), BTDL is hollow and uninformative.

And, yeah, I'm gonna say it: He continues to get over as a half-baked, self-annointed spokesman for the black gay community because he's so pretty (why else would he be on the cover?).


Rating:
Summary: FINALLY! THE DOWN LOW DONE RIGHT.
Review: First of all, much praise to Keith Boykin for his intelligent and FACTUAL look at the down low phenomenon. In Boykin, the black community finally has a messenger who is articulate, engaging, and intelligent enough to cut through all the sensationalism (particularly that of the past year) and deliver a much needed wake up call about sexuality. Boykin gives readers cold hard facts about the down low, the AIDS epidemic, and how the media has spun it all out of control.

Boykin's book comes from a genuine place...the desire to educate and inform the black community on the real issues. I've read all three recent books on the down low (which include J.L. King's title and his ex-wife's newly released account, both ironically written by the same cowriter-go figure! How can that writer live with herself by telling one side of the story, then flipping the script to tell the other side?), and it's clear who's in it for monetary gain, and who's the real deal. This is Boykin's third book, so there was no urgent need for him to get in print...he wrote this book to set the record straight. He is among the foremost authorities-gay or straight- on sexuality in the black community, and with BEYOND THE DOWN LOW, it shows. Well done Mr. Boykin.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond the Down Low
Review: I highly rate Keith Boykin's new book, Beyond the Down Low, and recommend it for all who welcome and enjoy a challenging read. Boykin raises the notion of critical thinking to an art form. This book is not for the lazy thinker. Boykin takes on a provocative thesis, one that effectively counter-argues the assumption that Black men are pathological predators who are responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS among Black women, and successfully defends it with meticulous research and sound reasoning. I am an associate professor of Theatre and Africana Studies at Brown University. I have added Beyond the Down Low to my syllabus for a course (Black Lavender) that I teach on plays with Black LGBT content. As a scholar, thinker, and activist Boykin has deepened and expanded the conversation about Black sexuality in America in terms that serve as a model for the intellectually curious. Beyond the Down Low sets a new and higher standard for thesis composition.

Rating:
Summary: You want the truth? Look no further.
Review: The below 1-star reviewer must have a serious ax to grind with Keith Boykin, but I doubt he really read the book because if he did, he wouldn't have dismissed it as a "so there" response to J.L. King. Maybe he's a disgruntled member of King's marketing team and felt the need to jump to his defense by writing a weak excuse of a "review." "Beyond the Down Low" tells the story the way it's meant to be told: with honesty and backed by facts. King's book was a self-serving mess that reinforced rcaist and homophobic stereotypes while Boykin offers an intelligent and critical analysis that deserves high praise. Keith may not have the luxury to promote his book on Oprah, but it deserves all the success it can get. Give Mr. Boykin his due and buy this book.