Doug Cooper-Spencer: My Favorite Things

By Keith Boykin, in books
Tuesday, November 15 2005, 12:08PM

It's rare that I talk about books that I haven't read, but I want to make an exception in this case. Doug Cooper-Spencer's new book, This Place Of Men is not exactly new to me. I actually did read the original manuscript several years ago and made comments to him that he used to complete the finished book. I just got the finished book in the mail recently, and I'm looking forward to (re-)reading it.

The book tells the story of two men, Otis and Terrell, whose teenage relationship was torn apart by Terrell's father and his pastor. As the two men approach their fortieth birthdays, Otis returns home to confront the father who had turned his back on him, the lover, now married, who denied him, and the minister who brought about his downfall.

Today I take a look at Doug's favorite web sites.

I first met Doug Cooper years ago, shortly after he appeared in the documentary film "All God's Children." The film told the story of black gays and lesbians looking to reconcile their faith with their sexuality, and Doug's comments about learning and repeating the language of our oppressors really stuck with me.

Since that time, I've stayed in contact with Doug over the years, met his partner, and visited them in Cincinnati during the times I've been in town to speak. We did this interview a few weeks ago, before I announced my new policy against picking my own site as one of the five favorites. So today I asked him to give me a new site to replace mine on the list. Here now are Doug's favorite sites.

Doug Cooper-Spencer's Favorite Sites

1. MSNBC.com
Up to the minute news. I'm always busy and I need to know what's happening as the news changes, and they update the news continually....And I've always watched NBC News on TV. My father watched NBC News when I was growing up and I just translated that into the Internet.

2. Thegully.com
I check out this site everyday because it gives a global perspective on world events from an LGBT perspective. Man, I mean this site covers any and everything from everywhere, and it's so radical. It's kind of like "Mother Jones" for our community (is Mother Jones magazine even still around? I might be showing my age...).

3. Blacklightonline.com
This site has history! If you want to go back and find old articles profiling the black gay community from around the globe, check this one out.

4. UKblackout.com
I like to see how the black gay community is jumpin' in the United Kingdom.

5. EURWeb
(I got this one from Nathan). I had never heard of this site until recently, but have since fallen in love with it.

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