Charles Stephens: On loving the work
Community organizing is nothing if not humbling. You have to have nerves of steel. I mean, it’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also humbling. It requires vulnerability on so many l...
Charles Stephens: On arts funding, racial justice, and cultural innovation
Art is indispensable to social justice. Effective social movements are often accompanied by, if not shaped by, art and artists. One of the more recent examples that comes to mind is from the 1980s, when a fl...
Charles Stephens: Quirk is the new camp on ‘Bob’s Burgers’
At best, television has the power not only to represent the highest values of our culture, but also to elevate the culture itself. The audience in particular is pushed and challenged to imagine worlds beyond...
Charles Stephens: On problems and perspective
A few weeks back I was co-hosting a staged reading of the Tarell Alvin McCraney play, "Choir Boy," and I ended up in a really horrible mood. I forced a smile onto my face nonetheless and hoped for ...
Charles Stephens: Perfect black gay men; on being thrice as good
Atlanta is the city of perfect black gay men, or rather the illusion of perfection. Perfect bodies. Perfect jobs. Perfect homes. Perfect cars. Perfect clothes. Perfect credentials. Perfect boyfriends. And if...