10 Classic Black Books That Should Be Made Into Films

And This Too Shall Pass

by E. Lynn Harris

Okay this one is a bit complicated. As reported by Shadow & Act, Edmonds Entertainment, along with and Proteus E2 Productions, supposedly had “structured a multi-picture deal” to bring Harris’ films to the big screen. However Harris’ mother said, nuh-uh, y’all don’t have legal rights to my son’s books. And then she sued. Anyway, the project is caught up in a bunch of legal drama, that we can’t even blame Hollywood for.

Still, E. Lynn Harris is by far the most pioneering voice in Black GLBTQA literature, whose books found homes in lots of non-gay Black households. Hell, I knew some hardcore conservative Black Baptist Christians who were all fire and brimstone homophobic, yet enjoyed a Harris book or two. I don’t know what that means but it has to mean something.

A superstar quarterback facing charges of sexual assault questions his own feelings about his sexuality after becoming friendly with a gay sportswriter covering his case…it’s the kind story that episodes of Maury are made of. Or better yet The Best Man. Anyway, what made his stories so relatable are that they are well-written messes. And gay, straight, or unicorn, all of our lives are pretty messy.