E. Patrick Johnson
E. Patrick Johnson is one of the most significant influences in how I think about documentary over the course of this semester. His oral histories of black queer Southerners have been fundamental to developing a cultural narrative of LGBTQ identity in the South. I think of both Johnson's Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South and John Howard's Men Like That: A Southern Queer History as key texts in my independent study of queer Southern life.
Johnson's work is particularly compelling to me because of his community-based research technique. Though Johnson's interview process and subsequent publications are IRB-approved research through UNC Chapel Hill, much of Johnson's project design is guided by ideas and feedback from participants. His work feels collaborative, is culturally sensitive and thoughtful, and Johnson allows many of his interviewees' stories to stand alone. In comparison to someone like John Howard, whose book is written mostly in his own voice with short, edited pieces of interview text, Johnson's work stands out. Sweet Tea consists almost entirely of interview transcripts arranged in chapters by topic. Johnson gives limited context to each interview and clearly defines his project methodology at the beginning of the text. He notes when he has edited interview transcripts for clarity or included a pseudonym for his interviewees.
When I conduct oral history interviews, I hope to model my work after Johnson. I love his methodology and his clear respect for his interviewees. His research is obviously designed to lift the entire community up together, not just his own academic status. Johnson also does beautiful performances of some of his interviews, bringing life to the transcripts. I've included one of his full-length presentations below.