Clay Cane is quick to admit what he learned from 1980s and 1990s Philadelphia.
“It taught me about poverty,” the 40-year-old said. “It taught me about survival. It taught me about homophobia, racism, love [and] fighting for the right to exist. It taught me that you have to always fight to be seen and to be heard.
“If it wasn’t for my days in Philly, I don’t think I’d be where I am today,” Cane added. “It’s one of those weird things where it was rough going through it — what I experienced being a young, black, gay kid — but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
This is why Cane says it “feels great” to launch a book tour for his memoir, “Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God and Race,” in his native city.
The journalist, who received a 2016 GLAAD Media Award for his documentary “Holler If You Hear Me: Black and Gay in the Church,” will hold a launch party for his book June 14 at the Philadelphia Ethical Society. Political strategist Malcolm Kenyatta will host the event, which will include an interview, audience Q&A and a book signing.
For the memoir, Cane separated 27 essays into five topics — “Sexuality,” “Love,” “Race,” “God” and “Intersections.” Throughout, he interweaved life lessons from people he has encountered.
In one chapter, he noted how a sex worker, Adina, on 13th Street taught him how to read people. The skills he learned from Adina showed him how to “[figure] someone out in seconds.”
“That story with Adina — she was no joke,” Cane said. “She was ferocious. That stayed with me forever. I’ve been in strange circumstances trying to figure somebody out [and] I would think of her and the girls around her.”
While Cane said that his voice does not speak for everyone’s experiences, he wanted to use his memoir to shine a light on people who are “voiceless,” like Adina.
“In many ways, the stories that I’m telling are untold stories in mainstream media — people who aren’t often heard, people who are considered to not have a voice, people who aren’t seen,” Cane said. “It isn’t all about me. It’s about highlighting other people’s stories.”
Cane also incorporates references to pop culture in his book and noted that “pretty much every essay you read, there is some kind of set-up for a song or a movie.”
“If you listen to a song that you haven’t heard in five or so years, you’re going to remember what that song made you feel,” he said.
“It made sense to have those pop-culture references,” Cane added. “That’s who I am. I love pop culture. I think it’s really crucial to American culture and also, right now, pop culture is king. Pop culture rules the world, which I think is part of the reason why we have this reality-show president.”
In regard to the current president, to whom he refuses refer to by name, Cane said he has heard from readers about the book’s current relevance. He refers to the book as an “act of resistance” on behalf of the marginalized communities he depicts in the memoir.
Cane said there is “fire” in him now stemming from the political climate.
“People are being pushed deeper into a structure of exploitation and one of the ways we can change that is through art, music, literature [and] comedy,” Cane said. “Those are ways to change it.”
Overall, Cane says he wants his memoir to “encourage people to see beyond their lens.”
“I want people to be able to identify and sympathize with somebody that they may not think they know,” he said.
“We have this narrative for [LGBT] people to come out, be proud, be who you are,” Cane added. “But there’s so much more work than that and that’s part of the reason why I called the book ‘Live Through This.’ The journey is long and you have to prepare yourself for these constant battlefields. On an individual basis, I want people to be inspired to live through their circumstances. I want people to be motivated no matter who they are.”
Cane will launch his book 6:30-8:30 p.m. June 14 in the auditorium of the Philadelphia Ethical Society, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square. “Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God, and Race” can be ordered here: http://amzn.to/2qTwEWv.