18 Classics of LGBTQ Literature

Jam on the Vine cover (Image via Grove Press)

4. Jam on the Vine

Ivoe Williams is determined to make her way in life as a journalist. Considering she’s a black woman in the early 20th century and, moreover, that she’s working in the Jim Crow South, she’s got a lot to deal with. On top of that, Ivoe is also attracted to other women.

Author LaShonda Katrice Barnett specifically created Ivoe as a counterpoint to the ubiquitous roles offered to fictional black women – servants, cooks, cleaners, and so on. Instead, Barnett wanted to portray an educated, determined woman inspired by black female journalists Charlotta Bass and Ida B. Wells.

After receiving a scholarship to a college in Austin, Texas, Ivoe soon meets Ona Durden, a gifted teacher. The pair falls in love slowly, over the course of many years.

In one of their earliest meetings, Ona turns to Ivoe and directly asks her what she is doing to help other African-Americans. Eventually, Ivoe and Ona start their own printing press, producing materials that address the systemic racism that plagues the black community. Their newspaper is called Jam! On the Vine.

Barnett also explores Ivoe’s family, including the relationship between her mother, Lemon, and her father, Ennis. Said Barnett, “It was very important for me to write about a functional black family because in so many of the stories that we’ve encountered about Jim Crow, there’s such toil and drudgery.” Barnett skillfully uses both this relationship and others to explore issues of sexuality, race, and activism in a decidedly unfriendly environment.