Category: Giving Them Their Roses
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TINA TURNER
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i dreamed about my mother for the first time in a long time last night. waking from those all-too-real dreams used to leave me wallowing in the quicksand of regret over the loss of control over things we had no control of. but not this time. i spent the rest of…
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SALT-N-PEPA
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On November 28, 1993, The New York Times published journalist Jeffrey Schmalz’s last article, “Whatever Happened to AIDS?,” three weeks after his death due to AIDS complications. In the piece, Schmalz wrote, “…AIDS has become normalized, part of the landscape. It is at once everywhere and nowhere.” Although AIDS had…
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JACKIE SHANE
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the last time jackie shane graced a stage was in toronto, canada in december 1971. after decades of swirling rumors that she had been murdered, miss shane reemerge in late 2017 with her grammy nominated “any other way”, a comprehensive double album of her musical catalog. jackie shane’s story began on may 15, 1940 in nashville, tennessee.…
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GANGSTA BOO
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My mother was the first person to teach me about female rap. It was through album and radio plays, and constant repeats, of several women femcees that enchanted me. The first artist on the syllabus was Southern female rap innovator Gangsta Boo, also known as Lola Chantrelle Mitchell. Gangsta Boo,…
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We Speak Their Names
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may we all find the safety that we deserve. may we hold each other closer. and may we all continue to protect each other. we mourn and rage those lost, injured, and impacted by the attack at club q, the beloved lgbtq club in colorado springs. we speak the names…
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SAM HARRIS
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decades before american idol opened the floodgates for the talent show genre of reality tv, there was the ultimate variety 80s show “star search.” hosted by ed mcmahon, “star search” was a weekly hour-long syndicated show billed as “the world’s greatest competition” was an immediate ratings winner with over 25…
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UNCANNY ALLIANCE
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in the early 1990s, there was no shortage of dance groups from new york garnering national notoriety at both the club and radio level. but only a few were able to brilliantly fuse the complicated feelings of joy and isolation, self discovery, camp and humor into catchy pop hooks the…
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VICTORIA ARELLANO
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Today is National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD). It is a day to educate our communities about the impact of HIV and AIDS on young people. We are honoring Victoria Arellano, a Mexican trans woman living with AIDS, who died at the age of 23 years-old while in…
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Janet Jackson: A Deep Appreciation Of
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i met robert on the very first day of school in the seventh grade in september 1989. as soon as i walked into the classroom and witnessed him commanding space with his beautiful spirit, i knew the semester would be different. i would no longer be the “only one” in…
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CAUSHUN
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“Would there ever be a place for black gay/queer/SGL in hip hop?”, a question I asked myself in my youth. I didn’t identify with Eminem and most black rappers made it very clear that I wasn’t welcomed in hip hop. Little did I know, I would end up being the…
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OAKTOWN’S 357
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oaktown’s 357 were one of hip-hop’s most exciting groups of the early 1990s. heir combination of catchy rhymes, dope fashions, and stunning choreography not only separated them from other groups like salt ‘n pepa and jj fad, who were garnering attention from top 40 radio, but 357 captivated a generation…
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LIZ TORRES
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one of the first chicago house music singers to garner national notoriety in the mid-80s, especially in gay clubs, liz torres commanded the dance floor with her collaborations with fellow chicago-house pioneers jesse jones and master c&j. by 1990, liz reached her peak when she signed with major label jive…