Tag: storytelling

  • Untitled post 3739

    in the summer of 1988, i had a friend named jacqueline who lived next door from us. she was a bubbly preteen just as i was and loved music almost as much as me. what i what think connected us the most was that she too had a mother who…

  • Lady LaBelle | Philadelphia, PA

    Lady LaBelle | Philadelphia, PA

    my name is julio mangual aka lady labelle, my stage name. i was born in mayagüez, puerto rico. i’m one of the old girls that’s still alive from north philadelphia. because growing up in north philly, being a gay male, back then you couldn’t walk around being gay without getting…

  • Gran Varones’ Armonté Butler Featured On This Year’s Honor 41 List

    Gran Varones’ Armonté Butler Featured On This Year’s Honor 41 List

    BLACK QUEER HISTORY NOW! We cannot express how proud we are of our very own Armonté Butler. His work with young people living with HIV, youth organizers and other Black and Latinx storytellers continues to us leave in complete awe.  Armonté Butler is a writer and activist based in Washington,…

  • The Day I Was Santa

    The Day I Was Santa

    growing up i knew that i could and would be anything i wanted – as long as i could get access to resources and shit. i imagined that i would be a backup dancer for janet jackson or paula abdul. i daydreamed about being a famous pop artist. i even had…

  • What I Wish Someone Told Me When I Tested Positive

    What I Wish Someone Told Me When I Tested Positive

    as AIDS awareness week comes to a close, we continue to stand in our commitment to amplify the histories and stories of black and latinx lgbtqia folks living with HIV all year round. it is in this commitment that we continue to build community and serve as a reminder that…

  • my reflection

    my reflection

    we had a huge mirror downstairs. it was right above the living room couch. its position was hella convenient. as i came down the stairs to leave the house, i got a glimpse of what my outfit looked like—actually, you had no choice but to get a look at your…

  • Flashback Friday: Stephen Acosta

    Flashback Friday: Stephen Acosta

    I remember this picture because I took it during one of my last shifts working as a delivery driver for Amazon, right before I resigned. I place this selfie mid-February of 2021. Simply put, I was exhausted with that job, but in hindsight it was so much more than that. …

  • Julio | Los Angeles, CA

    Julio | Los Angeles, CA

    So, being in relationships is funny. Like, it is the reason why I love art, why I love making art. Because relationships and politics are things that you can’t control, sometimes. They’re out of your, you know, whether it’s emotionally, whether it is, you know, politicians just lying to you…

  • DONNA SUMMER

    DONNA SUMMER

    donna summer. the mere mention of her name evokes visions, feelings, and sounds of heaven on the dance floor. dubbed the queen of disco, along with sylvester, donna’s voice soundtracked the queer utopia that was the 1970s. from her 1975 seductive breakout hit “love to love you baby” to her…

  • GREAT NEWS ALERT!

    GREAT NEWS ALERT!

    i am so, so happy to announce that i have joined the @forcoloredboyzpodcast podcast at its third co-host! for colored boyz is a queer Black podcast featuring Antoine, louie, and Abdul-Aliy. We discuss local politics of Philly (cuz they are a gawd damn mess!), pop culture, and faggoty shit in general. you…

  • We’re All Libraries Burning: A Virtual Gallery for Visual AIDS

    We’re All Libraries Burning: A Virtual Gallery for Visual AIDS

    The first time I heard the quote “every time an old person dies, it is as if a library burned down,” I immediately thought of my mother and brother Nicholas. The two people in the universe that were the first half of my life, that many of my memories orbit…

  • My Ode to Ultra Naté’s “Situation: Critical”

    My Ode to Ultra Naté’s “Situation: Critical”

    Sometimes we are late to the BBQ right? Well in the case of Ultra Naté (pronounced Na-Tay), I didn’t arrive at the BBQ til 1998. I was 15 years old and my teenage icon Filipinx Freestyle/Dance Diva Jocelyn Enriquez was sprinkled with Disco fairy dust along with dance divas Amber…