DOCSLIB.ORG

Surviving and Thriving Among LGBTQ African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Surviving and Thriving Among LGBTQ African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology Anthropology 2021 Reimagining Care: Surviving and Thriving Among LGBTQ African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama Stacie Lynn Hatfield University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3389-0578 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2021.307 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Hatfield, Stacie ynn,L "Reimagining Care: Surviving and Thriving Among LGBTQ African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama" (2021). Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology. 59. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_etds/59 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Stacie Lynn Hatfield, Student Dr. Kristin V. Monroe, Major Professor Dr. Kristin V. Monroe, Director of Graduate Studies TITLE PAGE REIMAGINING CARE: SURVIVING AND THRIVING AMONG LGBTQ AFRICAN AMERICANS IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA ______________________________________ DISSERTATION ______________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Stacie Hatfield Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Kristin Monroe, Professor of Anthropology Lexington, Kentucky 2021 Copyright © Stacie Hatfield 2021 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3389-0578 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION REIMAGINING CARE: SURVIVING AND THRIVING AMONG LGBTQ AFRICAN AMERICANS IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA This dissertation draws on fieldwork with Black LGBTQ identifying individuals and communities in Birmingham, Alabama conducted from 2015-2019 as part of a project that reimagines theories of care. Informed by scholars of Black and feminist studies, I conceive of forms of care as negotiations of survival and tactics of thriving that are worked out in everyday practices and discourses among LGBTQ African Americans. I show how histories of racial inequality and centuries of resistance, surviving, and thriving among communities of African descent intersect with LGBTQ politics, space, and identity to create strategies and places of individual and community care. My analysis examines positionalities and inequalities of power and is political in that it understands activism as a form of “caregiving,” and “caring with” as recognitions of social and structural inequities and works to remedy them. In these ways, this dissertation provides a moving image not only of state, biomedical, and social structures and discourses shaping the lives of LGBTQ African Americans but also of Black LGBTQ practices and understandings of self-determination, resistance, community, and thriving. Drawing from five aspects of care as theorized by educational philosopher Berenice Fisher and political scientist Joan Tronto, marginalizations and precarities of Black LGBTQ lives are 1) “cared about” in that an active awareness of concerns across multiple sites and identities is understood by Black LGBTQ individuals and communities in Birmingham to be part of Black LGBTQ identity. Through conferences, LGBTQ events, social and spiritual communities, kinship, and political organizing, Black LGBTQ issues in Birmingham are 2) “cared for” in that individuals and communities take on the responsibilities of seeing that needs are addressed. 3) “Caregiving” is engaged in across multiple and diverse sites such as HIV prevention, LGBTQ space, family, care for children, religious and spiritual care. 4) “Care receiving,” can be seen in mutual emotional, physical, and spiritual as well as in self-care engaged in by Black LGBTQ individuals and Black social and political activists in Birmingham. 5) “Caring with,” Fisher and Tronto’s additional aspect of care in which “a group of people (from a family to a state) can rely upon an ongoing cycle of care to continue to meet their caring needs,” reflects care visible in recently formed organizations like Bham Black Pride. While Black and Black LGBTQ communities have robust histories of self-determination and self- saving, committed practices of allyship, advocacy, and activism among non-Black people would help to provide dependable networks and structures of ongoing care proposed by Joan Tronto and Berenice Fisher. Imagined in these ways, care becomes an important framework for understanding intersections of Black LGBTQ surviving and thriving in Birmingham, Alabama. KEYWORDS: Care, Race, LGBTQ, North America, U.S. South Stacie Hatfield May 12, 2021 Date REIMAGINING CARE: SURVIVING AND THRIVING AMONG LGBTQ AFRICAN AMERICANS IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA By Stacie Hatfield Dr. Kristin Monroe Director of Dissertation Dr. Kristin Monroe Director of Graduate Studies May 12, 2021 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings I could not have anticipated the path that led me to anthropology, Dr. Kathy Fine- Dare, and Fort Lewis College in Durango Colorado before taking me to a PhD program at the University of Kentucky. I am grateful for every moment of divine grace, every inspired thought or aspiration, every gift of providence and guidance. It is not uncommon for athletes to say, “First, I thank God for making all this possible.” I know the truth of those words and am brought to my knees time and again, Sweet Amazing Grace. This dissertation marks the conclusion of a long period of academic work and professional development made possible by professors in the Departments of Anthropology and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Kentucky. I am grateful beyond words for my faculty advisor; Dr. Kristin Monroe whose academic generosity and clarity in the process are unrivaled. Many thanks as well to the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Mary Anglin, Dr. Ann Kingsolver, and Dr. Richard Schein, whose wisdom and vision for excellence kept me reaching always higher. Thanks also to Dr. Erin Koch, Dr. Deborah Crooks, and Dr. Chamara Kwakye who started me on my way, stepped in when needed, and lent insight at critical moments. Their academic brilliance and rigor are found throughout these pages. The errors and missteps are all mine. I am also grateful for the financial support provided by the Kentucky Opportunity Fund Fellowship for Graduate Studies and to the Anthropology Department Susan Abbott-Jamieson Pre-Dissertation Research Fund Award which funded my first year of coursework and preliminary research in Washington D.C, Tucson, Arizona and Birmingham, Alabama. This research would not have been possible without the beautiful people I interviewed, worked, exercised, celebrated, and worshipped with in Birmingham Alabama. I continue to be inspired by your lives, your work, and your passion for justice and equity not only for yourselves but for the people and communities around you. There are no words to adequately thank you for inviting me in, for bearing patiently with my questions and for sharing your lives and experiences. I am forever indebted. Many thanks to my friend and colleague Katie Founds whose off-hand recommendation during a coffee date changed the course of my graduate school experience. Thanks also to Ruth Dike and Anahid Matossian who wrote with me to the end. Covid-19 and the University of Kentucky Graduate School made the University of Kentucky 2020 Dissertation Writing Camp accessible by Zoom bringing me Chad Gilpin, and Cassandra Jane Werking. Your expertise, steadfastness, and enthusiasm not only got me up and writing by 7:30 every morning, but also taught me the joys of being a writer. I am grateful too for the professional team at the University of Kentucky Counseling Center who quite literally saved my life. My time in Lexington was made sweeter by Rahab’s Rope: Jana and Dan Gilham, Pat and Chuck Ham, Stephanie Reams, and Heather Toews. Your harmonies gave me hope and courage as well as much needed iii friendship. Thank you for every song and for your hearts and hospitality. Many thanks to Brenda Lindsay whose weekly phone calls cheered my days and kept me going. I could not have made it without you. A heart full of thanks to Grant Andrew and to Anna Rude whose faithfulness in friendship carried me more days than I can remember.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Case Study Exploring the Agency of Black Lgbtq+ Youth In
    A CASE STUDY EXPLORING THE AGENCY OF BLACK LGBTQ+ YOUTH IN NYC’S BALLROOM CULTURE By Shamari K. Reid Dissertation Committee: Professor Michelle Knight-Manuel, Sponsor Professor Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz Approved by the Committee on the Degree of Doctor of Education Date 19 May 2021 . Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Teachers College, Columbia University 2021 ABSTRACT A CASE STUDY EXPLORING BLACK LGBTQ+ YOUTH IN NYC’s BALLROOM CULTURE Shamari K. Reid Recognizing the importance of context with regard to youth agency, this study explores how 8 Black LGBTQ+ youth understand their practices of agency in ballroom culture, an underground Black LGBTQ+ culture. Ballroom was chosen as the backdrop for this scholarly endeavor because it allowed for the study of the phenomenon — Black LGBTQ+ youth agency — in a space where the youth might feel more able to be themselves, especially given that the 2019 Black LGBTQ+ youth report published by the Human Rights Campaign revealed that only 35% of Black LGBTQ+ youth reported being able to “be themselves at school” (Kahn et al., 2019). Thus, instead of asking what is wrong with schools, this study inverted the question to explore what is “right” about ballroom culture in which Black LGBTQ+ youth might practice different kinds of agency due to their intersectional racial and LGBTQ+ identities being recognized and celebrated. Framed by the youth’s understanding of their own agency across different contexts, my research illuminates the complex interrelationships between youth agency, social identity, and context. Extending the literature on youth agency and Black LGBTQ+ youth, the findings of this study suggest that in many ways these youth are always already practicing agency to work toward different ends, and that these different end goals are greatly mediated by the contexts in which they find themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • 2016 Program Book
    2016 INDUCTION CEREMONY Friends of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame Gary G. Chichester Mary F. Morten Co-Chairperson Co-Chairperson Israel Wright Executive Director In Partnership with the CITY OF CHICAGO • COMMISSION ON HUMAN RELATIONS Rahm Emanuel Mona Noriega Mayor Chairman and Commissioner COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST Published by Friends of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame 3712 North Broadway, #637 Chicago, Illinois 60613-4235 773-281-5095 [email protected] ©2016 Friends of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame In Memoriam The Reverend Gregory R. Dell Katherine “Kit” Duffy Adrienne J. Goodman Marie J. Kuda Mary D. Powers 2 3 4 CHICAGO LGBT HALL OF FAME The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is both a historic event and an exhibit. Through the Hall of Fame, residents of Chicago and the world are made aware of the contributions of Chicago’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities and the communities’ efforts to eradicate bias and discrimination. With the support of the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations, its Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues (later the Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues) established the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame (changed to the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 2015) in June 1991. The inaugural induction ceremony took place during Pride Week at City Hall, hosted by Mayor Richard M. Daley. This was the first event of its kind in the country. Today, after the advisory council’s abolition and in partnership with the City, the Hall of Fame is in the custody of Friends of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, an Illinois not- for-profit corporation with a recognized charitable tax-deductible status under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).
    [Show full text]
  • House, Techno & the Origins of Electronic Dance Music
    HOUSE, TECHNO & THE ORIGINS OF ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC 1 EARLY HOUSE AND TECHNO ARTISTS THE STUDIO AS AN INSTRUMENT TECHNOLOGY AND ‘MISTAKES’ OR ‘MISUSE’ 2 How did we get here? disco electro-pop soul / funk Garage - NYC House - Chicago Techno - Detroit Paradise Garage - NYC Larry Levan (and Frankie Knuckles) Chicago House Music House music borrowed disco’s percussion, with the bass drum on every beat, with hi-hat 8th note offbeats on every bar and a snare marking beats 2 and 4. House musicians added synthesizer bass lines, electronic drums, electronic effects, samples from funk and pop, and vocals using reverb and delay. They balanced live instruments and singing with electronics. Like Disco, House music was “inclusive” (both socially and musically), infuenced by synthpop, rock, reggae, new wave, punk and industrial. Music made for dancing. It was not initially aimed at commercial success. The Warehouse Discotheque that opened in 1977 The Warehouse was the place to be in Chicago’s late-’70s nightlife scene. An old three-story warehouse in Chicago’s west-loop industrial area meant for only 500 patrons, the Warehouse often had over 2000 people crammed into its dark dance foor trying to hear DJ Frankie Knuckles’ magic. In 1982, management at the Warehouse doubled the admission, driving away the original crowd, as well as Knuckles. Frankie Knuckles and The Warehouse "The Godfather of House Music" Grew up in the South Bronx and worked together with his friend Larry Levan in NYC before moving to Chicago. Main DJ at “The Warehouse” until 1982 In the early 80’s, as disco was fading, he started mixing disco records with a drum machines and spacey, drawn out lines.
    [Show full text]
  • EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE Odeon
    EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE Odeon STUDY GUIDE ©Matthew Murphy ©Matthew Murphy ©Matthew Murphy Wednesday, March 31, 2021, 10 AM EDT PROGRAM Odeon Choreographer: Ephrat Asherie, in collaboration with Ephrat Asherie Dance Music: Ernesto Nazareth Musical Direction: Ehud Asherie Lighting Design: Kathy Kaufmann Costume Design: Mark Eric We gratefully acknowledge and thank the Joyce Theater’s School & Family Programs for generously allowing the Moss Arts Center’s use and adaptation of its Ephrat Asherie Dance Odeon Resource and Reference Guide. Heather McCartney, director | Rachel Thorne Germond, associate EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE “Ms. Asherie’s movement phrases—compact bursts of choreography with rapid-fire changes in rhythm and gestural articulation—bubble up and dissipate, quickly paving the way for something new.” –The New York Times THE COMPANY Ephrat Asherie Dance (EAD) is a dance company rooted in Black and Latinx vernacular dance. Dedicated to exploring the inherent complexities of various street and club dances, including breaking, hip-hop, house, and vogue, EAD investigates the expansive narrative qualities of these forms as a means to tell stories, develop innovative imagery, and find new modes of expression. EAD’s first evening-length work,A Single Ride, earned two Bessie nominations in 2013 for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer and Outstanding Sound Design by Marty Beller. The company has presented work at Apollo Theater, Columbia College, Dixon Place, FiraTarrega, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the Joyce Theater, La MaMa, River to River Festival, New York Live Arts, Summerstage, and The Yard, among others. ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie is a New York City-based b-girl, performer, choreographer, and director and a 2016 Bessie Award Winner for Innovative Achievement in Dance.
    [Show full text]
  • Disco's Revenge
    DISCO’S REVENGE GOTCHA!: House Music Not sur Has you still your r e know eaderswhat dancing to House that beat! is? ReadMusic And what is House? House Music is this! the raw, stripped-down sound of dance music that developed in the underground clubs (where DJs didn't play what was on Top 40 radio) in mid-to-late 80's Chicago. Now- famous jocks like Frankie Knuckles took the most rhythmic elements of their favorite disco records (the great drum breaks in the middle) and looped them in the studio into full- length songs that were skeletal, yet intense dance tracks. Frankie's club was called the Warehouse, and soon clubbers began referring to the music they heard there as "House Music" (and the style of dancing as "jack- ing"). Vocals on these tracks were at a min- imum at first, but as the sound devel- oped, a handful of great House anthems rose from the scene to become massive pop hits in the UK and Europe. Songs like "Love Can't Turn Around" by Farley "Jackmaster Funk" presents Darryl Pandy, "You Used to Hold Me" by Ralphi Rosario featuring Xaviera Gold and "Move Your Body" by Marshall Jefferson had a huge impact on the European pop music scene and culture. Overseas producers whole-heartedly embraced the sound and then sold it back to Americans in polished commercial late-80s/early 90s hits by Black Box ("Everybody Everybody"), Sam- antha Fox ("I Wanna Have Some Fun"), the Pet Shop Boys ("Always On My Mind"), Stevie V ("Dirty Cash") Lisa Stansfield ("People Hold On").
    [Show full text]
  • Underground Club Spaces and Interactive Performance
    Underground Club Spaces and Interactive Performance: How might underground club spaces be read and developed as new environments for democratic/participatory/interactive performance and how are these performative spaces of play created, navigated and utilised by those who inhabit them? Kathleen Alice O‟Grady Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Performance and Cultural Industries December 2009 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Acknowledgements This thesis is dedicated to my parents who have always believed in me and to my daughter, Maisie, who is my source of inspiration and joy. Gratitude goes to my PhD supervisors Professor Mick Wallis and Dr Martin Crick, both of whom have given me continued support and guidance throughout this research. Thanks also to my colleagues and my students at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries who have encouraged me and kept me going with their sense of humour, wise words and loyalty. Thank you to all the club and festival organizers that have allowed me access to their events, particularly those involved with Planet Angel, Synergy, Duckie, Riff Raff, Planet Zogg, Speedqueen, Manumission, Shamania, Beatherder, Nozstock and Solfest. Special gratitude to Fatmoon Psychedelic Playgrounds for allowing me the room to move creatively and to develop this practice in a supportive environment.
    [Show full text]
  • From Disco to Electronic Music: Following the Evolution of Dance Culture Through Music Genres, Venues, Laws, and Drugs
    Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2010 From Disco to Electronic Music: Following the Evolution of Dance Culture Through Music Genres, Venues, Laws, and Drugs. Ambrose Colombo Claremont McKenna College Recommended Citation Colombo, Ambrose, "From Disco to Electronic Music: Following the Evolution of Dance Culture Through Music Genres, Venues, Laws, and Drugs." (2010). CMC Senior Theses. Paper 83. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/83 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Table of Contents I. Introduction 1 II. Disco: New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit in the 1970s 3 III. Sound and Technology 13 IV. Chicago House 17 V. Drugs and the UK Acid House Scene 24 VI. Acid house parties: the precursor to raves 32 VII. New genres and exportation to the US 44 VIII. Middle America and Large Festivals 52 IX. Conclusion 57 I. Introduction There are many beginnings to the history of Electronic Dance Music (EDM). It would be a mistake to exclude the impact that disco had upon house, techno, acid house, and dance music in general. While disco evolved mostly in the dance capital of America (New York), it proposed the idea that danceable songs could be mixed smoothly together, allowing for long term dancing to previously recorded music. Prior to the disco era, nightlife dancing was restricted to bands or jukeboxes, which limited variety and options of songs and genres. The selections of the DJs mattered more than their technical excellence at mixing.
    [Show full text]
  • North Avenue Is a Long Thoroughfare Connecting East and West Baltimore
    Material on this site may be quoted or reproduced for personal and educational purposes without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given. Any commercial use of this material is prohibited without prior permission from The Special Collections Department - Langsdale Library, University of Baltimore. Commercial requests for use of the transcript or related documentation must be submitted in writing to: Langsdale Library – Special Collections Department, 1420 Maryland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21201. When crediting the use of portions from this site or materials within that are copyrighted by us please use: Used with permission of Special Collections, Langsdale Library, University of Baltimore. If you have any questions regarding the use of the transcript or supporting documents, please email us at [email protected]. 1 I wish I could Go North Avenue is a long thoroughfare connecting east and west Baltimore. Numerous businesses, houses and institutions make up this famous yet dilapidated block. When I cruise down North Avenue I see strips of abandoned buildings, trash, and individuals struggling with the by-products of poverty and neglect. I also see historic architecture, murals of Chick Webb and Billie Holiday, and the Great Blacks and Wax Museum; observations I would not have so clearly made as a child growing up in Baltimore. During the eighties when I was a teenager, North Avenue brought to mind two places: 1515 and Odell’s. 1515 was, and still is a local health clinic located at 1515 West North Avenue. It was the place to go if you were from West B-more and contracted a venereal disease.
    [Show full text]
  • House Music: How the Pop Industry Excused Itself from One of the Most Important Musical Movements of the 20Th Century
    House Music: How the Pop Industry Excused Itself From One Of The Most Important Musical Movements of The 20th Century By Brian Lindgren MUSC 7662X - The History of Popular Music and Technology Spring 2020 18 May 2020 © Copyright 2020 Brian Lindgren Abstract In the words of house music legend Frankie Knuckles, house music was disco's revenge. What did he mean by that? In many important ways, house music continued where it left off when it was dramatically cast from American society in the now infamous Disco Demolition Night of July 1979. Riding on the wave of many important social upheavals of the 1960s, disco laid a few important foundations for dance music as we know it today. It also challenged the pop industry power-structure by creating new avenues for music to top the Billboard charts. However, in the final analysis the popularity of disco became its undoing. House music continued to ride on a few of the important waves of disco. The longstanding success of house, however, was in a new development: the independent artist/producer. Young people who began to experiment with early consumer electronic instruments were responsible for creating this new genre of music. This new and exciting sound took hold in Chicago, Detroit and the UK before spreading around the world as the sound we know today as house music. 1 Thirty eight years after the term "House Music" was coined in 1982, the genre has incontestably become a global musical and cultural phenomenon. Few genres in music history can claim this kind of influence.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Drag Balls, Houses and the Culture of Voguing
    ‘Listen, and you will hear all the houses that walked there before’ : A history of drag balls, houses and the culture of voguing by Tim Lawrence Bursting into public consciousness between 1989 and 1991, the culture of With the balls gaining popularity, the New York state legislature had drag balls and voguing can be traced back to the second half of the 19th criminalised ‘homosexual solicitation’ in 1923 as part of a wider backlash century. Harlem’s Hamilton Lodge staged its first queer masquerade ball in around male-male sexual relations. But drag ball organisers found they could 1869, and some 20 years later a medical student stumbled into another ball continue to stage events if a neighbourhood organisation applied for official that was taking place in Walhalla Hall on the Lower East Side. He witnessed police sponsorship on their behalf. The hiatus lasted until the autumn of 500 same-sex male and female couples ‘waltzing sedately to the music of a 1931, when officers, reacting to the cultural experimentation of the good band’. 1 A rickety old building situated at 119 East 11th Street, Webster Prohibition years and the onset of the Depression, began to clamp down on Hall played host to further events during the 1920s, and by the end of the the city’s queer community and targeted the balls. decade, masquerade parties were being staged in conspicuous venues such as Madison Square Garden and the Astor Hotel, where they attracted crowds ‘If the cops have their way,’ reported Variety, ‘the effeminate clan will of up to 6,000.
    [Show full text]
  • Mixed Messages: Resistance and Reappropriation in Rave Culture
    Western Journal of Communication, 67(3) (Summer 2003), 249-270 Mixed Messages: Resistance and Reappropriation in Rave Culture Brian L. Ott Department of Speech Communication, 204 Eddy Building, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1783. Office: (970) 491-7164. Email: Brian.Ott®Colostate.edu Bill D. Hennan Department of Speech Communication, 232 Eddy Building, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1783. Office: (970) 491-3852. Email: [email protected] This cssay concerns the dynamic tcnsion betwecn resistance and rcappropriation in the youth subcultural practice of raving. We argue that the transgressive potcntial of underground rave culture lies primarily in its privileging of communion, which is facilitated along the intersecting axes of social space, authorship, the body, and the drug Ecstasy. The commodification of rave culture is demonstrated to be linked to a shifting consciousness reflected in changing attitudes toward Ecstasy, the relocation of dance culture into clubs, and the redefinition of the DJ as artist and superstar. A concluding section considers the implications of resistance and reappropriation in rave culture for social change and the exercisc of power. Back in the days before America was online, computer gceks who liked techno music began hosting secret rave parties in San Francisco. Revelers followed treasure hunts, whispering passwords to strangcrs on strect corners until a rave emerged in somebody else's warehouse or field. The drug ecstasy was passcd around like Tic Tacs, and the music played until the cops showed up. Now, a gcneration later, underground raves have gone pop. Last weekend at 3Com Park, nearly 29,000 peaceful ravers queued up in broad daylight, $40 tickets in hand, for the largest, cleanest rave San Francisco has ever seen.
    [Show full text]
  • Memorable Music Venues in Chicago
    Take Note Memorable Music Venues in Chicago Keith Helt, Crown Family Philanthropies Hey music lovers. If you visit Chicago for ARCHIVES 360⁰, August 22–27, 2011, you will find a thriving music scene. But first read about some former venues that got the party started. Over the course of the 20th century, music fans elevated a few select music venues in the United States to a position of reverence based on their reputation and their histories. The world of jazz has the Five Spot, Slug’s Saloon, the Village Vanguard, Birdland, and Village Gate all in New York. In the world of rock there’s the Fillmore and 924 Gilman Street in the Bay Area, the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles, Emo’s in Austin, CBGB’s and the Mudd Club in New York. While the majority of the most legendary musical spaces are found on the coasts, Chicago has its share of legendary venues that grew out of its various, vibrant music scenes. In honor of SAA’s 75th anniversary, we’ll look at some of Chicago’s most important clubs, ballrooms, and hole in the walls from the past 75 years. All of which are no longer with us. The middle of the 20th century was a time of massive musical revolution, jazz was constantly evolving, experimenting and re-inventing itself. When swing slowly transformed into be-bop, Chicago was at the forefront and the Southside was the place to be. Forty-seventh and Sixty-third streets in the neighborhoods of Bronzeville and Woodlawn respectively were meccas for music fans who wanted to check out the new sounds.
    [Show full text]