We bring it to you every Ball!
Why y'all gagging?
Black History Month is upon us. February 1 - 28 (29 on leap years). It is time for us all to honor our Black heroes of the past, support our Black heroes of the present, and nurture our Black heroes of the future.
It is also time for our allies to support us (although, let's be honest, allies should always be supporting us, year round, forevermore).
It is also time for this black gay queer Gothic Steampunk Dandy to give you a bit of history, and, this time, we're going to talk about a major cornerstone in Black Queer History: The Balls.
Our balls are historically earmarked to have started in the 1920s and 1930s, when segregation and Jim Crow forced us black and brown folk to be barred from the ballrooms, so we formed our own. Ours were a bit more lively and creative (sorry, but being honest), but they were the way for
people of color to be able to express themselves and feel a sense of inclusion that the more dominant culture did not allow. In time the LGBTQ+ community become more of the dominant driving force of the balls with drag,
dance, and creative clothing expressions, and various "nicknames" were given to our balls that I probably won't be allowed to print here.
These balls brought about the infamous documentaries The Queen and
Paris is Burning which, while they have some flaws, do very much highlight and bring to the forefront Black Queer Culture that most mainstream people still
do not know about. A ball can be about a waltz, a polka, a dip, or a katta-kack-kack-kow.
I am a judge for #HouseOfSonique for their amazing balls, and I am so humbled and honored to be a part of this corner of Black and Black Queer History.
Some references:
-- A History of House Balls
-- Queens and queers: The rise of drag ball culture in the 1920s (Warning: strong language)
-- The Harlem Drag Ball Scene
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