Desde Buenaventura, Colombia

Amazing. 

Actor Jharrel Jerome made history last night with his Emmy win for playing Korey Wise in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix show “When They See Us.”

Jerome received the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his work playing one of the so-called Exonerated Five, a group of Black and Latino teenagers who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman jogging in New York City’s Central Park in 1989.

“It’s an honor, it’s a blessing, and I hope this is a step forward for Dominicans, for Latinos, for Afro-Latinos. It’s about time we are here,” Jerome said backstage later. Congrats, Jharrel!

“I’m your mother,” she said. It was a promise and defiant declaration to her kids that they would feel orphaned in a world where AIDS, violence, poverty, and homophobia would surely attempt to steal their magic. It was the early 1980’s, pre-gentrified New York, years before “transgender” and “gender non-conforming” were part of our everyday vocabulary. Back when the binary lied and told us that we were either gay or a drag queen. But Angie, was a goddess. She was a mother.

Raised in the Bronx, Angie Xtravaganza, at age 13, walked away from a violent home and directly into the vision of herself. Some say that we seek justice in the same places where it was carved out from us. This is how Angie lived her life - building an empire on top of ruins. 

Angie Xtravaganza, was a founding member of the Legendary House of Xtravaganza. Her fierce leadership is credited for the swift rise of Latinxs in the ballroom in the early 1980’s. The House garnered mainstream recognition when Angie was featured in the 1990 documentary film “Paris Is Burning.” 

As a young teen, I remember hearing other young Latino gay boys talk about the House of Xtravaganza. “Loca, if I was in that house, these faggots would not be able to take me.” Of course, there were also the ones who would outright say, “I was just voted into the House.” I knew that they were just speaking dreams but it was clear that the New York-based House had connected with the Latinx gay boys in North Philadelphia. Everyone wanted Angie to be their mother.

When founding Father Hector Xtravaganza died from complications of AIDS in 1985, it was Angie’s love and her “I’m your mother” approach to healing that kept the House of Xtravaganza on course to become legendary. When her daughter Venus Xtravaganza was found murdered in 1988 at the age of 23, it was Angie’s ruthless commitment to her vision of family that kept the House together in a world that would have taken pleasure in watching them fall apart. She was a fighter. She herself would say, “Don’t let the dress fool you!” She was a warrior mother who loved her kids through every battle.

In 1991, when Angie was diagnosed with HIV, over 100,000 Americans had already succumbed to the epidemic. Those who survived were often reminded of the odds against them. Mother Angie had lived a life of battling against every odd – HIV would be no exception. Her will to be a mother was just simply stronger.

Iconic Mother Angie Xtravaganza died on March 31,1993 at the tender age of 28. Her loss was felt throughout the ballroom community. Three weeks after her death, the New York Times printed a picture of Angie with the headline, “Paris has Burned” in the Style Section.

In the 1993 article “Slap of Love” penned by Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Cunningham, Frank Xtravaganza shared that Angie, weeks before her death, took him out to dance his heartbreak away at Sound Factory Bar. “A drag mother will not only buck you up when you’re feeling rejected. Unlike most other mothers, a drag mother will spray her wig and take you out herself.”

Twenty-five years after her death, Angie Xtravaganza’s indomitable spirit remains a fundamental part of the House of Xtravaganza and a vital part of our collective Latinx queer history. So for Womxn’s History Month, we celebrate the memory and movement of Miss Angie Xtravaganza. 

We echo the powerful words of Karl Xtravaganza, “In many ways, the continuing existence of the House of Xtravaganza twenty-two years after Angie’s passing is a living tribute to her vision and strength of character. She is the bravest woman I’ve ever known.”

special thanks for Karl Xtravaganza for his support during the writing of this piece. 

Please boost and support my friend Bianca Laureano aka latinegrasexuality and Jessica Marie Johnson. Some really good talks happening led by Black women, check em out!

yes hang w jessica and bianca in baltimore!

DEFEND PUERTO RICO! Survived Hurricane Katrina? What advice do you have for Puerto Ricans who have survived Hurricane Maria? Visit: PR2NOLA2PR.tumblr.com/add or email LatiNegraSexologist@gmail.com

Happy Birthday, Trayvon Martin. We still fight for you today. Rest in power, young king. 👑

Nightmare Magazine, October 2016 (POC Destroy Horror! special issue) (Volume 48) (2016)

“NIGHTMARE was founded on the core idea that all horror is real horror. The whole point of this magazine is that horror fiction is vast. It is inclusive. Horror is about all people and for all people. The People of Colo(u)r Destroy Horror! special issue exists to relieve a brokenness in the genre that’s been enabled time and time again by favoring certain voices and portrayals of particular characters. Here we bring together a team of POC writers and editors from around the globe to present horror that explores the nuances of culture, race, and history. 

This is horror for our present time, but also—most of all—for our future. People of Colo(u)r Destroy Horror! is 100% written and edited by people of color, and is lead by guest editor Silvia Moreno-Garcia, with editorial contributions from Tananarive Due, Maurice Broaddus, Arley Sorg, and others. It features four original, never-before-published short stories, from Valerie Valdes, Nadia Bulkin, Gabriela Santiago, and Russell Nichols. Plus, there’s four classic reprints by Nisi Shawl, Priya Sharma, Terence Taylor, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz. 

On top of all that, we also have an array of nonfiction articles and interviews, from Alyssa Wong, Chesya Burke, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, and Chinelo Onwualu, as well as original illustrations by Kimberly Wengerd, SainaSix, Maggie Chiang, and Reiko Murakami. Enjoy the destruction!”

edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Get it now here

[Follow SuperheroesInColor faceb / instag / twitter / tumblr / pinterest]

!!!!

Latin people love to forget they’re black…

whom the fuck is the guy and why is he so dumb lmao

“this whole african thing” knowing full well his Abuela more than likely prays to West African gods. 

he needs to be shot

this so called “producer” talking about afros aren’t elegant.

really?

excuse me but the last time I checked facial tattoos aren’t elegant either sooo…

nonblack latinos always be on that bullshit 

fuck off, chump 

Piece of shit..

It’s HERE!!!!! The inaugural Women of Color Sexual Health Network curriculum: Communications Mixtape: Speak On It Vol 1. featuring lesson plans by yours truly, Bianca, Lacette Cross, Ashleigh Shackelford, Elicia Gonzales, Mariotta Gary-Smith, and Abeni Jones (also designed curriculum). Purchase from one of the writers $50 for individuals and $125 for organizations as we keep all profits as writers!

Times like these we need to have a plan to cope, heal, observe, grieve, mourn, and be in community. I know this as someone who is actively in this space constantly for over a year. Sometimes folks think that curricula is only for classrooms. This is not true. There are several lesson plans in the curriculum about self care and community care. One thing about the curricula I write, it’s never single issue lessons because we are not single issue people. My editing and writing goes to support the entire person and that is what you will find in the Communications MixTape. It’s not only for classrooms, it’s for families, communities, organizations, its for all of us!

There’s so many uses for this curriculum. It’s for every single space that is focused on equity and justice. Organizations that need support on creating a plan to support the health and well-being of staff and clients; educational ways to support a variety of participants in understanding messages, communicating effectively, and ways to explore community care and support. View the introduction and receive a FREE lesson plan on my website where you may also purchase the curriculum. $50 individuals; $125 organizations. www.BiancaLaureano.com/curriculum

Please share this in spaces where I may not be yet that value and would be interested in receiving and supporting this work. Purchase directly from each author as we keep 100% of the sales.

An Afro Cuban girl poses for a picture during her Quinceañera overlooking the capital city of Havana

Danez Smith