ARTSPEAK RADIO- Where Were You?

Wednesday June 28, 2017

Host/producer of ARTSPEAK RADIO Maria Vasquez Boyd premiers, Where Were You? a special program that asks individual to contemplate and respond to a specific historical event through writing then share their stories on air. We begin with performer/entertainer/writer Jade Esteban Estrada, community activist/writer Miguel M. Morales, editor Elizabeth Andersen, and artist and cofounder of GLAM, Christopher Leitch who share their personal stories and perspective of the Stonewall Riots that took place June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn.

The Stonewall riots (also referred to as the Stonewall uprising or the Stonewall rebellion) were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay (LGBT) community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States.

Gay Americans in the 1950s and 1960s faced an anti-gay legal system. Early homophile groups in the U.S. sought to prove that gay people could be assimilated into society, and they favored non-confrontational education for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. The last years of the 1960s, however, were very contentious, as many social/political movements were active, including the Civil Rights Movement, the counterculture of the 1960s, and the anti-Vietnam War movement. These influences, along with the liberal environment of Greenwich Village, served as catalysts for the Stonewall riots.

Very few establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1950s and 1960s. Those that did were often bars, although bar owners and managers were rarely gay. At the time, the Stonewall Inn was owned by the Mafia. IIt catered to an assortment of patrons and was known to be popular among the poorest and most marginalized people in the gay community: drag queens, transgender people, effeminate young men, butch lesbians, male prostitutes, and homeless youth. Police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, but officers quickly lost control of the situation at the Stonewall Inn. They attracted a crowd that was incited to riot. Tensions between New York City police and gay residents of Greenwich Village erupted into more protests the next evening, and again several nights later. Within weeks, Village residents quickly organized into activist groups to concentrate efforts on establishing places for gays and lesbians to be open about their sexual orientation without fear of being arrested.

After the Stonewall riots, gays and lesbians in New York City faced gender, race, class, and generational obstacles to becoming a cohesive community. Within six months, two gay activist organizations were formed in New York, concentrating on confrontational tactics, and three newspapers were established to promote rights for gays and lesbians. Within a few years, gay rights organizations were founded across the U.S. and the world. On June 28, 1970, the first gay pride marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago commemorating the anniversary of the riots. Similar marches were organized in other cities. Today, Gay Pride events are held annually throughout the world toward the end of June to mark the Stonewall riots. The Stonewall National Monument was established at the site in 2016.
(Wikipedia)

Jade Esteban Estrada-NBC News calls Las Vegas headliner (Sapphire Las Vegas’ Sapphire Comedy Hour) Jade Esteban Estrada “America’s Prince of Pride.” Critics around the world have compared him to “a cross between Andy Warhol and Billy Graham.” Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine calls him “one of the finest solo theatre artists of the 21st century.” He’s been seen in feature films, on Comedy Central’s The Graham Norton Effect, In the Life on PBS, Friday Night Lights and 30 Rock on NBC and has headlined concerts, theatres and comedy clubs around the world.
Meet “master entertainer” Jade Esteban Estrada aka The Prada Enchilada. He has performed in seven languages and in 33 countries to date and his hypnotic music can be heard on the Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning police drama The Shield on FX. The Advocate calls him “exquisite.” Genre Magazine calls him “the most exciting Latin pop artist ever to emerge onto the music scene”.

The Estrella award-winning singer was born and raised in the Tejano music capital of the world, San Antonio, Texas. The son of a U.S. Army officer, Estrada won a scholarship to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York where he sharpened his knowledge of his chosen profession. He studied dance (alongside Jennifer Lopez) with Slam, the lead dancer from Madonna’s Blonde Ambition Tour among other notable teachers of the era.
While still at the conservatory, he briefly worked as an assistant to Tony award-winning actress Zoe Caldwell who once told him “in order to prepare for your career as an actor, you must do everything!” And that he did.

In 1994, he took home the prize for the Funniest Amateur Comic in New York at Stand-Up New York. He made his living as a choreographer by day – a skill that came very naturally to him – and performed as a singer, dancer, actor, writer and go-go boy by night.
He began his pop music career as a member of the three-member hip-hop group The Model Citizens (with Mario Vasquez of American Idol fame). The group enjoyed a notable success, however, after several heated debates over who the lead singer was, Estrada ceremoniously left the group for Europe to pursue a solo career.

While searching for his niche, Estrada once again supplemented his income by playing major roles in high profile shows abroad such as the German production of Starlight Express. He spent most of his time writing songs with JELS, a duo he formed with West End starlet Samantha Lavender. However, still desperately unfulfilled, he returned to America and to his theatrical roots debuting his one-man show It’s Too Late…It’s Already in Me at the 1997 Festival de Libre Enganche representing the United States to high acclaim.

During his stint as choreographer and lead dancer for Charo (yes, cuchi-cuchi Charo), he signed to Total Envision Records in 1998 releasing the hit single, Reggae Twist. He toured extensively performing with top names in the Latin Music world and became the first performer to open the Tejano Concert at Christiansen Stadium in Midland, Texas since Selena. He also gained an unusual popularity performing on the global beauty pageant circuit where he became known as the “Prince of Pageantry.” He was awarded several coveted awards from the Miss Universe Organization, the Miss America Scholarship Program, the Miss Black World Organization and Miss Latina USA.
Jade Esteban Estrada-In September 2000, he opened the doors to his own label and released his long-awaited debut album Angel(Vicarious) in February 2001 and for the next three years toured the globe extensively to impressive reviews including a headlining appearance at Europride in Vienna, Austria and several high-profile Latin music events. He has shared the stage with Madonna, Margaret Cho, RuPaul, Jody Watley, and Jimmy Somerville and countless other fabulous stars. In 2002, Estrada lent his golden voice to the Being Out Rocks (Centaur) compilation CD where he joined such artists as Cyndi Lauper, Sarah McLachlan and Taylor Dayne and was awarded the Premio Estrella at the 9th Annual Encuentro Awards in Miami for outstanding visibility and achievement in the entertainment industry. Out Magazine christened him “the first gay Latin star.”

Estrada turned his attention to the solo theatre format in 2002 with the debut of his wildly popular one-man show ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 1 which also toured extensively. His sequel ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 2 won the 2004 Audience Favorite Award in Solo Performance at the Columbus National Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival in September 2004. In 2006, he debuted ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 3 and took home awards for Best Solo Performance and Best Original Music. He is also the man behind the hit Latin show Tortilla Heaven written by his sister Celeste Angela Estrada and directed by his brother David Miguel Estrada (Saturday Night Live).
In 2007, the artist debuted three more shows Gay Christian, Gay Muslim, Gay Jew, Pico de Gallo and A Lullaby for Ryan: The History of HIV/AIDS in America and in 2008 he debuted Chek it, Baby: A Fabulous Explanation of Anton Chekhov’s Fiercest Plays at the 2008 Twin Cities Chekhov Festival. He’s appeared in various roles on television, film and commercials including a starring role in the short film Faithful Departed which screened at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and in 2013 starred in a commerical for Prudential Life Insurance.
Estrada has been an intergral part of the recent international burleque revival and has performed at the 1st Annual Polish Burlesque Festival in Warsaw, the 2014 Amsterdam Burlesque Award and the 2015 Munich Burlesque Festival.
In 2015, Estrada performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland (Funny for a Grrl, Smut Slam Cabaret, Laugh Train Home Showcase, Sex, Hugs and Gender Roles, Blues and Burlesque: What the Funk, Immigrant Diaries and The People’s TV Show).
Estrada is also a gifted palm reader and graphologist.Through his work in his artistic and political endeavors, Jade Esteban Estrada is fast becoming one of the world’s most ground-breaking personalities.
www.getjaded.com

Miguel M. Morales-Miguel M. Morales grew up in Texas working as a migrant and seasonal farmworker. Formerly of ACT-UP/KC, Miguel is a Lambda Literary Fellow and alum of VONA/Voices and the Macondo Writers Workshop. His work appears in If You Can Hear This: Poems in Protest of an American Inauguration, Imaniman: Anzaldua Poetic Anthology; Hibernation and Other Poems By Bear Bards, From Macho to Mariposa: New Gay Latino Fiction, Older Queer Voices: Stories of Survival, Raspa magazine, Duende Journal, Green Mountains Review, and Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review. Miguel is also co-editor of Pulse/Pulso anthology for Orlando and co-founder of the Fabulous Queer Writers Kansas City.
Follow Miguel on Twitter
Like Miguel’s Facebook page
Subscribe to Miguel’s YouTube channel
Visit Miguel’s hyperlocal blog TrustMiguel

Elizabeth Andersen-Elizabeth has been a host of The Tenth Voice on 90.1 KKFI Kansas City Community Radio for four years. The Tenth Voice is the Kansas City area’s only weekly broadcast created by and for LGBTQIA people throughout the metro region. Listeners can tune in each Saturday at 1:00 PM. Each week our team of hosts and producers present interviews, information, music, news and features especially important to Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, Transgender and Allied collective communities.
Andersen likes the team format with diverse guests and enjoys discussions on topics ranging from families and social issues to community events and musical artists. She is also involved with the Kansas City Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Willow Music Productions, the National Women’s Music Festival, and the LikeMe Lighthouse. An avid reader who has started at least four book clubs, she is a copy editor at a trade association and a member of the Kansas City Press Club board.
www.kkfi.org

Christopher Leitch-My writing, drawings and constructions are generated with random materials and indeterminate processes, and I never know what anything is going to look like. This uncertainty is liberating and invigorating. I am an artist and designer living and working in Kansas City, MO. My writings, drawings and design works have been broadly published and exhibited.

My work has been exhibited across the US including the Nerman Museum, University of Wyoming Museum of Art, the Museum without Walls / Kansas City Jewish Museum, Leedy-Voulkos Art Space, Sessions Gallery / Seattle, Boston Society of Arts and Crafts, among others. My works are in many private and public collections including the Sprint Corporation, Nerman Museum, Community Christian Church and the Art Institute of Chicago.

I have curated and organized many exhibitions and publications, including “desire” for the Lighton International Artists Exchange Program, “What We Did for Love: AIDS Walk T-Shirt Collection” and “Natural History on the Head” at Kansas City Museum and, with Dr. Sue Rowley, “Crossing Borders: History, Culture, and Identity in Contemporary Australian Textile Art” that toured the United States and Australia.

I have been published frequently, in Art in America, New Art Examiner, Ceramics: Art and Perception, ArtPapers Atlanta, American Craft and International Textile Design.

I am the former director of Kansas City Museum at Corinthian Hall, the city’s museum of history. My work there strove to make the venerable institution accessible to diverse contemporary audiences. Previously, I was Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at Kansas City Art Institute.

I am a frequent visiting speaker and faculty member, and served ten years as Visiting Examiner for the International Baccalaureate program and was a presenter for Arts Partners and Young Audiences. I have presented at the national conference of the American Association of Museums, the Association of Midwest Museums and the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color. In 2010 I was awarded a Diversity scholarship by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

I am a member of the Johnson County (KS) Public Art Commission. With Stuart Hinds and David Jackson, I am co-founder of the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America, or GLAMA. www.glama.us

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