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During a Pod discussion today the history of the Hamilton Lodge Ball, a queer black run ball for dance and drag during the Harlem Renaissance (1920 -1930), we talked about the stress the scare tactic of swatting, backlash, and police presence causes.
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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thread 2/12
This was my first time hearing of the Ball. And funnily enough, I learned that there word "balls" could not be mentioned in Pod chat (was listed as inappropriate). But the balls we were talking about were where dancers, both in drag and out, could celebrate their queerness in safety and revelry.
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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This is also where William Dorsey Swann, comes in, as the first self-proclaimed Drag Queen. Dorsey hosted balls in private, and was an activist. Police raided these balls too.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-first-self-proclaimed-drag-queen-was-a-formerly-enslaved-...
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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Libraries were not welcoming of Black folks, free or not, so in an attempt to educate himself he stole a library book. The sentence was 6 months in jail. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/william-dorsey-swann-1858-1954/
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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It was also claimed that Dorsey ran a "disorderly House" a euphemism for a brothel, but this was actually about the balls themselves. https://rediscovering-black-history.blogs.archives.gov/2020/06/29/william-dorsey-swann-the-queen-of-...
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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Swann made queer history. A federal case, labelled P-532, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/165128484, the first instance where an “American [took] specific legal & political steps to defend the queer community’s right to gather w/o the threat of criminalization, suppression, or police violence.
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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After pleading not guilty, a speedy trial and conviction followed on January 3, 1896, and [Swann] was sentenced to 300 days in jail, to expire with good time in September 1896. President Grover Cleveland denied to issue a pardon on July 29, 1896 despite petitions from his queer and ally friends.
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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Now an award winning journalist, Channing Jerard Joseph, is publishing his historical research on Swann, his story, his activism the queer black community we often whitewash or decenter in conversations about our American history. https://www.whiting.org/content/channing-gerard-joseph#/
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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Police violence is still a major aspect of queer and black experiences. The institution of policing was not built to protect but to enforce. It does still today as Swatting. https://www.kalw.org/2024-02-02/growing-list-of-public-and-private-people-are-being-targeted-by-swat...
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024 (Edited)
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Those who do this are often young, dumb, and entitled enough to not live in fear. And they seek power by causing others to live in fear. We all know people like this. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/california-teen-allegedly-targeted-fbi-agents-wa...
05:29 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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And I want to thank Mc Crispy
@Topher_Ruggles for hosting this conversation about Swatting, the affect it has on the queer community, and especially on our queer youth experiencing homelessness. Resources for queer youth:
05:44 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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thread 12/12
Pods are an excellent way to start conversations, host friends on here, or find new ones. Thank you @cbouzy for this new feature!
05:46 PM - Feb 03, 2024
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