I’ve known the insanely talented, John Epperson aka, Lypsinka for decades. On my way to the Club 57 show at MoMA this last Halloween, we emerged from the same subway train and talked like we just saw each other last Tuesday. (John’s idea for a downtown film retrospective at MoMA was the inception of the Club 57 show, btw. The double bill of Straight Jacket and Homicidal with Joan Crawford is playing tonight at 7PM!)

I never knew that John was filmed for a Halloween party scene for Jonathan Demme‘s groundbreaking, Oscar award-winning film, Philadelphia until he posted this the other day. A little personal backstory about Philadelphia…

My late friend, the spanish artist Juan Botas went to school with Demme’s wife, Joanne. When Juan was HIV positive and later contracted AIDS, his story became the inspiration for Philadelphia. His partner, Billy Cole‘s role got flipped and the main character Juan, became Tom Hanks and Billy became Antonia Bandaras. (Get it?)

This location for the song Lyppie does here, was also shot as the wake for Hank’s character and the last shot in the film is an altar with candles and Juan’s artwork.

Lyspsinka sets the scene…

“I filmed a musical number for the costume party scene in the Jonathan Demme/Tom Hanks movie Philadelphia. It got cut. Here’s the number. You’ll see Denzel Washington looking at me with some disgust, and I interact with Hanks and Antonio Banderas. You’ll also see Joe Dolce, David Drake, the late Georg Osterman… [and Quentin Crisp too.] I didn’t even know Denzel was in the room when this was filmed. Sorry I didn’t meet him.

Georg, who was cute as a button and talented and friendly, died 2 years later of AIDS in Bellevue Hospital. If he could have hung on a little longer maybe the drugs that came out in 1995 could have saved him.

(Have I ever mentioned my dislike of the Reagans?) As you’re looking at the screen, Georg is to the left of Tom in the white stylized crown.“

Watch.

Via YouTube

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquis of Dalí de Púbol (1904 – 1989) is one of the most celebrated artists in history. His fiercely technical, highly unusual paintings, sculptures, visionary films and life-size interactive art opened up a new generation to imaginative expression. From his personal life to his professional work, he always took great risks and proved how rich the world can be when you dare to embrace pure, boundless creativity.

Dalí was a skilled painter, famous for the striking and bizarre images in his Surrealist work. His painterly skills are attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work is The Persistence Of Memory (1931). Dalí’s expansive artistic repertoire included fashion, film, sculpture, set design, architecture, writing and photography. He collaborated with a range of artists in a variety of media.

The Persistence Of Memory (1931)

Dalí attributed his “love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes” to an Arab lineage, claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors.

In 1922, Dalí attended the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando where he met poet Federico García Lorca, an openly gay man. Dalí had an affair with Lorca and a lifelong love and obsession with him after Lorca was murdered in 1936. Although Dalí was married to Elena Ivanovna Diakonova (known simply as Gala) from 1932-1984, he admitted that he was drawn to men, as long as they were androgynous. The couple were known to throw large orgies at their mansion. Their open marriage gave Gala the opportunity to have many affairs.

Dalí was highly imaginative, and enjoyed indulging in unusual, grandiose behavior. His eccentric manner and attention-grabbing antics drew more attention than his art, to the dismay of those who held his work in high esteem, and to the irritation of his critics.

Dalí is a major inspiration for Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and most other modern Surrealists. Dalí’s nutty expressions and famous moustache have made him a Pop Culture Icon. He has been portrayed on film by Robert Pattinson in Little Ashes (2008), and by Adrien Brody in Midnight In Paris (2011).

Andy Warhol, at AREA, NYC, 1985, Photo, Roxanne Lowitt

Dianne Brill with Keith Haring in a Stefano jacket, as Rudolf looks on at MoMA’s reopening, May 1984, Polaroid, Trey Speegle

And so, she was photographed by everyone. Robert Mapplethorpe, Steven Klein, Mario Testino, Annie Leibovitz, Michel Comte, Bill King and ME.

We were not besties at the time, but we ran into each other two years ago at the other Queen of the Night, Susanne Bartsch‘s clothing retrospective at FIT and reconnected. We are Facebook pals and have hundreds of friends in common, which is no big surprise. She literally knows EVERYONE.

While she was organizing this exhibit, I told her I had a a fab pic I took of her and Keith Haring at the reopening of MoMA in 1984. It’s a pretty great shot, if I do say so myself. There’s another pic of Dianne & Keith watching my Polaroid image emerge but sadly, I couldn’t locate it in time for the exhibit. (It’ll turn up, Dianne, I promise!)

Her new exhibition, To the Future Through the Past, is now on view at PHOTO 18 in Zurich, through January 16, 2018 and features hundreds of images.

And La Brill shares her secrets here of how YOU can spin your social life into opportunities and more importantly, fun!

“I lived in Wisconsin, then Florida, and moved to London. I had some visa problems and wound up back in America. I was freaking out about what was going to happen and there I was in New York. The first six months were tough and then I started going out after that point. At that time, people were going out, smoking a cigarette, chilling out, posing against the wall and being unavailable. People were sick of that. Along came this girl (who was me) and I was thrilled about every person I met. If you have a natural curiosity about yourself and about others, that comes across.

I went into the club. I dressed up, I always made an effort to look a certain way, but my eyes were open wide because I was curious and excited about everyone I was meeting: artists, writers, musicians – all creative people. Some of them became famous. Some of them didn’t, but they were all fabulous. Our rents were $300 a month so we could do whatever we wanted. I had found my tribe.

Don’t get too drunk. I never got drunk or did drugs so I can remember everything (Laughs). I didn’t make too many mistakes because I wasn’t sloppy. You have to be able to handle yourself when you’re in a crowd. You have to be able to control yourself.

All those years with Andy and I never got him to sign anything. He would bring a pile of Interview magazines to the club, sign them, and give them out to everybody – then we would go on with our evening. I could have easily said, ‘Give me one,’ but something inside of me said ‘No.’ I didn’t want to take advantage of him. I never got one piece of anything and he would have done it for me but something said, ‘Don’t.’ I didn’t want to be one of those people.”

Knowing when to leave a party is very important. If you leave at the peak of the party, if you do this a lot, it starts to look like as soon as you leave, the party goes down and when you’re there, the party is up.”

Naomi Campbell, NYC, 1991, Personal photo, Dianne Brill

John Badum, Miami on NYE, 1992. Personal photo, Dianne Brill

Pony girl, The Roxy, NYC, 1988

Jerry Hall backstage at Mugler, Paris, 1995. Personal photo, Dianne Brill

MAOPR ad, 2002

Space Bride on The Mugler runway, 1990. Photo, Marc Baptiste

Jerry Hall & Marie Helvin in Bain Douche, Paris, 1995. Personal photo, Dianne Brill

John Waters, NYFW, 1993

Grace Jones, Paris, 1989. Personal photo, Dianne Brill

Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat at an Outlaw party in NYC 1986 in an abandoned subway station. “It was totally illegal and so fun. The party lasted 20 minutes before it was closed down.”

(via Dazed)

As we reported, Mark Wahlberg got $1.5 million for reshoots on Ridley Scott‘s All the Money in the World. After it was reported the actor has decided to donate the entire sum to Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund in costar Michelle Williams‘ name. Wahlberg said in a statement,

“Over the last few days my reshoot fee for ‘All the Money in the World’ has become an important topic of conversation. I 100% support the fight for fair pay and I’m donating the $1.5M to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams’ name.”

William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, the talent agency that represents both Wahlberg and Williams, also announced it would be making a $500,000 donation to the fund, again in Williams’ name. The organization had already donated $1 million to the fund earlier this month.

Actress Eva Longoria tweeted a thank you to the actor for supporting the movement.

The Time’s Up fund is a fund to provide subsidized legal support to people who have dealt with sexual harassment in the workplace. It is administered by the National Women’s Law Center.

The reshoots to the movie came after director Ridley Scott decided to replace Kevin Spacey following allegations of sexual misconduct by Spacey.

I hope this donation gets reported as widely as the pay disparity and Wahlberg is given proper credit.

(via CNN)

Angela Lindvall
Caleb Followill
Carl Weathers
Dave Grohl
Emily Watson
Faye Dunaway
Frankie Sandford
Grant Gustin
Holland Taylor
Jason Bateman
Karen Elson
LL Cool J
Mark Addy
Mikalah Gordon
Shepard Smith
Slick Rick
Steven Soderbergh
T-Bone Burnett
Trevor Nunn

Good Morning!!@MrMercedesTV
Tonight! 8:00pm.
Premiere @AudienceNetwork
Stream on @directvnow

Riveting pic.twitter.com/MCKidOhlnA

— Holland Taylor (@HollandTaylor) August 9, 2017

Rushcutters Bay Baths (1961)

”Smart people don’t look for meaning.”

Jeffrey Smart (1921-2013) was an expatriate Australian painter known for his precisionist depictions of urban landscapes that are full of private jokes and playful allusions.

He died in Arrezzo, Italy, at 91-years-old, with his partner of more than 30 years, Ermes De Zan, at his side.

Born in Adelaide, Smart was known for his post-industrial paintings of everyday life. He trained at the South Australian School of Art and bravely came out of the closet in the early 1940s. He traveled to Europe after WW II, where he studied in Paris. Smart returned to Australia in 1951 to work as an art critic for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, and as a television presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Company and teacher at the National Art School in Sydney.

As an openly gay man, Smart’s career prospects were problematic in the masculine world of expressionist Australian art in the early 1960s, and so in 1964, at 43-years-old, he left Australia permanently for Italy where he lived with his partner in Arezzo where he painted for the rest of his long life.

Alfred Hitchcock-like, Smart added himself to many of his works in offhand situations.

His works can be very sly. His painting titled The Conversation turns out to show not an informal soiree, but drivers standing chatting at a rest stop; and the painting is actually about the brilliant red gigantic truck behind them.

The Conversation (2008)

Smart was a prodigious, prolific artist with more than 50 solo shows in Australia beginning in 1957, and in group exhibitions in London at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1961 and at The Tate in 1963. His work can now be found at The Louvre, National Gallery of Victoria, MoMa, Metropolitan Museum of Art, TarraWarra Museum of Art, De Beers Collection of Contemporary Art in London, and many private collections.

Erica Green, director of the Samstag Museum of Art at the University of South Australia, where Smart trained between 1937-1941, writes:

“He has made a truly significant contribution to Australian art and to understanding how we view our urban landscape. That’s really Jeffrey’s legacy. He was a larger than life character, and he was loved by many people. He was an absolute gentleman, very gregarious, charming, a great host.”

Smart worked with oils, acrylic and watercolors, generally using primary colors of yellow, blue and red with dark greys for his skies. This created an unusual effect in his works, with fully-lit foregrounds despite dark skies. His paintings have a patina of realism but are imbued with melancholy.

Smart’s memoir, Not Quite Straight, was published in 1996.

Following his death in Tuscany, the University of South Australia named its newest building The Jeffrey Smart Building.

Self Portrait at Papini’s  (1985) (above) sold at world record price for a Smart: $1,260,000 at auction in 2014.

North Sydney (1979)

Ticket Boxes (1964)

Wrestling The Greek Gods (1988)

Portrait of David Malouf (1980)

San Cataldo (1983)

Hide And Seek (1967)

The Race Results (1999)

Foot Juggling (1980)

The Two-Up Game (Portrait of Ermes de Zan) (2006)

The Listeners (1965)

Motel Swimming Pool (1974)

Portrait Of Clive James (1991)

Self Portrait (1995)

Transgender former Army officer Chelsea Manning will run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland. Manning was convicted of leaking classified documents, filed her statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that Manning will challenge Democrat Ben Cardin who has served two terms and is a favorite to win.

The 30-year-old Manning listed a North Bethesda address in her FEC filing. She is running as a Democrat.

Known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest, she spent more than six years behind bars and came out as transgender after being sentenced.

President Barack Obama granted clemency to Manning before leaving office. She was interviewed by time magazine about running.

Watch.

(Photo, YouTube; via Time)

On SNL‘s cold open last night, Bill Murray and Fred Armisen play Steve Bannon & Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff on Morning Joe. Alex Moffat is the smarmy Joe Scarborough and Kate McKinnon barely gets a word in as Mika Brzezinski. Mikey Day is Willie Geist, grossed out by Joe and Mika’s gross sexy attempts…

“You going to feed me my meat?”

Then Armisen appears as the perfect Wolff spilling deets he left out of Fire and Fury, like the Oval Office baby races, with Trump betting a thousand bucks on the black one.

An amazed Mika asks,

“Is that real?”

Yeah, says a not-so-sure Wolff.

Asked about the inaccuracies, Armisen says,

“You read it, right? And you liked it? You had fun? So what’s the problem, you got the gist so shut up. You know, even the stuff that’s not true – it’s true.”

Then enters Bannon, at first in his usual garb as the Grim Reaper, then pulling back the hood to reveal Bill Murray!

I won’t give any more away, except, look out for Oprah!

Watch.

(via Deadline)

We love our Deven Green‘s audio dubbing of our reluctant FLOTUS here at WOW, and there is always room for more than one Melania Trump impression, it seems. Actress Laura Benanti killed it the other night in conversation with Stephen Colbert trying to debunk Michael Wolff‘s Fire and Fury.

The First Lady’s actual spokesperson said the book was

“clearly going to be sold in the bargain fiction section.“

And Melania says it’s all fake. So, she didn’t cry on Election Night? Melania tells Colbert,

“Oh, no, no. That is true. But they were tears of happiness, you know, like you do at your wedding – or every morning in the mirror.”

Colbert asks her if she cries tears of joy a lot now..?

“Not always. Sometimes, I have the the dead-eyed stare of contentment.”

Watch.

(Photo, YouTube; via Deadline)

Gay Harold as Brian Kinney, Showtime via YouTube

Queer As Folk is television series that ran from 2000 to 2005 on Showtime. Based on a British series of the same name created by Russell T. Davies, Queer As Folk was the first hour-long drama on American television to portray the lives of gay men and women.

The series follows the lives of five gay men living in Pittsburgh: Brian (Gale Harold), Justin (Randy Harrison), Michael (Hal Sparks), Emmett (Peter Paige), and Ted (Scott Lowell); a lesbian couple, Lindsay (Thea Gill) and Melanie (Michelle Clunie); and Michael’s mother Debbie (Sharon Gless) and his uncle Vic (Jack Wetherall). Another main gay character, Ben (Robert Gant), was added in the second season.

Brian Kinney is a veritable sex machine. At 29-years-old, he lives life for the now. He believes in having sex for the sheer joy of it. He and Justin have an on-and-off-again relationship, but Justin is the only one of his sexual conquests that Brian finds himself falling in love with and the only one he continues to have sex with after the first time.

He makes his living as an advertising executive. While he refuses to identify as part of the LGBTQ community, he does what he can to protect his fellow gay men or women.

Photograph by Mathieu Young, via YouTube

Brian Kinney’s motto:

“There are two kinds of straight people in the world, those that hate you to your face and those who hate you behind your back.”

Hot wax: DJT at Madame Tussaud’s. Photo, Pacific Coast News

You know Paul Rudnick from his work on movies like Addams Family Values, The First Wives Club, In & Out, and his latest play Big Night which deals with among other things, the aftermath of a tragedy similar to recent events in Las Vegas, Orlando, and Texas. I’ve been following his posts on Facebook and his astute observations have turned to politics and Trump’s toxic influence on America. Here’s his latest…

“One of the most pathetic attempts at defending Trump’s non-stop bigotry involves the ‘real person’ scam. After Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as shitholes, a Fox pundit insisted that Trump was just talking like

‘a real American – the way people talk in a bar in Wisconsin.’

Which is true, if the people at that bar are racists.

Katrina Pierson, a Trump campaign shill, told the New York Times,

‘He says things people say at their dinner table. He’s just very bold and very honest.’

Yes, he’s boldly and honestly racist.

Trump supporters love Trump because, as they endlessly claim, he’s not ‘politically correct.’ I’ve had conversations with Trumpites whose primary concern is that liberals make them feel uncomfortable about using various insulting slurs for minorities, women and LGBTQ people. These mostly white, straight men truly regard this as an outrage.

Trump’s recorded ‘grab ’em by the pussy’ remarks were spun as ‘locker room talk.’ Trump’s defenders never discuss the content of Trump’s blather, only the style, which they refer to as ‘refreshing.’ Which is like calling Hitler‘s anti-semitism,

‘just Adolf being Adolf. Ya gotta love him.’

Trump’s fans also never acknowledge that he’s not just a real person at the dinner table – he’s supposed to be representing an entire country. Trump lost the popular vote by three million, so a majority of Americans don’t find him refreshing or bold or any of the euphemisms for prejudice. In his real estate dealings Trump also has a history of denying apartments to African Americans.

Built into all this nonsense is the notion that President Obama or Hillary or anyone on the coasts can’t be authentic, because they’re articulate and don’t spout racist or sexist bilge. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has wholeheartedly supported Klan fans and sexual predators like Trump and Roy Moore – does that make her real, or the sneering spokesperson for hatred?

There’s a history of true American outspokenness, of people who often used very raw language to challenge the status quo. I’m talking about everyone from James Baldwin to Gloria Steinem to Larry Kramer. Their effrontery took courage; Trump has none. Yes, Trump talks like certain real Americans – the worst ones, the morons who fear and loathe any sort of difference or change. And they adore Trump because he’s as authentically hateful as they are.

After I posted this I wondered if it came off as prissy, and one of the comments made interesting points about the joys of trash talk. The commenter also mentioned that she’s from New Jersey – so am I.

I’d also defend the glories of saying the most outrageous and disgusting things, but here’s the difference: Trump made his remarks during a White House meeting, and he wasn’t having fun with friends. The best trash talk requires a sense of humor and Trump doesn’t have one. Trash talk insults everyone and is oddly rarely intended to inflict real damage – to genuinely make someone else feel belittled and terrible.

Trump’s insults are meant to prove his superiority and do damage.
–Paul Rudnick“

#WhatHeSaid

The time traveler is just above the lower right in this photograph via © Bralorne-Pioneer Museum

Does this 1941 photograph of the re-opening of the South Fork Bridge in Gold Bridge, British Columbia, show a time traveler? It had been claimed that his clothing and sunglasses are from the present day and not the styles worn in the 1940s.

The idea that the man in the photograph is a time traveler hinges on three items he is seen wearing or holding that appear to be of too modern for the 1940s: a logo tee-shirt, a small portable camera, and wrap-around sunglasses.

Further research suggests that the modern appearance of the man may not have been so new. The style of sunglasses first appeared in the 1920s. It seems that the man is wearing a printed tee-shirt, but it could to be a sweater with a sewn-on emblem, the kind of clothing often worn by sports teams of the period, similar to the one that was used by the Montreal Maroons, an ice hockey team from that era. The remainder of his clothing appears to have been available in the early 1940s, if far more casual than those worn by the other people in the photograph.

Debate on whether the image really shows a time traveler also considers of the picture has been computer manipulated, or is simply being mistaken as anachronistic. The “Time Traveler” received enough attention that a case study was presented at the Museums And The Web Conference in 2011.

The Queen says on camera that the crown is SO heavy that you can’t look down to read your speech notes or “it would break your neck and fall off”

Anthony Geffen, the film’s producer, said in an interview that Netflix‘s award winning series, The Crown was part of the case he brought to Buckingham Palace to get them to yield to this hard and fast rule of no interviews.

Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II trying on the Imperial State Crown in the Netflix series “The Crown”

“I watched the episode of ‘The Crown’ about the coronation and it struck me that this was bizarre: We have Peter Morgan, who is a wonderful writer, but had no access to the queen, writing his version, which people loved. Then there is a version from 1953, and the only person who could tell us the truth about this is the queen herself.”

Ancient rules surround every aspect of the ceremony. Geffen was surprised to discover that he was prohibited from filming the two crowns used in the ceremony from above, because that is the vantage point reserved for God.

“They didn’t want you to really stand above them at all. You’ve got to realize, the crowns are considered quite sacred, and even filming them is seen as if it could devalue them in some way.”

The Coronation marks the first time the crown jewels, a collection of regalia used in British coronations, have been filmed. The resolution is so high that you can see dust circulating in the light.

When they bring the crown out, the Queen inspects it and calls it “unwieldy”. Gotta love her.

(Photos, Wikimedia Commons, screen grab; via NY Times)

According to The New York Times, this Nissan sedan went airborne and crashed into a California dental office yesterday morning.

The police in Santa Ana, Calif., said the car clipped a median outside the building and flew 60 feet before slamming into the upper floor of the building. The crash happened at about 5:25 AM, woke guests in a motel next door. The Times said,

The L.A. County Fire Department used a specialized forklift and wrecker to remove the car, the police said. One of the two people inside the vehicle was able to exit on his own, but emergency workers had to remove the other person, a police spokesman said.

Firefighters used specialized equipment to remove the car from the building. The driver and a passenger sustained minor injuries.

The driver told officers he had used drugs before the crash and was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, the police said. The spokesman said that the authorities had filed a charge of driving under the influence but that the driver had not yet been arraigned because he was in the hospital.

The passenger also sustained minor injuries. A woman who works next door said it was good the motel was not involved.

“Inside, it’s a major loss. It’s a big hole.”

(Photos, Orange County Fire Authority; via NY Times)

So, Sohail‘s Mom gave her gay son a unicorn mirror (as Moms do) and when Mom wanted to make a replica of the mirror for his jealous sister, SoHail didn’t send her pics fast enough. Mom, who apparently is NOT a big fan of his social media presence, went to his Instagram anyway to find pics. Sohail wrote in a tweet,

“This is the result of me not getting back to her quick enough.”

Mom wrote,

“I was forced to use the only photos of the mirror I could find which were your gd smut photos because the carpenter needed references before he accepted our offer to recreate the mirror and guess what. HE ASKED IF PART OF HIS PAYMENT CAN BE THE MAN IN THE PHOTOS. THE GAYS ARE EVERYWHERE!!!”

To which Sohail replied,

“MAMA, OUR TALENTS DO NOT DISCRIMINATE PROFESSIONS! Tell the woodworker I said howdy.”

The woodworker accepted the job, but his mom appears to be staying in between the the two meeting. But Sohail told BuzzFeed News that his parents are very supportive.

“I’ve never taken their acceptance, warmth, love, and sass for granted, because I am well aware of many members of our greater queer community may struggle to navigate their personal expression of queerness on a platform their parents may have access to, let alone possibly not having direct access to those four things listed above.

Being a person of colour who was born into a set of ideologies that were in direct conflict with my personhood, it would be foolish to not allow my parents to ‘struggle’ with allowing their son to be who he is — because, they’re human, and allowing a human to process is part of the journey of meaning-making.

While it may have seemed counter at times, my parents have allowed me to process my queerness with me, and not at me. They’ve held my heart. They’ve made me contemplate representation.”

Yes, love is love. But, Mom, you’d better set those two up, this is fate!

Soooo my mom & dad are commissioning a recreation of the unicorn mirror they bought me from an estate sale because my sister is jealous she didn’t get one as well, & this is the result of me not getting back to her quick enough… pic.twitter.com/9AbFy8Sp8o

— Sohail (@sideofhail) January 10, 2018

kimono he better do

A post shared by Sohail Justin Akhavein (@sideofhail) on Jan 14, 2018 at 9:49am PST

happy friday the 13th

A post shared by Sohail Justin Akhavein (@sideofhail) on Oct 13, 2017 at 3:19pm PDT

(Photos, Twitter; via LGBTQ Nation)

Sam Rockwell hosted SNL this week and displayed his full range of talent, singing, dancing and even trying to beat box in the music video parody, Tucci Gang. And he seems to know his gay porn stars too.

In a sketch where the son brings home his boyfriend, to meet the parents, Tim fails to mention that his boyfriend Marcus is a porn star. Dad thinks he recognizes Marcus, but he can’t quite place him.

After carefully watching Marcus grunt opening a bottle of wine in his crotch Dad says,

“You’re a gay porn star!”

He’s upset, but not for the reasons you might think…

Watch.

Martin Luther King being arrested in 1958, photograph by Charles Moore via YouTube

In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a demonstration in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. Entire families attended. City police turned dogs and fire hoses on demonstrators. MLK was jailed along with large numbers of his supporters, but the event drew nationwide attention. However, King was personally criticized by black and white clergy alike for taking risks and endangering the children who attended the demonstration. From the jail in Birmingham, King eloquently spelled out his theory of non-violence:

“Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue.”

By the end of the Birmingham campaign, MLK and his supporters were making plans for a massive demonstration on the nation’s capital composed of multiple organizations, all asking for peaceful change. On August 28, 1963, the historic March On Washington drew more than 200,000 people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. It was here that King made his famous I Have A Dream speech

“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘s life had a seismic impact on the United States of America. Years after his death, he is the most widely known African-American leader. His life and work have been honored with today’s national holiday, streets, schools and public buildings named after him, and a memorial on Independence Mall in Washington, D.C. Yet, his life remains controversial as well. In the 1970s, FBI files, released under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that he was under government surveillance, and revealed his adultry. Over the years, extensive archival studies have led to a more balanced and comprehensive assessment of his life, portraying him as a complex figure: flawed, fallible and limited in his control over the mass movements with which he was associated, yet a visionary leader who was deeply committed to achieving social justice through nonviolent means.

“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

“When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,

‘Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’“

–Martin Luther King, ‘I Have a Dream Speech‘, March on Washington, August 28, 1963

Watch.

Drag artist Bambi Deerest is kicking off the new year with a short film about acceptance. The Pittsburgh-based queen (land of Alaska 5000 and Sharon Needles) has assembled an all queer cast to tell a cautionary tale about those we meet in queer spaces that may not have have good intentions. Watch the full film below! (screen grabs via the video)

We are counting down the days until the premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3 on Thursday, January 25th at 8 / 7 c on VH1!

Are you ready? Of course you are, now let’s Ru-meet your queens!

Up first is season 9’s Brooklyn queen, Aja. She delivered such iconic moments as that untucked moment with Valentina, her runway looks and so much more! We can’t wait to see what she brings to All Stars 3.

While we wait for the premiere, let’s get gagged on her iconic Instagram looks!

Pastel-Sub Photo by @dmvrtinez.photog

A post shared by AJA (@ajathekween) on Jun 26, 2017 at 8:33pm PDT

Are you KIDDING ME with this GORGEOUS lewk?!

Sharp bitch Hair by @thedragdandy From @ardawigs Photo by @adamouahmane

A post shared by AJA (@ajathekween) on May 27, 2017 at 7:18am PDT

Bow down to AJA THE QUEEN!!

Category is… High Fashion Rag Doll Photo by @adamouahmane Hair styled by @thedragdandy Costume by @chrishyndsdesign Gloves by @wingweftgloves

A post shared by AJA (@ajathekween) on May 13, 2017 at 1:28pm PDT

Week 6: after watching the show I should have went with my initial snatch game! I won’t spoil what it was. I doubted myself per usual and got in my head and changed it last minute. I didn’t think I did horrible but it wasn’t amazing. And now I’m going to have to deal with all the comparisons. I sure know how to make some weird choices sometimes haha but that’s life and we live and we learn! I’m so glad my ass was safe that week! I’m crazy haha anyways here is my take on that one photo of Madonna where it’s black and white and she was just giving vulnerability also shout out to my baby peppermint! Love her and she is so brave and a fucking icon photo by @ericrichardmagnussen

A post shared by AJA (@ajathekween) on Apr 28, 2017 at 8:49pm PDT

Nothing sweeter than this look right here, okur!

Let me be your creamy cone Look by @bcallabcalla Hair by @thedragdandy Eye makeup inspired by @kimchi_chic

A post shared by AJA (@ajathekween) on Dec 17, 2017 at 10:07pm PST

Are you ready, hunties? There’s more to come!

We are counting down the rest of the All Stars 3 cast leading up to the premiere.

Tune in to the premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3 on January 25 at 8/ 7 c on VH1.