I’ve remained convinced that no one group of people hates America and the ideals it’s supposed to represent more than the Republican party. Tonight, they seem dead set on proving me right.
It’s not every day that one does something that both labels them a hero and gets them free breakfast. That’s exactly what happened with a North Carolina A&T graduate student.
William Dorsey Swann was a former slave who fought for queer freedom decades before the Stonewall riots of 1969. In an article published in The Nation Friday, writer and historian Channing Gerard Joseph tells the little-known story of Swann, a cross-dressing black man born into slavery who was affectionately known as “the Queen.”
“Born in Maryland around 1858, Swann endured slavery, the Civil War, racism, police surveillance, torture behind bars, and many other injustices,” writes Joseph, who is publishing a book on Swann. “Beginning in the 1880s, he not only became the first American activist to lead a queer resistance group; he also became, in the same decade, the first known person to dub himself a ‘queen of drag’—or, more familiarly, a drag queen.”
In addition to making history as the first drag queen noted in history, Swann organized underground drag balls in Washington, DC, in the 1880s. He also asked President Grover Cleveland for a pardon after he was convicted and sentenced to 10 months for running a brothel in 1896. “This, too, was a historic act,” states Joseph. “It made Swann the earliest recorded American to take specific legal and political steps to defend the queer community’s right to gather without the threat of criminalization, suppression, or police violence.”
Joseph says he discovered Swann’s story 15 years ago at Columbia University when he stumbled upon an article published in The Washington Post on April 13, 1888, titled “Negro Dive Raided. Thirteen Black Men Dressed as Women Surprised at Supper and Arrested.” The story details an incident where Swann was arrested during a brawl with police. “The fight was also one of the first known instances of violent resistance in the name of LGBTQ rights,” says Joseph.
Despite run-ins with police and being ostracized in society, Swann continued to resist and held multiple drag balls in Washington, DC, in the 1880s.
Read the full article here.
William Dorsey Swann was a former slave who fought for queer freedom decades before the Stonewall riots of 1969. In an article published in The Nation Friday, writer and historian Channing Gerard Joseph tells the little-known story of Swann, a cross-dressing black man born into slavery who was affectionately known as “the Queen.”
“Born in Maryland around 1858, Swann endured slavery, the Civil War, racism, police surveillance, torture behind bars, and many other injustices,” writes Joseph, who is publishing a book on Swann. “Beginning in the 1880s, he not only became the first American activist to lead a queer resistance group; he also became, in the same decade, the first known person to dub himself a ‘queen of drag’—or, more familiarly, a drag queen.”
In addition to making history as the first drag queen noted in history, Swann organized underground drag balls in Washington, DC, in the 1880s. He also asked President Grover Cleveland for a pardon after he was convicted and sentenced to 10 months for running a brothel in 1896. “This, too, was a historic act,” states Joseph. “It made Swann the earliest recorded American to take specific legal and political steps to defend the queer community’s right to gather without the threat of criminalization, suppression, or police violence.”
Joseph says he discovered Swann’s story 15 years ago at Columbia University when he stumbled upon an article published in The Washington Post on April 13, 1888, titled “Negro Dive Raided. Thirteen Black Men Dressed as Women Surprised at Supper and Arrested.” The story details an incident where Swann was arrested during a brawl with police. “The fight was also one of the first known instances of violent resistance in the name of LGBTQ rights,” says Joseph.
Despite run-ins with police and being ostracized in society, Swann continued to resist and held multiple drag balls in Washington, DC, in the 1880s.
Read the full article here.
A Pennsylvania dad’s Christmas gift to his 10-year-old daughter went viral for helping her develop an entrepreneurial mindset and setting her up for financial success.
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Instead of the typical toys, electronics and clothes, Reco Oxendine, 28, bought his daughter her very own vending machine and now she’s learning the fundamentals of wealth building, reported Atlanta Black Star. Oxendine announced the unique gift on Facebook and the post has since been shared more than 18,000 times with roughly 2,000 comments from people who were eager to learn how they too could start their own vending business.
“I want her to be a boss,” Oxendine told Atlanta Black Star. “I want her to understand (the) value of being a business owner at a young age. So, when it comes to her growing up … and she has to make decisions about how she can earn money, she knows that a job isn’t the only way.”
Oxendine said he started his daughter down this path in 2016 when they began selling candy in their local community. Their business, “Candy Lovers,” would drop by barbershops, salons and community sporting events, where they would sell their concessions.
“I grabbed a cart from Walmart and some candy, and we just started selling (candy),” Oxendine told Atlanta Black Star. “The community fully embraced it, like they loved what we were doing.”
From there, Oxendine used the profits to start buying vending machines. He currently owns a dozen vending machines.
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According to DiscountVending.com, the cost of vending machines range from $1,500 to $3,000, depending on how many features it has and whether it also sells refrigerated treats.
Oxendine is using this moment to not only pass on his knowledge, lessons learned and entrepreneurial mindset to his daughter, but he is also now educating other children on the importance of building generational wealth through a new video series called Next Uplifted.
That’s what’s up.
The post Pennsylvania dad goes viral for buying his daughter a vending machine appeared first on TheGrio.
