Queer Kid of Color

I’ve been invited on radio shows, podcasts, the works of on-air interviews. I decided to finally appear in one. I was loud and just–just too much. Check it out.

 CLICK HERE

In the fall of 2005, Ballroom Rockstar was the talk of the gayborhood. It was the first national urban publication dedicated to the gay community. Profiling members of the Ballroom scene, giving us pictorials of openly gay men of color, and highlighting the importance of queer people of color. But months ago, some were shocked when they found Ballroom Rockstar revamped into Uneq Magazine a publication that’s aimed at the professional urban gay man. And left us all asking, what happened? While the cause of the shake up will probably never be revealed, and few {including yours truly} know what led to the revamping of the magazine, one thing is for sure–Ballroom Rockstar was the cause for celebration. Sure there were only two publications of it to date, but the magazine had that spark that got people excited.

So what’s my purpose for writing this posting? While flipping through the pages of the magazine-for the 10^th time since buying it- I thought to myself, no one really gave Ballroom Rockstar a fair farewell.

Publisher and Founder Darryl Brown did an amazing job bringing the magazine to conception and Elton Carpenter did a marvelous job at being an Editor-IN-Chief. With his pride aside, Darryl Brown launched the magazine not to benefit his pockets, but as a tribute to his friend Eric Christian Bizarre, as Elton Carpenter revealed in an earlier interview.

Ballroom Rockstar is now Uneq Magazine, but aimed at professional urban gay men. The magazine is very classy, eye catchy, and provides great editorials. I wonder if we can have Ballroom Rockstar and Uneq Magazine.

Today I auditioned for the characterAbigail. Drae, really blew me away with her reading. It was a cold reading, which means she didn’t even rehearse the script prior to auditioning. I was very proud of her. I’m definitely going to cast her.

Today I also spent my work day creating my camera shot list, getting it ready to put it onto a storyboard, and then on Monday the cintematographer and I A.K.A the director of photography, will make some tweaks and changes.

Next week I’m going to be looking at my locations. Last year I did the mistake of looking at the locations the day I was filming, as opposed to doing it beforehand.

I love directing!

Questions on my mind for some democrats.

Are all republicans anti marriage for homosexuals?Are all democrats pro marriage for homosexuals?

At any rate…this makes me ashamed of being a republican…I wish I could have interviewed the filmmaker though…

New online magazine will soon become a sensation.

 check it out HERE.

I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the production of my first short film. All of your contributions mean alot to me! You dont even know how much it means to me. I’m really excited to see people support me. Even people I’ve never met. That’s really satisfying for me, and it makes my passion for film all worth doing.

If you still would like to contribute to my short film, please do so by going to the left corner and making a small donation. I still have a bit more money to raise. Just a bit more people!

I posted some [free] ads online looking for Directors of Photography.

Yesterday I finally sat down and looked at resumes and reels that were sent to me.   I wasn’t thorougly impressed though. A Director of Photography is important for every film, because they’re the ones who create the look and feel of the camera, lighting, basically the cinematography.  It’s important for me to get this right. Last year, my friend and I were working the camera. This year I’m paying someone to do it! I got over 25 resumes and reels sent to me, I’m only calling about 3-5 for an interview! I would still look at more reels, but I can’t. Filming begins August 4th. I need to end pre-production and begin the actual production. This is too much stress on a person my age. I love it.

I hope I can finish this this summer, I can’t imagine working on this project for another year. Did I mention I’ve been working on it since May of 2006!

College Hill alumni, Ray Cunningham, has joined the cast of Christopher Street the series.

“I am extremely humbled and honored to be apart of the next chapter in the black LGBT movement in the world of television. My transition from reality television to scripted television is not only a move in individual growth and development, but an opportunity to continue to set standards and be a sought after reputable image for black gay youth to identify with.” -Ray C.

Coming soon an interview with lead star of Christopher Street the series, Jared Dewese.

If I ask 10 LGBTQ-identified people who are some of the LGBTQ movement pioneers, I can bet six out of the 10 wont have an answer. Maybe they don’t have a computer to do a search, or maybe they’re just too lazy to go back to their history. With that said, If you’re an adult and don’t know who Barbara Gittings is and you identify as LGBTQ you need to evaluate your history.

I believe that the queers [excluding those who actually do believe in googling their history] are more focused on fashion and their significant others than they are about going back to their history. They’re expecting people to disseminate information to them, versus finding it out on their own, and that’s a problem. There are NO faces of LGBTQ people in our textbooks, and if there are than you will never here a mention of their sexual orientation. That’s why I find it important to stand our ground and show the heteros and self-loathing queers that they cannot write us off. But of course, we can’t do that either…Because we no longer believe in revolution. The queers don’t protest anymore, the queers don’t hold rallies until someone dies, the queers only email mainstream organizations when Beenie Man and Buju Banton are coming to town for a concert. The queers fault the ignorant who do them wrong behind their backs, but never have the audacity to fault someone alone or to their face.

We no longer have a movement for young queer people to relate to, or for that matter anyone. Nothing is the same anymore. All I see now are press releases from organizations stating how unhappy they are about homophobia. I don’t see outrage. I don’t feel it either. If I have to seek out what organizations are doing for the advancement of queer people than they’re probably not doing anything worth noticing.

So wake up people. Show your outrage. Get mad. Get angry. Thank the people who made it possible for you to have a gayborhood. Thank those who made it possible for you to walk a Ball. Google your fading history.

I’m calling on my readers to help me out, I’m trying to raise an extra $300 for some extra days of filming for my short film Welcome To Rainbow’s End. I’ve been trying to create this short film since May 2006. You can donate to the right of the blog or at the bottom of this page.

I would greatly appreciate it.

I’m dedicated to doing this short film, because there are stories in it that need to be told. Support the images of LGBTQ people of color. So please help out, any donation helps. Any.

HIV Plus Magazine did a profile on me. Check it out HERE.