“A lot of people think that you have to be on the mic in front of 1,000 people to make a difference,” Jo said. They encourage everyone to find their own path to activism, no matter how small it may seem. “There was an emphasis on joy and education and getting along, but still respecting each other’s spaces.” And if they ran into an incident, they solved it as a community, and they solved it in the open,” they explained. Jo is still dedicated to helping Northalsted evolve into a more diverse and inclusive environment - a real-life Sesame Street, they said. “I do know that I love to help people, and that however best I can do that, I’m down.” “There’s all these different little opportunities during a conversation or interaction to advocate or be an activist for your own platform, for the betterment of humanity.” Photo: Ally Almore “As far as a clear goal, I don’t have one because I don’t have the data to choose it yet,” they said. Jo is returning to their pre-pandemic career as a bartender at Berlin, where they also work as a producer and performer.īut activism will always be a part of their life, they said. The next step in that career, though, is uncertain. “I found a home in drag and was able to start my career.” “In Chicago, I had a bigger chance of getting a bigger piece of something, or at least a bigger bowl to swim in,” they said. Jo’s first venture in drag was at age 5 or 6, donning their mother’s dress and second-hand heels “just to look in the mirror at myself and be like, ‘Ooh, I’m so pretty!’” Photo: Ally Almore The city’s less conservative attitude afforded Jo the freedom to explore their queerness, including finding their nonbinary identity. And it was a horrible mess.”īut it was a fun mess and pushed them to take drag more seriously when they moved to Chicago in 2008.Ĭompared with Atlanta, “it was night and day,” they said. “But I jumped in and did ‘Fantasy’ by Mariah Carey. “I was totally underage - shouldn’t have been there,” they said. Jo was 18 when they first performed in drag, jumping onstage at Burkhart’s, a since-closed club in Atlanta, wearing a wig borrowed from their mom. It works to combat racism and hold nightlife venues accountable for discrimination. The organization is dedicated to fostering “a sense of togetherness, while identifying and completing actionable steps towards restorative justice,” according to its mission statement. Working with local LGBTQ activist Tatyana Chante, MaMa founded the Chicago Black Drag Council last year.
I refuse to go back to the way things were. “I was like, ‘I can’t waste all this effort. “I gave up a good chunk of my lifespan, I think, in planning that march,” they said. On the heels of that success, Jo was determined to keep up the momentum. “They were then able to go to all these other things and bring in more friend groups and continue to work on their own, which has always been the main goal.” More than a year later, Jo MaMa said people still are coming up to say how grateful they were for that event.
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