4th Floor Skyline Room

Join the Philadelphia Trans Oral History project to discuss Philly’s Black LGBTQ+ nightlife scene, the history of queer/trans performance, how the scene has changed since the 1980’s, how it endures in the present political conjuncture, and how it will thrive going forward.

Doors will open at 5:30. The panel will begin at 6:00. Food will be served at 7:30.

Registration is encouraged, but not required. 

The panel will consist of:

Dagmawi Woubshet (moderator) is a scholar, writer, and translator, working at the intersection of African American, LGBTQIA+, and African studies, and a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Calendar of Loss: Race, Sexuality, and Mourning in the Early Era of AIDS (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015).

Marc Ridgell (moderator) is a William Fontaine Fellow and PhD Student in Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, researching how Black LGBTQ+ communities respond to and mobilize against forms of structural inequality, policing, and gentrification in the neoliberal city. 

DJ JAMZ is a Black, queer, gender nonconforming DJ/event producer imagining the dancefloor as a site of embodied liberation, resistance, expression and play for QTPOC. JAMZ’s most celebrated series is Watermelon Glow; an outdoor sunset party where everybody is a VIP. JAMZ mixes genres to tell one fluid, musical story with African, Caribbean, House & Soul influences. 

Niambi E. Stanley is a dancer-choreographer and historian who entered Philadelphia’s LGBT underground ballroom scene as a voguer at the age of 14. Niambi’s Ballroom House affiliations include: Guerlain, Jourdan, Karan, Ebony, Vittidini, and Prodigy over the course of 32 years. In 2015, Niambi dedicated her time and energy to protecting the culture of ballroom and educating people on ballroom history through her initiative, LearnYourHistory.

Lisa Lisa is a graduate from University of the Arts, majoring in voice and opera. She’s been working with the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation department for over 30 years doing after school programs and a summer music program. Lisa has been hosting Bob and Barbara’s Drag Show for the past 30 years. 

Keon Winston (otherwise known as Redz) is a community advocate and wave maker born and raised in Philadelphia. In his early teens, he walked in and often won the categories Pretty Boy and Realness and soon joined the House of Ebony Philadelphia Chapter. He is also passionate about sharing his experience and insight on recovery and hopes it will inspire others in our community to know that we can recover too.