the young people's professor

Just got back yesterday from Atlanta. I feel kind of weird sharing pictures of this weekend’s ball as if everything is simply “business as usual.” So I’ll preface this post with a few quick words. Without going into unnecessary details, I’ll just say that what I experienced on Sunday night at Stasha and Tempress Mugler’s event was one of the ugliest things I’ve ever witnessed at a ball. While my overall weekend in Atlanta was hot as hell (shout-out to all my house brothers and sisters across the country, as well as the boys of "Club 708" and "Atlanta Live"), the ball itself was terrible because it ended with people being attacked, stabbed, and hit with champaigne bottles. What’s worse is that in the days since the incident took place people have decided to point figures and ask “why” certain houses didn’t come to the “defense” of those being attacked, or whether people “deserved” what they got, instead of condemning the actions of those that behaved like animals. Members of our community still think its “cute” and “phab” to behave like field coons. Then people wonder why the ballroom scene continues to be stigmatized by members both inside and outside of the black gay community. What a shame.

Nonetheless, the senior members of the House of Mizrahi are dedicated to positive leadership, advocacy, and impact. This is not a house that measures its effectiveness according to who is throwing punches in parking lots. There is a reason this house has won "House of the Year" in three cities: our battles take place on the ballroom floor. Its a shame that in 2006, not everyone has followed this model.

Regardless of this rare and isolated incident, I still believe that the underground black ballroom scene is one of the most important, positive, self-affirming, and gloriously creative communities that has ever come out of black gay culture in New York City. There is nothing quite like it, and the scene provides a radical and productive departure from the phony, neoliberal, hypermasculinized tendencies that have come to categorize black gay culture as of late. See you at the next ball.

The House of Mizrahi: "Look at me, look at me, look at me bitch!"