By Dennis Richmond Jr.
Cienna “@ItsCeeRose” Rosalina, 21, is a trans advocate from Yonkers, New York. With over 70,000 followers on TikTok, Rosalina beats the drum for trans rights. “It’s okay to be Black and transgender,” she said. Nowadays, talks about the trans community are happening everywhere. People are learning about gender pronouns, genders ascribed at birth, and trans rights. Many people are not on board with a lot of trans conversations. It’s because of a “lack of understanding and a lack of knowledge,” Rosalina says. Some people in the community “shut down versus educating.”
Samuel “@Secret.Hilton” Reid, 25, is a dance teacher and founder of the Royalettes Dance Team in Mount Vernon, New York. “I teach all genres of dance, and I’ve been dancing since I was a child,” said Reid. Reid started to take dancing seriously towards the end of his 8th-grade year of middle school in Mount Vernon. Dealing with bullying because of who he was, made his school life almost unbearable. Instead of turning to drugs or liquor, Reid relied heavily on dance. Life became much easier to navigate when Reid began dancing professionally. “Dancing was an escape,” he said. “It helped me.”
As we celebrate the 27th LGBTQIA+ History Month in the United States, we see just how dance and activism influenced the community for decades. The community, arguably, is based on dance and activism. The 1990s documentary Paris Is Burning follows New York’s ball culture in the Black and Latinx LGBTQIA+ Community. Ball culture, or ballroom culture, has influenced the world in ways that many people don’t realize. Popular slang phrases such as “It’s giving,” “Pay it [no mind],” “No shade,” and “Love you down” have all originated in ballroom with the girls.
Many Black and Latinx pioneers of the community have either been forgotten or don’t get enough attention. Jackie Shane, a trans woman, was a pioneer soul and rhythm and blues singer. You could find her performances online from the 1960s. In 1995, Little Richard, the architect of rock and roll, told Penthouse magazine, “I’ve been gay all my life.” Many sources have said that Marsha P. Johnson, a trans woman who was an activist for the community, threw the first brick during the Stonewall riots in New York.
Reid stands on the shoulders of many Black and Latinx LGBTQIA+ dancers, just as I stand on the shoulders of writers, and Rosalina stands on the shoulders of activists. James Baldwin, the iconic novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and activist, is buried right here in Westchester. Writing, activism, and dancing are ways that the Black and Latinx LGBTQIA+ Community thrives. Before a party took place, somebody wrote and created the flyers for the event. Depending on what decade it was, after the function, somebody wrote what happened. After, it would end up either in a newspaper, on a blog, or in a social media post. The activist angle is that “having a ball” is revolutionary.
Me, Samuel, and Cienna are all connected. We are all members of the Black Community and, we are all members of the LGBTQIA+ Community. As such, before this month is over, we would like to leave you with some final thoughts.
Samuel “Secret” Reid: “The LGBTQIA+ Community is human. We have feelings. Don’t eliminate us.”
Cienna “Cee” Rosalina: “It’s possible to be who you are, be happy, and live a happy life.”
Dennis Richmond, Jr.: “Life is short. Even though people may not respect our lifestyles, respect us.”
Dennis Richmond, Jr., is an author and journalist focused on the Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+ Community. He has covered HBCUs periodically for six years at Yonkers Rising. Richmond lives in Yonkers. Follow him on Twitter @NewYorkStakz
