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How queer ballroom legends in St. Louis cultivate joy amid political and cultural animosity

2 years 6 months ago
The countdown to Pride Month ends in just eight days. Soon there will be parades and parties to celebrate LGBTQ+ communities and commemorate the long, continuous fight for basic human rights for queer individuals. For Black queer people, creating space for joy in a time of persistent political and societal oppression is an everyday necessity. One example of that is ballroom culture, which was created and championed by Black members of the LGBTQ community across the nation — and right here in St. Louis.

Greene County Agricultural Fair Gearing Back Up For 2023

2 years 6 months ago
CARROLLTON - The annual Greene County Agricultural Fair is returning for 2023 with a full lineup of grandstand events, shows, live music, and much more. This year’s fair will run from Tuesday, May 30 to Saturday, June 3. Adult Single Admission Tickets will be available for $4 until the last weekend of the fair, when those tickets will be $5. Children under 12 will be admitted for free. Festivities will kick off on Tuesday, May 30 with the Sheep Show at 8 a.m. That evening, the Miss Greene County Fair Pageant will be held in the grandstands at 6:30 p.m. and the Art Hall will be open from 5 to 7 p.m. Ticket prices for the pageant are $6 for General Admission and $12 for Reserved Seating. Wednesday, May 31 will start with the Steer Weigh-in at 8:30 a.m., followed by Harness Racing that evening at 6:00 p.m. in the grandstands. Tickets for the Harness Races are $2 each. The Beef Show and Swine Show will start at 8 a.m. on Thursday, June 1, and the Rodeo and 4H Weigh-in

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90 years ago, Black women led a multiracial strike at a St. Louis factory

2 years 6 months ago
Ninety years ago, on May 24, 1933, a strike led by Black women workers at a St. Louis nut factory made labor history. Devin Thomas O’Shea, who wrote about the strike in a lengthy feature story in Jacobin, discusses the dramatic events leading up to the strike, including how an 18-year-old ringleader led her co-workers to the streets “with a Bible in one hand and a brick in the other.”

Music, Mother Nature, and Memories: McCully Heritage Project Hosts 6th Annual Trinity River Festival

2 years 6 months ago
KAMPSVILLE - On June 2 and 3, more than 25 local and regional bands will take the stage for Trinity River Festival at McCully Heritage Project in Kampsville, Ill. to help raise funds for the local nonprofit Trinity’s Way. This year marks the first year the festival will be offering camping throughout the two day event. also offers festival-goers miles of beautiful hiking trails and two fishing ponds. Weekend camping passes are available for $50 for both Friday and Saturday or $30 per day. Non-camping weekend passes are $30 for both Friday and Saturday or $20 per day. Advance tickets can be purchased online with debit/credit card or PayPal at www.trinitysway.org until May 31. Tickets are available the day of at the gate, cash only. Trinity’s Way formed in 2018 after 17-year-old Trinity Buel was killed in a tragic car accident. The nonprofit was started by her mother, April Gray, and her godfather, Chris Unthank, to carry on Buel’s kindness and compassion for animals

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YWCA Announces Summer Boys Council Session

2 years 6 months ago
ALTON - YWCA is pleased to announce a Boys Council Summer Program is being offered starting Tuesdays, beginning June 6, 2023 at YWCA at 4 pm. The sessions includes one hour of Boys Council meeting and one hour of gym time at YWCA. The session will end on Tuesday, August 8. School year sessions will be announced at a later date. Boys Council focuses on the promotion of growth in young males from 10 to 14 years. This program promotes boys’ natural strengths and increases their options about being male in today’s world. It challenges myths about how to be a “real boy” or “real man”. Boys and young men are given the opportunity in a safe environment to address masculine definitions and behaviors. By promoting valuable relationships with peers and adult facilitators, Boys Council increases boys’ emotional, social, and cultural literacy. In a safe and action-oriented context, boys can identify healthy and unhealthy ideas about what it means to be male

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An Immortal Passes

2 years 6 months ago
Who among us hasn't whiled away a summer afternoon pretending to be Tina Turner, baring those famous golden thighs, shaking an imaginary shock of coppery hair, screaming and sighing and strutting and signifying like a sex-starved Pentecostal? Who else could sing like that, each phrase razor-blade bright and so sharp it doesn't even hurt at first when it slices your heart in two? 
René Spencer Saller