On Feb. 28, trans producer K. J. Whitehead, in partnership with the Chicago Therapy Collective, presented the latest edition of Afterglow, the queer flavored semi-monthly event aimed at celebrating LGBT+ community, family, art and performance.
This latest edition, which took place at The Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark St., offered a variety show with spoken-word performance, drag performance art, dance, comedy and African drumming.
Whitehead kicked the show off by announcing that, since the last show in November, she had had her top surgery, cracking, “Yes I named my breasts.”
After commenting on the white backlash to the Marvel streaming series Luke Cage she spoke on the often-difficult rite of coming out to parents, noting that her father had not spoken to her in the seven years since. Her mother was another story. Her mother asked her, “Does that mean that I’m transgendered too?” Whitehead’s sly response was, “You can be anything you want.”
After the witty flavor of Whitehead’s opening, the near capacity audience was impressed by the sheer talent of vocalist Gabrielle, who offered a soaring, near operatic spiritual. She lent her pristine and elegant voice to a self-penned ballad, “How We Survived the Flood,” which spoke to the current political climate and had everyone in the room singing along.
Next up was Wes Andy Sins, whose drag performance was steeped in avant-garde style and featured a near spoken word segment celebrating the late Sam Nordquist. Zebulon B. Hurst slowed the pace down with a very personal reading of their poetry.
All that silence got tossed out as soon as comedian Shawn Banks hit the stage. He made his non-stop laughter contagious as he cracked jokes about snarky airline stewardesses and being chased by a demonic horse. AICHA then performed a solo improvised dance, which had the crowd on its feet with applause.
African drummer Victoria Djembe and Tommy Carroll closed out the night with a high-octane celebratory performance. Djembe had noted that she was advocating for people with disabilities—she has autism and Carroll is blind—and is part of Ayodele Drum and Dance. The performance had the entire audience clapping in unison.
The next Afterglow event is set for April 25.
