Gay rap

Program that explores moments in the lives of the members of Blackhearts, a gay African-American collective based in NYC. Poet Michael Jared Alexander Mintz[sp?] hosts. Contains performances by and interviews with jazz flautist Fred Carl, poet and author Cary Alan Johnson, and poet Arthur Wilson. Carl talks about performing love songs for another man and his desire to see more out gay black musicians. Johnson reads from his novel Going Places and his poem “Nana” and talks about his sense of “African-ness” and the influence of his family and black feminists on his writing. Wilson reads two of his poems and talks about his influences and the sense of drama in his work. Two men perform love songs that are woven throughout the program.Sound quality is poor.

A discussion about the history and present-day of Christopher Street in New York’s Greenwich Village, including its centrality to gay life, with guest Jimmy Ryan, street peddler and publisher of the Warehouse Newsletter. Ryan discusses what Christopher Street was like before the Stonewall riots, the increasing openness of its gay residents after the start of the gay liberation movement, and the kinds of communities that exist in and around the area. The guests and host talk about Christopher Street’s carnivalesque atmosphere and its reputation for attracting “undesirable” types. Ryan describes the dangers of the piers at the end of Christopher Street, relating a tale of his own mugging and stabbing. Contains recorded music: “Village People” by The Village People.