Last weekend I performed with Drag King Rebellion at Kiss My Gender, a drag show that uses gender performance and choreography to entertain and educate. Some wonderful fans at the show videotaped it and there are quite a few excellent videos I plan to post and review.
- Use of popular music/pop culture
- Empowering social message
- Audience Involvement
Linking popular songs with activist messages reaches both the entertainers and the audience in a new ways; it’s a chance for music to become more than just entertainment and for activism to be fun and entertaining.
And when DKR connects with their fans, there’s nothing like it! Starting with the cheers as each performer came forward with messages like, “My liberation is bound up with yours” and “Am I conscious of my own privilege” the audience helped to illustrate the whole point of the number as people of varying identities in the room all cheered for the same messages. Later, we asked the audience to join us in shouting out identities that empower them and by the end, the whole room was singing and swaying together. I even heard that someone started crying and I think its so cool that someone connected with the moment and the message that much.
Its a perfect illustration of the potential of using entertainment as activism – providing an entertaining, empowering and fun experience with a chance to connect with others to challenge ourselves and renew our commitments to social justice.
