Sydney Baloue, a producer of HBO Max’s ballroom competition series, “ Legendary,” told NBC News that these events “helped set the groundwork” for what would become New York City’s ballroom scene, as famously depicted in the 1990 documentary “Paris Is Burning.”Īlthough Black’s name is largely unknown today, his role in hosting and promoting the balls - which took place at the former Rockland Palace in Harlem - briefly made him one of the most notable LGBTQ people in the world. A drag performer, Black threw the first Funmakers Ball in November 1947, in which queer and transgender entrants, the vast majority of which were people of color, would compete in pageants that combined drag, dance and other modes of performance. Phil Black was another early trailblazer who helped pave the way for future generations of LGBTQ people to thrive.
“I value the lives and the brilliance of these everyday intellectuals who were trying to build a way of existing that was outside the norm but were also creating a path for a younger generation of radical thinkers, queer activists and feminist scholars,” she added.
These figures would go onto set the stage for later Black queer writers like Audre Lorde, Angela Davis and Barbara Smith, according to Hartman.
NBC OUT 'A whole new era': The 'revolution' may have finally arrived for the LGBTQ community
