A career built on the cultural tenets of that community.
Renaissancehit me where I live at the intersection of disco and house music.
It was the sound of celebration, of the best of my love.
Beyoncé dedicated ‘Renaissance’ to her gay uncle Johnny.Carlijn Jacobs for Parkwood Entertainment
Meanwhile, the community that birthed this phenomenon was decimated by AIDS, poverty, and violence.
Mainstream attention waned, but the community vogued on.
Into this slayed new worldRenaissance(death-) dropped.
Beyoncé.Mason Poole for Parkwood Entertainment
This album is ballroom.
“Johnny was the closest human being in the world to me.
We were inseparable growing up!
Beyoncé.Mason Poole
Later, he was my nanny/housekeeper/designer/dance partner/confidante and bestie.
I laughed constantly with him and trusted him unconditionally!”
“When he died, a piece of me went with him.
Beyoncé.Mason Poole
Solange and Beyonce worshiped him.
He helped me raise them.
And influenced their sense of style and uniqueness!
He made Beyonce’s prom dress.”
as a fan clacks in the background.
I mean, her high ponytail game, alone.
But here she draws the line from the Black queer community to BeyonceTM more explicitly and directly.
Without Uncle Johnny, and the Uncle Johnnys of the world, there would be no Beyonce.
Ballroom is, after all, a collective experience.
And in Beyonce’s hands, it’s the American Dream.
It’s a revolution.
Uncle Johnny would be proud.
