Currently DJ E has added party promotion, event planning and acting (with the hit web-series “Between Women”) to her many achievements.
We asked DJ E to give let us in on a few things to know about her and this is what she said:
- I’m a technical nerd!! My favorite books are technical sound books
- I DESPISE when animals and children are mistreated!!! They are the most innocent creatures on the planet!!! I’ve hit a deer and 2 squirrels while driving, I cried like it was the end of the world…..my heart was broken!!
- The hardest thing I’ve ever done is “come out” to my son…… I thank God everyday that he loves me no matter what!
- I am a die-hard New York Knicks fan!!!!!!
- I am a true CANCER/LEO. I’m loyal, sensitive, peaceful and love being the center of attention!!
:: Meet This BOI ::
Name: Bakari Jones
Age: 26
Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite Accessory: Safety Pin
Hometown & Current City: Baltimore, MD
Career: Program Coordinator
Education: BA Temple University 2007, MBA Loyola University Maryland 2011
Bakari Jones is a native Baltimorean committed to reshaping the landscape of her hometown. More than anything, she considers herself a conscious, Black, queer, masculine performing, community based social entrepreneur as she is constantly starting projects with the aim of organizing and unifying those in and around her community.
In 2007, Bakari received a Bachelor’s degree in African American Studies and English from Temple University in Philadelphia before a two-year stint in New Orleans, Louisiana. While serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA in post-Katrina New Orleans, she admits establishing friendships proved quite challenging. Shortly after returning to Baltimore, Bakari earned her MBA from Loyola University Maryland and hasn’t been able to stop “starting things” since.
Not only does Bakari work full time as a Program Coordinator for the national ACT-SO program at the NAACP headquarters, she also juggles a few other projects. Storms of the Brains is the moniker under which she sells both t-shirts and her management consultation services. Bakari and her BLF (best lesbian friend) also co-host “Wine & LesbiFriends”, BYOB house parties in DC and Baltimore for 21-40 year old lesbians of color. However, Bakari is most excited about her latest project, Bois of Baltimore.
This past January 2012, Bakari founded Bois of Baltimore with the goal of creating safe spaces for alternative masculinity. Bois of Baltimore aims to organize women and trans men that identify along the masculine spectrum. The mission of Bois of Baltimore is to create safe spaces for alternative masculinity. We accomplish this by uniting those that identify along the masculine spectrum (Boi, Stud, Butch, AG, Lesbian, Trans, Dom, and Masculine of Center) through a diverse offering of group activities, community service projects, local partnerships, discussions, and educational programs. By harnessing the creative, social, and economic capital of this collective, and that of its allies, the Bois of Baltimore seek to improve the socio-economic condition of queer persons of color in and around Baltimore thereby empowering them to create their own spaces for alternative masculinity and any other form of gender expression! By cultivating an environment that encourages collaboration and demands sustainability, the Bois of Baltimore define what it means to be a progressive, queer person of color living in the greater Baltimore area.
In just a few months, the group already has over 20 paid members and aims to have 50 by year-end. For more information on how to get involved with the group, please email BoisofBaltimore@gmail.com.
Photo credit: Alexander Dobson Media 2012
:: Meet This BOI ::
Since this is Black Pride Weekend in Atlanta, it seemed only fitting to feature one of Atlanta’s own. Chitan Chandler has been promoting lesbian events here for years and continues to bring a fresh and inviting atmosphere to each new venue and event. Take a moment to meet this BOI, and you’ll see why the ladies in ATL love Ladies At Play (LAP)!
Chitan Chandler founded Ladies at Play (LAP) in 2004, the organization’s roots lie her Chitan’s annual Memorial Day weekend birthday celebrations. Chitan’s close network of professional lesbian friends would fly in from across the country (and occasionally, overseas!)to attend her loft parties in Atlanta’s Castleberry Hill neighborhood. These were the types of ladies that you rarely see at the club, ladies coming to “play” in the privacy of her loft. Chitan’s loft parties eventually grew into something that couldn’t be contained in four walls.
In the years since its inception, with little to no mainstream promotion, LAP has become a major player in the LGBT community. LAP hosts a variety of events catering to ladies in the LGBT community, including cooking classes; Pets at Play mixers; volunteer projects with Habitat for Humanity, Project Open Hand and the Atlanta Community Food Bank; book club meetings; bike rides; comedy shows; game nights, and a wide variety of dance parties. LAP caters to professional ladies and their atypical male friends and has two major events lined up for Atlanta Labor Day weekend 2012. The details can be found at LadiesatPlay.com or http://laplabordaywknd2012.eventbrite.com/
::Meet This Boi::
QueerBOIS, we’re turning our “Meet This BOIS” series to the Pacific Northwest region of the States to Oregon. Ty Chance, one of our newer contributors and an amazing photographer brings QBs Cherokee Andrade, a gender fluid queer boi who shares personal stories of family, growth, change and the right to claim who we are. Queer bois, please take sometime and get to know Cherokee, a handsome boi with a warm tale…
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“Family is inherently important to me. With that being said, it isn’t always easy to come out of the closet and maintain a consistently positive dynamic with those who raised you. I do, however, have a complicated, yet loving relationship with my Dad. He makes the most effort out of any of the elders in my life to know who I am. For that reason, things that remind me of him are dear to my heart. I find myself drawn towards train-tracks. My Father has been a railroad engineer for over three decades. On all of our family vacations, we would find railroad tracks and we would flatten pennies together while he would tell us what kind of locomotives were pulling the carts. It was some of our happier, more carefree moments. I like thinking of him like this. I like remembering how he could get so caught up in talking about what he was passionate about that it was almost like his worries would float away, just for a little while.
I think it is important to have something like that, something in your life that is so relaxing or freeing to you that it lifts the weight of the world off of your shoulders, if even for but a mere moment. Life is complicated and hard. I believe that figuring out who we truly are is one of the most difficult tasks one can undertake. Do any of us really understand all of the inner workings our very own selves? Why we feel, act, and think the ways that we do? I doubt it. In this way, gender is also quite complex for some of us. I’m sure some people come out of the womb knowing just what gender means to them their whole lives, but not I. I am not male identified, but I am not traditionally female identified either. I consider myself gender fluid. I am young, and growing and changing every day. I am not drawn to the idea of labeling myself, orientation wise, for all to see. This is why gender fluid appeals to me, because, for me, gender is just that — fluid. Ever evolving. When I look at who I was ten years ago, I am overwhelmed with how much I’ve changed and who I have become. I imagine I’ll probably feel that way in another ten years, too.” - Cherokee Andrade
photos © Ty Chance, All Rights Reserved, Do Not Use Without Permission
