18-02-2025
Prairie Pride Coalition touts traveling exhibit tells of the Harlem Renaissance
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — An exhibit at Heartland Community College honors the Harlem Renaissance movement that occurred 100 years ago, which was equally important for Queer rights.
The Prairie Pride Coalition displayed the traveling exhibit 'The Harlem Renaissance: As Gay as it was Black.' There were about 20 posters set up at the school's Workforce Development Center.
The namesake of the exhibit came from African-American historian Henry Louis Gates, who said the Renaissance was 'surely as gay as it was black, not that it was exclusively either of these.'
Panels in the exhibit chronicle the 1920s and 1930s in Harlem, a time frame full of rich history known as the Harlem Renaissance. The era was fed by artists from both the Black and LGBTQIA+ communities; their intersectionality combined to produce a historic time that continues to influence artists and reverberates in communities today.
In a room off of the exhibit, a session was held to educate participants on the contributions of Black transgender individuals in pop culture, addressing barriers to inclusivity for the LGBTQ+ community and discussing ways to advocate for change.
Mentioned in the session was the removal of 'transgender' and 'queer' from the National Park Service's page for the Stonewall National Monument, a civil rights marker.
Admission is free at the exhibit which will travel throughout McLean County during February. Here are the dates and the locations.
Feb. 17-18: Heartland Community College Workforce Development Center
Feb. 19: ISU Multicultural Center
Feb. 20-28: Bloomington Public Library Community Room 3
Feb. 20: Harlem Renaissance Salon at Bloomington Public Library
Feb. 22: Harlem Renaissance Salon at Bloomington Public Library
For more information, please go to the Prairie Pride Coalition's website.
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