Quiet Conversations The Upstairs Lounge Arson Attack
My name is Arthur Severio, and welcome to Quiet Conversations: The Upstairs Lounge Fire.
I left home with a suitcase filled with dreams, a pack of brand-new Fruit of the Loom underwear, two pairs of 501s, and some shirts that weren’t exactly made for a fat kid like me. My mama had stuffed a twenty-dollar bill in my pocket just in case I wanted a snack and a Diet Coke from the vending machine for my ride into the Crescent City.
My brother met me at the downtown Greyhound bus terminal to take a United Cab back to his French Quarter apartment. It was 1983, and I was only 17. I was so happy because I had finally reached the place that I had dreamed about to get me through those endless days of doing little more than surviving. Soon I met Marcy Marcelle who was scheduled to perform that night at the Upstairs Lounge.
In these Quiet Conversations, I talk to people whose lives were touched either in their personal experience or using their artistic talents to describe that night.
Quiet Conversations The Upstairs Lounge Arson Attack
Apartheid, Homophobia, and Racism
In this episode, we meet Penny, who, grew up in the Mississippi Delta in a time where there were lines that couldn’t be crossed. At a young age, she was aware of not crossing lines drawn by society including her parents. After growing up and becoming awakened, she’s made a difference,
She tells us of meeting and photographing Ernest Cole who came to Mississippi to photograph the differences between people of color and caucasians.
Then we later hear how the shifts in civil rights in New Orleans began to happen with the RaultCenter and Howard Johnson fires. And what happened in Southern University in 1972.
My guests this week are Penny, Regina, Royd and Frank
.https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/society-arts-culture/ernest-cole-rediscovered-archive-apartheid-black-history/?fbclid=IwAR1Mc_K_h8xaDcR7-5u9LbgHY6F3kOYbiU7fbO7qj7ZtUee_0kBjCd3h3Ls
Historian Frank Perez explains the mission of the LGBT+ Archives of Louisiana and a welcome to Quiet Conversations.
with Rio Riggen
