LAST CALL: NEW ORLEANS DYKE BAR HISTORY PROJECT

S3 Ep4 Joy as in ”Fuck You”!

In our final episode of Mais Jamais, we lean into the joy that has been central to the work and lives of the organizers fighting Anti-Trans legislation. Listen to unearth deep healing practice and for a little smile.  Trans Joy, the gift that keeps on giving. 

S3 Ep3: From Fire and Ashes, A Trans Phoenix is Born

In ep3 we tell the story of of locALL. Facing an increasing number of anti-trans bills in the Louisiana legislature,  Trans and Queer organizers, healers, artist, and many more come together to build a coalition of resistance and restoration. Listen for a possibly of model of building intersectional movement and with multi - pronged strategy! 

S3 Ep 2: The Big Bad Bills: An active way to spend a session or two

In our second episode of Mais Jamais, Last call and Louisiana Trans Oral History Project paint the Trans and Queer legislative landscape of 2020-2022. Community experts dive into the nature of the bills Louisiana Legislators tried to push through, the harm that they would cause, and what larger powers and misplaced analysis allow them to exists. 

S3 Ep1 : Did Someone Turn the Hate Up in Here?

From our joint oral history project with Louisiana Trans Oral History Project, the first episode of this  Mini Series, Mais Jamais :The Rise of Louisiana's Anti-Trans Legislation and the Story of Our Resistance,  provides a foundational understanding of the political landscape Trans and Queer folks in Louisiana had to navigate before the recent uptick in Anti-Trans Legislation of the 2020's. Our host try to answer the question, in what context, is the groundwork for dangerous and hateful full bills allowed? Tap In! 

Last Call presents: The Krewe of Ishtar

Hey, folks!  Here's a little bonus episode to while some time on...

Recently, free went to Diverse Works in Houston to present this story to an audience.  It's about the first Lesbian Mardi Gras Krewe, as far as we know, the Krewe of Ishtar.  For this one, free interviewed one of the Krewe's founders, Diane Dimiceli and Gail Pellerin and Marsha Robert who were both active members.

The piece was commissioned and made possible by Diverse Works, and Nick Vaughn and Jake Margolin, whose project 50 states "is an ongoing fifty-part series of installations created in response to recently uncovered or unappreciated LGBTQ2 histories from each state."

from free: Jake and I go way back (I believe I was 12 when we met) and it was an honor to get to collaborate on this and see the beautiful work he and Nick are making together.  They commissioned this piece to accompany the premiere of their Louisiana piece, exploring intersections of queer life with maritime, commercial indigo, Mardi Gras, and capitalism.

Due to our current state of affairs, the exhibit is not currently available to visit, but you can view the work at diverseworks.org.  You can check out their other work at NickandJakestudio.com

BONUS! Last Call for Creating Place

Hey, buds!  Did you miss us?  We missed you!  So, we're back with a bonus episode.

But first:  Please come to our Season 2 Wrap Party, Friday May 31.  We will do trivia related to the season and have and listening booths.  We will also be rolling out the first ever Last Call Mix Tape.  It will be a free event, so please come join us!  You can find more details here.

This piece was produced back in 2017 by Last Call Co-founder, Bonnie Gabel and free feral for a project Alternate Roots did, called Creating Place: The Art of Equitable Community Building.  "Creating Place is a multimedia collection of explorations, reflections, challenges, and offerings to the national dialogue around creative placemaking, created by ROOTS members."  In a nutshell, the series explores artists who are creating spaces for their communities with the work they do in the US South.  In this piece, we talk about the origins of Last Call, the process of creating the podcast, and the making of Alleged Lesbian Activities.  We also discuss building equity in a small organization.

You’ll hear from Rachel Lee, Erin Roussel, Shanelle Mills, indee mitchell, Bonnie Gabel and free feral.  Music by free.  Enjoy.

Episode 9: RC

Well, folks!  Here we are at the last episode of the season!  But don't fret: we have a couple of bonus tricks up our sleeve, so stay tuned.

This week, we are so excited to share this piece about Rosana Cruz and their work with the Hate Crimes Hotline at the New Orleans LGBT Community Center in the late 90's. Rosana is a writer, parent, social justice movement leader and intersectional feminist. They have lived in New Orleans for over 20 years and in that time, worked closely with numerous organizations in the struggle for racial justice, lgbtq liberation and immigrant rights.  They currently serve as the Vice President of Movement and Capacity Building at Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation. They hold an MA in Latin American Studies from the Stone Center at Tulane University.  Essays by Cruz have been published in hipMama, Bridge the Gulf Project, Colorlines.com and the anthology Mamaphonic. Cruz was also a 2017 VONA Voices Fellow.

This piece was produced and scored by free feral.

Episode 8: Mary Capps

Heya folks!  Sorry we were off the radar for a while: had to replace the hard drive of our main computer.  But we are back up and running with a brand new episode!

Mary Capps has been an anti-racist, social justice, lesbian, feminist activist for 50 years or so, mostly in New Orleans.  She served as director of the YWCA Rape Crisis Service in New Orleans and has worked in various networks & autonomous groups against violence against women, as an invited speaker, workshop facilitator and with several groups in the movement to end violence against women & children, rape, incest, battering & murder.  She also took part in the Autonomous Women’s Movement of New Orleans in the 1970s. She and her current partner Alda Talley are the Godmothers of this project.  When we were first getting started in our Dyke Bar research they shared their stories and their vast network so generously. We Love you, Mary and Alda, and thanks for making all this possible.  This story is about how Mary found queer community finally began identifying as a lesbian.

This Episode was produced by Laine Kaplan-Levenson with music by free feral and Peter Bowling.

Episode 7: The Law One

Episode 7 is here! In this episode: two stories of people navigating the world of Law and Law enforcement.

First, Mark Gonzalez shares stories about his early years of organizing in the 80’s and early 90’s.   Mark has lived in the Bywater neighborhood for over 25 years and works as an attorney in private practice. His initial involvement in the gay community was as a founding member/organizer of Gay Fest New Orleans where he was an officer for two years. He was also a very active member and organizer with ACTUP, an AIDS advocacy group in New Orleans for many years. Additionally, Mark is one of the organizing/founding members of AIDSLAW of Louisiana. We borrowed some of Mark’s bio from www.lgbtarchiveslouisiana.org; this organization does probably exactly what you think they do. Mark serves in that organization as a board member.

Mark’s story was produced by Owen Ever, a social historian, performer and theater maker who works at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. Visit Vagabondinventions.com and Goatintheroadproductions.org to learn about upcoming projects.   Music for this piece by Ruth Ex, who is part of the band Special Interest.  Ruth’s bandcamp is psychich0tline.bandcamp.com

Mardi Youngblood was one of our earliest contributors to our Dyke Bar oral history project.  She became an ancestor in 2017, at the age of 71.  In this piece, Mardi details some of her run ins with the law in the 70’s. Her special telling of tall tales and her sense of mischief, humor and caring are greatly missed as her chosen family and friends remember the enthusiasm she had for her many favorite activities: fishing and football.  She left a treasure trove of memories for the women who helped to care for her during the many months of her illness and the many friends she gathered during her life. To many, her legacy serves as a reminder to laugh, love and live the gift of life to its fullest each moment of each day.  We adapted Mardi’s Bio from her obituary which was published on TheNewOrleansAdvocate.com.

This loving audio tribute was produced by Erin Roussel, an educator and culture bearer from South Louisiana. Erin has been a member of Last Call since 2015 and is so grateful for the beautiful connections this project has brought into her life.  She scored her piece using the Youtube Free Music Library

additional music for this episode by free feral.

Episode 6: Stories from the Boston Dyke Bar Scene

This week we bring you a piece about the Boston Dyke Bar scene in the 60’s through the 90’s.

Last Call’s play based on our New Orleans Dyke Bar research, Alleged Lesbian Activies, is coming to Boston, April 4, 5, 6, and 7.  These performances will be done in partnership with The Theatre Offensive, and will feature new material derived from our Boston interviews.  We thought, these interviews are so juicy - let’s do a podcast piece with them!  We have stories of parties, fights, family, pickup and more.  It’s a long one, so cozy in and enjoy!

Many thanks to our interviewees Danny Harris, Yani Batteau, Shani Dowd, Sharon Pritchard, Marjorie Posner, Rochelle Ruthchild, Vicki Gabriner, Liz James, Lynn Brown, Pam Chamberlin, Helen Cratin, and Sweet Mykki B.  They were so welcoming and so generous with their time, energy, and stories.  We think you’re going to really enjoy listening to them.

For tickets to see Alleged Lesbian Activities at Jacque’s Cabaret in Boston, click here.  It's a great show in a historic queer venue.  Get your tickets soon - they are going fast!

This week’s episode was produced and scored by free feral.