MAPPING THE QUEER CHICAGO OF “RAPBRARIAN” ROY KINSEY

MAPPING THE QUEER CHICAGO MAPPING THE QUEER CHICAGO OF “RAPBRARIAN” ROY KINSEYOF “RAPBRARIAN” ROY KINSEY

Kinsey’s recent Chicago Reader cover

Read the Reader article: “Chicago Reader Rapbrianan Roy Kinsey Finds For most of history, LGBTQ people were forced to remain hidden, pushed underground by codes both legal and moral. Thanks to activists both past and present, for many it is much easier to be queer today, albeit less so when your identity has so many intersections like that of Roy Kinsey, a Chicago born and raised anomaly, who is Black and queer-identifying but also a rapper and librarian.

His work is as likely to appear in a museum as a performance stage and has also been featured on the cover of the Chicago Reader, in Billboard, NPR, WBEZ, the Chicago Tribune, an LA Times. A recent video, exploring black queer identity and spirituality, premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Recently, he led a series of performances and exhibitions with the Chicago Public Library’s seasonal book and theme programming of race and music, One Book, One Chicago.

His professional development in librarianship fueled his desire for self examination that he reports back in rhyme. By day, Kinsey is His Voice in Queer Hip Hop”

a librarian in YouMedia, a dedicated library and space for teens located in several branches Chicago Public Libraries.

We compiled this map of places, both past and present, which have been key in the development of Kinsey’s many overlapping identities. Among them are many of the city’s beaches, highlighting the importance of the city’s public spaces for both visibility and community-building.

Fetish is a recent single from his forthcoming album that tackles the marginalization of Black men within the LGBTQ community.

Blackie: a story by Roy Kinsey, is Kinsey’s fourth studio album that touches on effects of racism, the Great Migration, addiction, violence, mental illness, and sexuality. It samples both his grandmother and James Baldwin!

THE WEST SIDE Where Roy Kinsey grew up

AUSTIN LIBRARY Where Kinsey works with youth MONTROSE BEACH Where LGBT Black folks party post-Pride

BERLIN Legendary, long-standing LGBT nightclub with 18+ nights

THE PROP HOUSE A gay club catering to Black gay people, now demolished BELMONT ROCKS A key AIDS-era, pre-gentrification queer space, now long gone

PRIDE SOUTH SIDE At this, first, 2019 month-long festival, Kinsey was a headlining act CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER Where Kinsey’s parents met, when it was still a library

PROMONTORY POINT Kinsey opened for “queen of bounce rap” Big Freedia here in 2019

RAINBOW BEACH Another frequent destination for Kinsey’s family outings SELECT PERFORMANCES:

DuSable Museum of African American History

Glessner House Museum

Michiigan Ave. Apple Store

Museum of Contemporary Art

Red Bull Music Festival

Schuba's Tavern

Steppenwolf Theater

Subterranean Lounge

ELLISVILLE, MISSISSIPPI Where Kinsey’s dad hails from; also the inspiration for his “Mississippi Mud” song