Letters to the Editor
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Regarding Shirley Q. Liquor (sp?)....
Dear Mr. Hannaham,
I just read "What's more, an act like Thompson's, whose insult to black women is sanctioned by his blackness, may embolden white performers like Charles Knipp, who tours gay clubs in the South in both drag and blackface as the outrageous, mush-mouthed Shirley Q. Liquor. Talk about old school.. Wilson, by contrast, redeemed his garishly clad soul-sister Geraldine by making sure she always came out on top, especially in opposition to the church and in subverting machismo -- "
Ummmm?...Given that about 1/2 of the shirley Q monologues "subvert machismo" and/or concern her rather marked problems with her church-ladies (and yes, shirley ALWAYS comes out "on top"), I hope you'll take the time to distinguish between the work of Flip Wilson and Chick Knipp.
I hope you'll fetch up with a more convincing argument than "It's sorta-okay for a black man to play a black woman, and it's perfectly FINE if a black woman plays a black woman...but it's NOT okay for a white man to play a black woman, despite the fact that there are black men and women who have imitated white men and women."
also...Chuck, rather obviously, doesn't appear/work only in "the south". Go to his website and see his bookings. I remain surprised by the regularity with which Salon's writers make their little comments about and references to "the south", and I'll once again remind you that Anacostia, Cabrini Green, and Watts are not exactly in Birmingham.
all that done and said?...I have to say what I've said before....whichis that you have a lot of time on your hands if, in your work-for-a-better-society, you find yourself with the time and inclination to start policing drag-queens.
Even I recognize there's more important work to be done than that......
quite sincerely,
David Terry
www.davidterryart.com