Arts & Entertainment
Rap icon Kidd Creole charged with murder for homophobic attack
the rapper was a founding member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Kidd Creole, a founding member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, has been charged with murder for stabbing a homeless man who he thought was hitting on him.
The New York Daily News reports that Creole, real name Nathanial Glover, was on his way to his security and maintenanceĀ job in midtown Manhattan when he had a run-in with 55-year-old John Jolly, a homeless man and registered sex offender.
Reportedly, Jolly was drunk and made comments that Glover interpreted as hitting on him. Glover then stabbed Jolly twice.
āThey had no prior relationship,ā a source told the New York Daily News. āThey had words. Things got out of hand. It was some sort of diss.ā
āHe turned, interpreting that the guy was making an advance toward him,ā the source continued. āOne thing led to another, and he shivved him twice in the chest.”
Jolly was taken toĀ Bellevue Hospital Center where he died. Ā In 1997 he was convicted for beating and raping a woman. He served five years in prison and another three years for a weaponsĀ charge.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five is best known for their 1982 song, “The Message.” They were the first rap act inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington performed “The Holiday Show” at Lincoln Theatre on Saturday. Future performances of the show are scheduled for Dec. 14-15. For tickets and showtimes, visit gmcw.org.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Books
Mother wages fight for trans daughter in new book
āBeautiful Womanā seethes with resentment, rattles bars of injustice
āOne Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Womanā
By Abi Maxwell
c.2024, Knopf
$28/307 pages
“How many times have I told you that…?”
How many times have you heard that? Probably so often that, well, you stopped listening. From your mother, when you were very small. From your teachers in school. From your supervisor, significant other, or best friend. As in the new memoir “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman” by Abi Maxwell, it came from a daughter.
When she was pregnant, Abi Maxwell took long walks in the New Hampshire woods near her home, rubbing her belly and talking to her unborn baby. She was sure she was going to have a girl but when the sonogram technician said otherwise, that was OK. Maxwell and her husband would have a son.
But almost from birth, their child was angry, fierce, and unhappy. Just getting dressed each morning was a trial. Going outside was often impossible. Autism was a possible diagnosis but more importantly, Maxwell wasn’t listening, and she admits it with some shame.
Her child had been saying, in so many ways, that she was a girl.
Once Maxwell realized it and acted accordingly, her daughter changed almost overnight, from an angry child to a calm one ā though she still, understandably, had outbursts from the bullying behavior of her peers and some adults at school. Nearly every day, Greta (her new name) said she was teased, called by her former name, and told that she was a boy.
Maxwell had fought for special education for Greta, once autism was confirmed. Now she fought for Greta’s rights at school, and sometimes within her own family. The ACLU got involved. State laws were broken. Maxwell reminded anyone who’d listen that the suicide rate for trans kids was frighteningly high. Few in her town seemed to care.
Throughout her life, Maxwell had been in many other states and lived in other cities. New Hampshire used to feel as comforting as a warm blanket but suddenly, she knew they had to get away from it. Her “town that would not protect us.”
When you hold “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman,” you’ve got more than a memoir in your hands. You’ve also got a white-hot story that seethes with anger and rightful resentment, that wails for a hurt child, and rattles the bars of injustice. And yet, it coos over love of place, but in a confused manner, as if these things don’t belong together.
Author Abi Maxwell is honest with readers, taking full responsibility for not listening to what her preschooler was saying-not-saying, and she lets you see her emotions and her worst points. In the midst of her community-wide fight, she reveals how the discrimination Greta endured affected Maxwell’s marriage and her health ā all of which give a reader the sense that they’re not being sold a tall tale. Read this book, and outrage becomes familiar enough that it’s yours, too. Read “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman,” and share it. This is a book you’ll tell others about.
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Out & About
Come unleash your inner artist at the DC Center
Watercolor painting class held on Thursday
āWatercolor Painting with Center Agingā will be on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 12 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community.
In this winter-themed painting class for seniors led by local artist Laya Monarez, guests will learn about watercoloring techniques, be given a demonstration, and allowed to create their own watercolor pieces. There will also be a break for lunch and plenty of snacks throughout. For more details, visit the DC Centerās website.
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