Arts & Entertainment
Time ‘Person of the Year’ issue honors Lizzo, US Women’s Soccer Team
Time Magazine’s list of winners in their annual “Person of the Year” issue includes body-positive R&B singer and LGBTQ ally Lizzo and the US Women’s Soccer Team, co-captained by out athlete Megan Rapinoe.
Selected by Time editors, the title is bestowed upon “the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse,” according to former Time Managing Editor Walter Isaacson in the 1998 edition of the yearly issue.
This year’s Person of the Year was awarded to 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg, who stood in front of world leaders at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City and accused them of ignoring the science behind the climate crisis, saying to them, “How dare you?… ‘You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.’ “
In addition to the overall title, the magazine also honored a Person of the Year in Entertainment, Athletics, Business, and a category called “Guardian of the Year.”
Entertainer of the Year went to Lizzo, whose decade-long career exploded in 2019 with a hit album, “Cuz I Love You,” which dominated the Grammy nominations, and a massive surge in social media popularity that has allowed her message of body positivity and empowerment for women and people of color to go viral within pop culture.
Speaking to Time, she said, “I’ve been doing positive music for a long-ass time. Then the culture changed. There were a lot of things that weren’t popular but existed, like body positivity, which at first was a form of protest for fat bodies and black women and has now become a trendy, commercialized thing. Now I’ve seen it reach the mainstream. Suddenly I’m mainstream!”
Athlete of the Year went to the US Women’s Soccer Team, whose victory in the Finals of this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup competition brought worldwide attention to co-captain and LGBTQ activist Rapinoe. Rapinoe drew ire from conservatives before their victory when she publicly sparred with President Donald Trump on Twitter over her announcement that she would skip the White House reception if the team were to win.
In her interview with Time, Rapinoe said, “There’s so much joy in realizing that the President of the United States can come at us, and we’re like, pfffffff, we don’t even need to respond back. There’s joy in realizing your power.”
Time’s Businessperson of the Year was Disney CEO Bob Iger. The magazine named “The Public Servants” as Guardian of the Year.
The publication has maintained its tradition of Person of the Year since 1927, when it named aviator Charles Lindbergh as “Man of the Year.” The designation was changed to “Person” in 1999.
The fourth annual Equality Prince William Pride was held at the Harris Pavilion in Manassas, Va. on Saturday, May 17.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The Washington Blade held its 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Friday, May 16. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer spoke along with State Sen. Russ Huxtable, CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey, Blade Editor Kevin Naff, and Clear Space Theatre Managing Director Joe Gfaller. The event raises funds for the Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which was awarded to AU student Abigail Hatting.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)
In some fowl fiction foreshadowing, a gay-owned chicken joint has come home to roost on U Street, taking a page from the chicken window subplot on the HBO show “Looking.”
Last Friday, Lucky Pollo – much more than just a takeout window – stretched its wings atop the busy nightlife corner of 14th and U Streets NW.
Behind the poultry production place is Zach Renovátes, a D.C.-based nightlife operator and managing partner of LGBTQ venues Bunker and District Eagle, as well as the LGBTQ event production company KINETIC Presents.
Renovátes opened Bunker in February 2023 and District Eagle in January of this year. Lucky Pollo is the third in his growing gay empire, though this time there are noshes.
“Lucky Pollo was meant to be fun and a little provocative,” Renovátes said.
Based around its Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, Lucky Pollo is a quick-service restaurant boasting a small menu of poultry and sides. Renovátes says that the dishes are deeply rooted in Peruvian culinary tradition, “a playful experience alongside seriously good food.”
Lucky Pollo’s signature chicken is steeped in a dozen-plus-spice marinade for 24 hours. The meat is then slow-roasted, rotisserie-style, over oak-wood charcoal. Chicken options include quarter, half, and whole.
Helming the kitchen at Lucky Pollo is Chef Luis Herrera, who brings Peruvian recipes passed down through three generations, including his grandmother Laura’s original creations.
Beyond the full bird, the menu features Peruvian-inspired sides like yuca fries (“I personally love these,” says Renovátes) and fried plantains, as well as comfort classics such as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, and bowls, wraps, and salads. Herrera oversees development of the multiple sauces (including staff favorite, the “secret green sauce”), crafted in-house using traditional Peruvian ingredients.
Lucky Pollo, in its streetside perch, is an independent concept from District Eagle, open to the public and staying open late (3 a.m. on weekends) to serve both nightlife guests and the wider U Street crowd hungry for late-night bites. However, just beyond the kitchen, tucked in the back lies a vintage 1950s candy machine—labeled “Out of Order,” which serves as the door leading to subterranean District Eagle.
Renovátes notes that when District Eagle is open, security staff will maintain a strict two-line policy, ensuring that those seeking meat to eat will not get entwined with those looking to gain access to District Eagle.
Lucky Pollo unites the need for sustenance with the idea of a bit of fortune, given its motto, “Get Lucky” and the whimsical brand mascot: a leather-booted chicken perched on a horseshoe. Renovátes and his District Eagle business partner had always been interested in opening a restaurant, and the Lucky Pollo space was indeed lucky: It already came with a functional kitchen. Plus, he says, the nearby fast-casual places around 14th and U streets “don’t offer a lot of quality options,” so opening the chicken spot “was a no-brainer.”
The space, designed by NYC creative Jasin Cadic, blends theatrical street-art-style vibes with Keith Haring-inspired wall prints, neon signs, and ceiling-hung chicken figurines —”some edgy, some sweet,” says Renovátes —creating an immersive, playful atmosphere. Lucky Pollo and District Eagle maintain separate amenities for their respective customers.
Lucky Pollo opened last week with a competition to devour a whole rotisserie chicken in the fastest time, with the winner earning $1,000 and a framed spot on the restaurant’s “Wall of Fame.” The opening also featured other games and prizes, and a full crowd spilling out the door.
“We want it to be a great place to eat, but also serve as a playful front for something completely unexpected.” Renovátes says.
On weekends especially, he jokes, the motto will be, ‘Come for the chicken, stay for the cock.’”
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