Come Together: Sashay-Shantay Hosted by Nicole M. Smith

This program will include discussions of sexuality and gender.

The evening may contain flickering effects and sudden changes in pitch, tone, and volume.

For information about accessibility or to request additional accommodations for this program, call 612-375-7564 or email access@walkerart.org.

For more information about accessibility at the Walker, visit our Access page.

Roxanne Anderson is a radio host and DJ who believes vital, visible transgender leaders of color can make our communities stronger. Rox intends to be that kind of leader in Minnesota by helping shape and create places where LGBTQIA+ people thrive. To assume this position of leadership, Rox seeks a deeper understanding of the community’s needs and mentoring to build unity among people and organizations serving transgender people of color. Through the Bush Fellowship, Rox will develop business acumen and credentials, work with coaches to articulate a healthy leadership development plan and form connections across the country with transgender leaders of color.

Internationally known, Minnesota-grown RedBone is one of the biggest names in burlesque. She began traveling the world as one of the Wham Bam Thank You Ma’ams, backing up the infamous Foxy Tann in her quest for world domination in 2005. RedBone has been featured at Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend and is the 2019 reigning “Princess of Burlesque” of the Miss Exotic World competition at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender in Las Vegas. RedBone is celebrated as one of 21st Century Burlesque Magazine’s Top 50 Most Influential Industry Figures (2016–2023). She is the owner of Cyclone Enterprises, a production company focused on Black, Brown & Queer Fringe Arts Entertainment, producing Moist – An All Black Erotic Cabaret at Oasis SF. She is also cofounder of The Nudie Nubie Show – An Amateur Reveal, established in 2013.

Radical Healing Artist and Organizer Nicole M. Smith has experience and expertise in using artistic methods to address trauma, difficult experiences, and injustice to unravel dynamics of disempowerment, oppression, and systemic methods of control. Smith has crafted her aesthetic by fusing Theater of the Oppressed, Art of Hosting, Mindfulness, Supportive Listening, and the Amplification of Muted Voice(s). She does this through lecture, performance, teachings, and workshop/residency design and partnerships. Her work has been experienced at the International Federation of Settlement Houses in Berlin and the Youth Services of America Conference in Houston; and she was recognized by Intermedia Arts as a Changemaking Artist. In 2016, she was honored to have been invited to the White House (under Obama’s Administration) for her work in the Bisexual/Queer Community.

Jamez L. Smith (DJ Jam E.Z.) is a San Francisco performer based in Minneapolis. He is a poet who has been spinning vinyl records for decades. Smith’s selections can be heard on KRSM 98.9 FM in South Minneapolis, where he hosts two weekly record shows (7–9 pm): the 80s inspired “Same As It Ever Was” on Mondays; and “Groovement,” a soulfully eclectic journey, on Wednesdays.

African American AIDS Task Force (AAATF) provides culturally specific prevention, education, and services to people of African descent who are living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS. For more information on services and resources, please visit the AAATF website.