Category: Iowa

New “Long Live Community!” showcases events, performers, audiences and organizers

Christine Hawes
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What’s a great way to honor and inspire community? Showing other communities in action! Long Live Community! is The Real Mainstream‘s new section devoted to pics and videos of intersectional, LGBTQ-affirming and progressive community events across Iowa and Illinois. Our first photo packages are from Davenport, Iowa City and Sioux City in Iowa, and Belleville, Buffalo Grove and Moline in Illinois. Take a peek at the event of your pick: In this new feature, you can submit pics and video of events you attended. You can submit pics and video…

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Juneteenth in Davenport (NEW: Long Live Community!)

Christine Hawes
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WHAT: Juneteenth Celebration WHERE: Davenport, IA WHO: Black-owned businesses and community groups celebrating the formal abolition of slavery in 1865. Coordinated by the Friends of MLK Davenport. WHEN: June 19, 2021 PHOTOS BY: The Real Mainstream Team

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Quad Cities Community Happenings (NEW: Long Live Community!)

TRM Team
quad cities community

WHAT: MICHELLE NIXON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUNDRAISING BRUNCH WHERE: Mary’s on 2nd, Davenport, IA WHEN: June 5, 2021 WHO: Community members, plus friends and family members of Michelle Nixon, honoring her for her community service as a member of the Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities and Quad Cities Pride Festivals. The event raised more than $5,000. PHOTOS BY: The Real Mainstream Team WHAT: OUTDOOR SERVICE AT METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF THE QUAD CITIES WHERE: Davenport, IA WHEN: Late April, 2021 WHO: Members of MCC of the QC, which is…

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From Sioux City to Iowa City (NEW: Long Live Community!)

Guest Writer
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WHAT: ECLIPSE NIGHTCLUB PRIDE PARTY WHERE: Sioux City, IA WHO: Queens, performers and community members celebrating Pride at Eclipse Nightclub & Cabaret. WHEN: June 5, 2021 PHOTOS BY: Vanessa Nevarez (Divine) WHAT: A night out at Studio 13 WHERE: Iowa City, IA WHO: Rio S. Suave and Corey Alan, founders of Key City Pride, and Studio 13 personalities WHEN: June 12, 2021 PHOTOS BY: Rio S. Suave, founder of Key City Pride

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Strong, sexy, busting stereotypes: “From My Lips to Yours” explores kink and leather

Bettie Rage
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The lightbulb moment. We’ve all had them, and mine was when a man walked up to me 21 years ago and asked to lick my boots. I have many loves and passions. Flowers (they are so beautiful, and bring a smile to my soul). Horror movies (can we please get some scary ones? come on!).  Make-up (I own enough of it to make you laugh or cry). Oh… and I am a Leather Woman that loves to play. In fact, I’m your current Ms. Iowa Leather. I’m an educator, and…

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Pride in Iowa expands to 70-plus events; artists are honored (Community Briefs-Iowa, June 4)

Christine Hawes
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IOWA — With communities like Monticello and Humboldt joining the Pride momentum, and events of all kinds proliferating to more than 70 now, Pride Month in Iowa continues to expand. Big events coming up in the next three days include a Comedy Night and Scavenger Hunt by Capital City Pride in Des Moines; Pride at Bass Street Landing in the Quad Cities, with drag performances, live music and education workshops Friday and Saturday; and a burst of events in Sioux City. Go to the Pride in Iowa link to see…

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Pride Season in Iowa: the definitive list of events

Christine Hawes
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IOWA — Des Moines and Dubuque are leading the way this year for Pride celebrations in Iowa, helping to fill out a Pride Season calendar of at least 70 online or in-person events hosted by an Iowa entity. Capital City Pride in Des Moines is hosting “30 Days of Pride” covering everything from the arts, to exercise and health, to dance and disco, to thoughtful discussions. Key City Pride in Dubuque has a week of events starting June 19 and is also collaborating with nearby communities in Illinois and Wisconsin.…

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George Floyd memorials today as police ethics face growing local, national questions

Christine Hawes
george floyd memorial

IOWA AND ILLINOIS — As the nation and several groups throughout Iowa and Illinois honor the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s videotaped murder at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, police ethics are under the spotlight anew both locally and nationally. And while Officer Derek Chauvin will serve life in prison for the murder of Floyd, more devastating videos of other Black men mistreated at the hands of police are joining with local police-related controversies to increase tension — all under the shadow of a federal partisan stand-off over…

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High school writers connect across chasms with Page Poetry Contest

Caleb Rainey
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IOWA CITY — With the 2020 murder of George Floyd, and the trial of the officer who killed him, a program I started as a high school writing program has become an escape, an outlet, and a way to deal for the young writers who are participating. Page Poetry Contest Winners from IC Speaks Over the past year, IC Speaks and our members have dealt with a pandemic, and an explosion of political conversation happening worldwide. In some cases, I had BIPOC students writing pieces about the anger and pain…

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White Male Fear: Problem & Solutions (Letter to the Editor)

Guest Writer
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To the Editor: Our country and our community has a White Male Fear Problem. Not all, but too many, white males think this country belongs to them: it doesn’t. They think men are superior to women: they aren’t. They think the problems in our communities are due to minorities: the problems in our communities are due to systemic racism and oppression of the poor (which includes, ironically, poor white males). They think – no, the problem really is that they don’t think: they merely judge from a position in our…

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