Last night, Liniker became the first transgender artist to perform a solo stadium show in Brazil.
It is estimated that more than 40,000 people were in attendance.
On this day in 1992, we lost Marsha P. Johnson. ๐ธ๐ณ๏ธโโง๏ธ
A Black trans activist, drag queen and self-described "saint of Christopher Street," Marsha was at the very front of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
She was there at the Stonewall uprising in 1969, marched in the first Pride the following year, and co-founded STAR alongside Sylvia Rivera, giving food, shelter and family to homeless queer and trans youth when almost no one else would. Later, as the AIDS crisis tore through her community, she showed up again, caring for the sick and fighting with ACT UP.
4th July, 1844 โ Edmonia Lewis was born.
Edmonia was the first professional black sculptor and one of the most celebrated neoclassical sculptors of her time.
โThe Death of Cleopatraโ is one her most recognised works. It depicts the famous Cleopatra in the moment of her death.
Edmonia Lewis was the first sculptor of African American and Native American (Mississauga) descent to achieve international recognition. Her father was Black, and her mother was Chippewa (Ojibwa) Indian.
Orphaned at an early age, Lewis grew up in her motherโs tribe where her life revolved around fishing, swimming, and making and selling crafts. In 1859 she attended Oberlin College in Ohio, one of the first schools to accept female and Black students. She developed an interest in the fine arts, but an accusation of poisoning, probably racially motivated, forced Lewis to leave the school before graduating. She traveled to Boston and established herself as a professional artist, studying with a local sculptor and creating portraits of famous antislavery heroes.
Moving to Rome in 1865, she became involved with a group of American women sculptors and began to work in marble. Sculptors usually hired local workmen to carve their final pieces, but Lewis did all her own stonework out of fear that if she didnโt, her work would not be accepted as original.
In addition to creating portrait heads, Lewis sculpted biblical scenes and figural works dealing with her Native American heritage and the oppression of Black people.