Support Toronto's Ballroom Community

(CAPTION FOR VIDEO)

Intro music

The Toronto Kiki Ballroom Alliance is a for-youth-by-youth grassroots organization, that started out of the need to bring ballroom arts into the community. Ballroom culture (as we know it) started in the 1960s through pageantry and performance, that's really glamourous, fun, really engaging and really affirming. A space where we go to do stuff, and be who we aren't allowed to be, anywhere else. So we're taking that element, and bringing into our community which is: LGBT, Black & Brown youth and allies. 

Ballroom is usually held in club spaces & 19+ spaces, so we had to amend some aspects of ballroom and create a safer way of delivering ballroom (programs) to youth and children in safer spaces like community centres & schools.

I really love the house & family values that ballroom presents. I think that I, who fortunately comes from a family of support (causes me to forget) that there are so many people who don't have that, and the TKBA provides that at no cost.

Each house has two leaders, usually a Mother & Father, and their job is to be a parental figure to the members of their houses; help with jobs, schools, and relationships, filling in the gaps in the lives of their house members. The majority of us, as Black Queer & Trans POC, do not have that privilege to speak to our parents about the things that we actually go through.

Music break - Showing clips from TKBA protest at Club120's closing

The fact that there's still a need for the same things that I was parenting for, and hoping that today we wouldn't have to deal with.. Wouldn't have expected, ten years ago, that ten years later, we would still have to be finding resources like this for our community. Now we have COVID on top of everything else we have to deal with and it's just heartbreaking. 

You know there's mental struggles, there's drugs struggles, we have real-life issues! There's homelessness, there's food insecurity! Some of these kids who you would think are thriving because of how they present, are still dealing with that ground issue of parenting, and not being able to be out & free at-home. They're still dealing with that.

I think over the ten years, what I've learned is that everyone is a star. What is lacking is nourishment and useful resources to make those dreams a reality. What brings me the most joy is watching the new kids walk into their light, and really become successful in getting jobs and work in fields that they really didn't think was possible.

With COVID being a tough time, and it probably wont' get easier any time soon.. It's important that we support each other to help take care of our mental health, take care of our physical health, and health right across the board.

Right now, we are doing fundraising for our Winter Series of virtual programming. We did one in the summer, and these programs were facilitated by people in our community for our community once again. So, we had a lot of people who haven't even taught or facilitated anything, do so for their first time and give it a shot, and engage our community safely. We will have more youth facilitate more programming within our community, give kiki houses support to look out for each other.

If you're looking for a way to show support to the Black, Trans, Queer, Young, Artist community, a community of people living on the margins, a community of people who are overlooked and in need, then look no further because the TKBA is on the front lines as a grassroots organization, definitely in the community and doing the work. If you're looking to donate, support us and your support will all go directly to the community.