When good friend and clan member, Mistress Maddie's #1 Fan moved from Midtown Manhattan to Brooklyn, it was an eye-opening experience for me. All the years of clubbing and partying was mostly in the bounds of Mid and Uptown. Who knew Brooklyn was so hip and cool? And who knew that it also was brimming with the freshest and new breed of drag queens at that time, who weren't as polished or old school queens, but the likes of Aja, Sal-e, Kandy Muse, Meatball, and Maddelyn Hatter, were bringing new styles, of dark gothic, club kid realness, and banjie to the scene. One queen who blew me away was that of Junior Mintt. Talk about a memorable experience. Before the shutdown, Junior Mintt was one of the most booked and busy queens in the Brooklyn/Bronx drag scene. Junior Mintt's weekly shows were like a "queer church" full of confetti, balloon pops, laughter, costume reveals, comedy mixes, motivational speaking, political statements, great music and above all-respect for all. Junior gives off the same energy as Issa Rae's mirror talks on Insecure. They leave you feeling empowered, educated and, if you haven't fully recognized your privilege, she may read you. This Brooklyn based queen has made it her mission to spread a message of Black trans power through her live performance. Junior graduated in 2017 from a very small liberal arts school in Boston. Acting on the sense that she needed to make her voice heard, she moved to the big apple like many other queens, where she was immediately drawn to drag shows. What she loves about drag most is that she can tailor every detail of her performance, from messaging to hairstyle...sews her own outfits, does her own mixes, does her own hair and will continue to use her stage for education and make political statements. Who says a show can't be highly camp, entertaining, full of hilarity and send a powerful message? If we were to see a Stonewall riot again...this bitch just may be the one throwing the first brick.
