Jason Howard Green

Jason Howard Green

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Nona Hendryx: Social Justice Warrior


First time I saw Nona Hendryx perform live, it was on Live at the Apollo.  I didn't know who she was. I didn't know she previously shared the stage with Patti LaBelle as one third of the LaBelle girl group. I did not know at that point that she already had over two decades in the music game.  What I did know was that I was being blown away by the performance happening before me.

The song was Winds of Change (Mandela to Mandela).  I was young and closeted but I was oddly attracted to Nona and this song.  This was before the internet so I had no way of researching her.  But I did know when the show would be airing again and I grabbed a tape so I could record this performance on the VCR so I could watch it over and over again.

It would be years later when I say her performing again [and this time the internet was available] that I researched her.  What did I learn?  I learned about her tenure with LaBelle.  I learned that she has a history of activism taking up issues like Apartheid, HIV/AIDS and LGBT rights.  In 2001, in an interview with The Advocate, she discussed why likes to an advocate of equality but does not like to talk about her personal life. The article when she was asked how she can be out but uncomfortable with disclosing and she replied about her life, "It's an open book, really. I don't want to brand myself one way or another. I'm attracted to men and women. People want to lump you into a group."

Please check my all-time favorite performance of hers below (I still get goosebumps when I hear this dedication to Nelson Mandela) . . .

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