Music. Visibility. Pride. Expressions.
MVPX is a new, bi-monthly speaker series, brought to you by LGBA as a service to our members. Speakers will present a variety of lectures and masterclasses on a wide range of topics and current events relating to their work, LGBTQ+ music, as well as the world around us and how current events affect our work as a community organization.
Anthony R. Green is a composer, performer, and social justice artist who uses music performance and other avenues such as lecture, scholarship, and event organization to keep certain topics, like those of racism, transgender issues, intersectional Black queer issues, Black citizens murdered by police officers and other timely topics. In 2013, he co-founded Castle of Our Skins, a concert and educational series dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music. Castle of Our Skins holds public events for audiences of all ages and backgrounds that introduce concepts and issues pertaining to black artistry as well as music composed by black composers, working with various creatives such as spoken word artists, dancers and movement artists, fashion designers, culinary artists, historians, poets and writers, visual and multimedia artists, textile artists, and more.
The general dominance of white supremacists and hetero normative social thought and behavior had an impact on how Anthony grew up, and who he is today. These incidents of shaming lead to fear… fear of being Black. Fear of being queer. Fear of any kind of otherism, that many still feel today. However, for Green, one of the best aspects about growing up, maturing, researching the plethora of contributions from great Black and queer musicians throughout history and geography, and coming into his own identity was the freedom to be who he was fearlessly, boldly, without regard to bigots.
As a thought leader and a social justice artist, Anthony wants to, as the great Julius Eastman so articulately stated, be a musician to the fullest, a homosexual to the fullest and Black to the fullest, not just for himself and for his sanity, but also so that the next generations won’t go through some of the crippling psychological pain he experienced for the convenience of others.
