Aleksa Manila

Emcee

Aleksa Manila is Seattle’s sweetheart of social activism. As a genderqueer FilipinX immigrant, her passion lies in honoring and uplifting marginalized communities especially BIPOC and gender diverse people. Her early years started with HIV education and intervention targeting young Asian Pacific islander gay men. This commitment blossomed working closely with LGBTQ organizations like Public Health – Seattle and King County, Seattle Counseling Service, Lifelong AIDS Alliance, People of Color Against AIDS Network, Entre Hermanos, UTOPIA among others. Mx Manila is featured in the GLAAD and Emmy nominated documentary, Caretakers directed by Geena Rocero and produced by PBS.

Finding her platform as a performance drag artist, she focuses on the power of voice and visibility for human rights centered on LGBTQ history and legacy. She’s a sought after keynote speaker, expert panelist, fundraiser, auctioneer, moderator and emcee at various events extending the boundaries of the traditional queer venues – like Seattle City Hall, King County Superior Court, Filipino Community Center, University of Washington, Seattle University, Department of Health, Asian Counseling Referral Service, and Federal Bureau of Investigations, including the White House to name a few. From Miss Gay Filipino, Miss Gay Seattle and Empress of Seattle – she continues to champion communities and collectives that honor the diverse LGBTQ narrative – from Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera to Harvey Milk and Mama Jose. She has gained recognition through her selfless act of creating safe space for others – from Seattle Mayor’s Award for Outstanding Leader, Filipino Community of Seattle Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Leadership, Seattle Women’s Pride Champion Award, Greater Seattle Business Association’s Humanitarian Award for Community Leadership, Grand Marshal at the 40th Seattle Pride, and Jose (Sarria) Honors to name a few including being sainted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

In 2012, she founded Pride ASIA, a Queer and Asian collective whose mission is to celebrate, empower and nurture the multi-cultural diversity of the LGBTQ2+ communities through the Asian Pacific Islander lens. Through her respected networking and collaborative efforts, Pride ASIA has the honor of disbursing $25,000 to individuals impacted by COVID.

With her Master of Social Work from the University of Washington, she centers her professional expertise on harm reduction, equity and social justice. She is in private practice focused on LGBTQ BIPOC populations, including health advocacy and consultation, and as a Program Manager at Public Health – Seattle & King County. Mx. Manila is a past and present member of the International Court Council, Heir Emeritus and Heir-in-line-of-succession to Empress Nicole The Great de San Diego, Queen Mother of the Americas; and various advisory boards centered on diversity for the arts, health equity, public health and social work. She is an Ambassador for the “Drag Out To Vote” national campaign to educate LGBTQ representation in the polls this fall.

DeeJay HerShe

DJ Set

From Florida to Seattle, Deejay HerShe brings the sunshine vibes. Grooving with a mix of lounge, soul, funk, and worldly beats, she’ll make you move to the heart-thumping rhythms of house, hip-hop, afrobeats, ama piano, and disco. But her mission goes beyond the dance floor – she’s here to honor marginalized voices and spread joy through the power of funky music. Join the celebration and let the rhythm of change move your soul!

Tuxedo

DJ Set

“The only time you wear a Tuxedo is when it’s time to party.”

So said legendary West Coast player Snoop Dogg on the opening track of Tuxedo II. The blessing of the Doggfather was of special importance to Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One, whose second album found them at forefront of the new wave of gangster boogie – one that owes as much to G-funk as Pfunk. This is the territory of pre- and post-hydraulic low riders: a mélange of Cali boom-bap, analog synth bass and elegant funk that resonates truth and authenticity in an era where so many are faking it.

Bonding over a shared love of Chic, Parliament and the other signs in the greater funk Zodiac, Mayer Hawthorne (Aquarius) and Jake One (Taurus) were early predictors of the sea changes that American music would undergo in 2016. Their first release in March of 2015 debuted at #1 on iTunes America’s RnB charts, christened as “Dance floor catnip” by the Boston Globe, and “Pure disco-funk hot fire” by Okayplayer. The sophomore album on Stones Throw Records was premiered with a special performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and dubbed as “Straight-up funk magic” by Noisey. Considering their individual successes (Mayer’s four solo albums, Jake’s production work for the likes of Drake, Future, The Weeknd and De La Soul) and eight GRAMMY nominations between the two of them, it’s no surprise that their powers combined have yet again yielded an absolute slapper, perfect for dance parties in 2019 and beyond. Tuxedo’s body of work, while wholly original, is an exercise in honoring its forebears, recalling the futurefunk wobble of Zapp, Gap, Jam/Lewis and Junie Morrison, while nodding lyrically to Mtume, Jodeci and Cameo. The crystallization of the song’s concept comes courtesy of its message of universal love; thanks to the signature combination of soul and pop sensibility that have come to define Tuxedo’s hooks.

“This is celebration music…” says Mayer in a recent interview with NPR, one of the many outlets to cover Tuxedo’s rise – see NPR’s Tiny Desk. After all – the transcendental ritual of the party and the rippling self-affirmation of the funk are of one spirit: the spirit of self-love…of self-expression. Tuxedo’s music is a modern testament to unity and positivity in trying times. It is a reminder that the dance floor will always be there to welcome you, whoever you are.

Moses Sun

Artist

My work expresses blackness across multiple media platforms, laying bare my personal history, and humanity. I make drawings on paper and iPad, digital and analogue photographs, sculpture, and installations, then sample them and in the hip-hop ethos of “grinding” output them as relief sculptures, digital prints, video animations, games, and social media apps. I work intuitively, letting go of pretense so that the story reveals to the viewer an entry point, a beginning but never an end.

An exchange between my ancestors and I occurs with each studio session, breeding a ferocious need to visualize the connections I see between cultures and belief.  My work bears witness to my struggle to make sense of an inhumane world. The weight of years of chaotic personal, political, and social change has helped me to understand that much of my work is a visual meditation, searching for meaning when words fail.

I have turned my back on the worst parts of the European diaspora that colonized my mind, life, and art. I turn to African, Black, Latino, and Asian diasporas that have accepted me whole and given me strength when Whiteness has taken what it pleases, disposing of what it deemed too much and too loud.

Takiyah Ward

Artist

True Story

Sixth grade. I was working on a project for my history class, painting a model for an upcoming presentation. A glob of paint falls from my paint brush and onto a pair of play shoes that were below my desk. When I picked up the shoe to assess the damage, something happened.

That moment was the beginning of T-DUB Customs.

After that day I began to learn more about the world of sneaker customization. I was no stranger to the idea, having owned a number of airbrushed tees from fairs and festivals. Customization is what We do. But seeing art on sneakers was a game changer for lil ol me. I started practicing with the little bit of supplies I had. Learning how the paint can flex, or crack, on the varying canvas that is a sneaker.

Up until high school customizing was just a hobby. Then my classmates found out about my skill and started paying me to spice up there fits for school dances and events. This was my first taste at what business as a “customizer” could be. A lasting impression.

High school. College. Came home, worked 9-5’s unhappy. I had to put my skill aside to focus on school and work. I was starved for creativity. So in 2014 I took a leap of faith. I left my job and started making T-DUB a real thing. I was living at my moms at the time, my number one supporter, and it was in her living room I started taking my first orders. After a year of re- honing my skills, and setting up at local vendor markets to get my name out there in the city, hand painting t-shirts live for folks to see! I made it official. And in 2016, T-DUB Customs was born.

Since then, I’ve been featured at a number of vendor markets, done hundreds of custom orders from sneakers to skates to jeans to theater backdrops. When I say “you name it, I paint it” i mean that. My joy is bringing my customers visions to life, providing an avenue for us to revitalize old clothes sitting in our closets with nowhere to go. But we know where they cant go, the landfill.

The amount of textile waste we produce, in our attempts to be fashionable, is killing our planet. There is no way around this fact, our only option is for all of us to act in the opposite direction in as many ways as possible. I feel turning old clothes into something new through customization is one of many ways to slow the damages of fast fashion on our planet. And customization exercises the creative parts of the brain we all need to be using to make this world a better place.