Greetings and salutations you know you cant have music without heart slight revolution without dancing. And if you want to talk heart music revolution youre talking about Taylor Alexander out of Atlanta Georgia was watching the hawks strikes a chord. With me larry alexander. Was called one. Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha. Ha ha. Working for the man. Who makes the money but it dont make sense given pay an excuse thats all you want to these days was 6 as climbing of the ladder. As like you do with the eyes on. The pond and they came out and never make it out of the business of the top of the mountain and theres really nothing missing peoples wakefields nobody eats please give me a. Good fix just a really big. One shot. Piece the whole world. Could get to a close. One let me be a stone hawk. I should not cut. Ties is hard to conceive just good this machine made for me if you our viewers good you thought it was about the work but. Its not about oh i dont step out to everybody who wants to have a good time. Visit to the top of their map tell. This is related to deceiving people is misleading nobody keeps me going to hate. Me doesnt really. Want to be so bold about. You. I suppose he. Came a slow leak. At the big client and the big smile it makes one it might make a. Claim. He was showing you aint got the problem raises their places but you get to keep the trophy apollo upon me i can trust you on its own people to guess no because as you know. It doesnt really pay. The full. Length of. The plus side it doesnt really. Get the whole world. To. Consume. But if it is snowing you. Think your. Taylor alexander. One of the hardest working drag queens in Atlanta Georgia. She is. A drag reformer a Community Organizer a proud parent of 2 kept. And. Its really about creating art that people can connect to i know thats very cliche but i think for people who kind of share my background and my various identities finding something that they can connect to is really important i want to ask what is a d. I. Y. Performance artist as and what is a do it yourself performance artist and what was your journey to become one. Performance artist is a fancy way of saying that i do i create most of everything that i do so with my music i write i produce a creative director. Im my own from owner and manager theres no force or label thats behind me to push my music im the driving force. And really that d reflects itself in every single aspect of my life you know being a performer in atlanta being a Community Organizer a lot of what i do is grassroots from the roots from starting with nothing ending up with something and knowing that you know its all uniquely organic in a way and its also a way for me to be a control freak so you know everything comes back to me i accept the appraisingly applause but i also know like if i mess up i have full accountability for that 0 its all on you whether the succeed or the failed it all comes down to you with your on me all the. Let me when the music 1st touch you wondered when did that suddenly you said you know what its music thats what i really its one of those i really want to work so when i really feel like i can get who i am inside out through music one of the like feeling vibe inspiration 1st to you. Well ive always been making music i didnt seriously start creating music until 2015 you know back in Like Elementary School i took piano lessons i was in the chorus i did all those things ive been. Writing songs since i was 7. But yeah i didnt start seriously you know saying im gonna sit down learn how to produce learn how to you know be a full well rounded musician as well 2015 and i think its because music allowed me to express myself in certain ways that other parts of my life couldnt even doing drag you know with you know being a drag performer off to sing other peoples creations. And theres a certain limitation with that and there were certain things that i couldnt say in my day job i couldnt say at my night job being a drag queen. I mean in music really. Kind of like made it known to me and. Allowed me to. Talk to me a little bit about your music what do you want like you know the 1st track to recenter to be able to perform what do you want people to take away from that what would you want to inspire and people would listen to your music i always want to create music where people. I usually say i want people to dance to but also to think so i love dance music as you know a black person as a queer person and dance music has often been the driving force of a lot of different aspects of our cultures. But i want to create music where people can listen to it maybe here in a 2nd time here like a lyric again oh thats thats thats real like i want them to like really and i think that thats what i strive to do with my music. You mention Community Organizing a couple times women when did you start getting into Community Organizing you know that activism giving Something Back and what inspired you to get into that part of you know its a little bit out of something with your problem in your life and work oh yeah i think it all start when i moved to atlanta in 2011 im born and raised in georgia but i moved in 2011 to go to Georgia State university for college and so i started getting involved with local. Organizations i started getting involved with a lot of the differently seen and so my Community Organizing background arose from wanting to be involved because where im originally from griffen georgia is a population of like 3400 people its really small i was raised on a 400 acre fire and so there was no Clear Community there was no kind of Like Community for people who express themselves and experience life like myself so i wanted to do whatever i could when i moved to the big city to give back and so that you know start off as a volunteer ing and then it went into performing and then also just uniquely finding how performance are in our in general can create ways to advocate being activists i think sometimes when we say the word activist we think about you know you had to be lobbying you have to be up in the senate you have to be up in all these different forms of government when really. The most radical changes that we can have in our communities day to day grassroots and very d. I. Y. And so thats kind of where i found myself being a part of Community Organizing because change really comes at a local level really i mean the things that we want there are National Things that we want theres theres world things that we want to see change politically Community Wise but really its starting to starting right about local level we see a problem in front of you and them doing something about it to try to fix it. You grew up as you say you know in this small town 3500 people what was the love i mean did you know that like you know what this is who i am and im proud to be growing up in the town of like 3500 people you know was there any kind of acceptance through you are like what was that journey like it was maybe its just me being an aquarius but i just really didnt care it was you know i came out and 8th grade the 1st time i came out because of the ongoing process i came out of 8th grade in high school i was the 1st person ever started a Gay Straight Alliance at my High School Even though i hadnt fully come out like my parents you know i come out like friends for years and it just i knew what i needed and i knew what i would want to see happen and whether that has turned repercussions was completely 2nd to anything. You know being in a small town you have a lot of eyes on you you know you go to the local walmart or the local Grocery Store the flea market and people talk about things and so its a very small fishbowl kind of community. But i think here i mean what i need to do and whether that got me in trouble with the principal or my parents didnt really care for all that well for other kids out there like you you know growing up in a Small Community or at least a close minded community you know what advice would you give them in terms of. You know whether its coming out or just you know how to make you know how to make their Community Better understand what their goal in the room and how wonderful they are well i think what we talk about. You know people in kind of more vulnerable situations and like smaller communities i think sometimes we forget about safety a lot of the narrative is come out and you know because youll be more honest in things like that thing thats a terrible framing i think people should mind their safety in a space where youre youre you might be physically or emotionally or mentally you know harmed if you come out mind yourself like take care of yourself 1st. But also. Being out sometimes in small spaces in communities like that can really. Just bring up a whole new community can really show to other people hey theres somebody else like me and we can form some kind of general bond. But i definitely think in terms of like Small Community sometimes you have to mine your own and take care of yourself and then eventually once you get a proper footing you can develop some kind of like connection to a community and build from there i. Im going to fulfill the repeated promises apologise to the people i promise to be you know we its all bots to. Be ready for a. Pretty good group. Now you want to 1st crack that. No. No. Balls be cut. Social and i as a nation from which position each of us and investors but at the. Grocery i think oceans im up for from just loaded into the truck to improve for. Each of my pins guys you have to try to accomplish what you claim i will. Do is because of global was going to have to close to this need so that in your voice you just a must have looked like the funniest movie in the sport of the funny new fighting under the sofa cushion up. The left coast the portion of thats 4 to 6 months because of the sound. Join me every socially on the alex simon short and ill be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business im showbusiness ill see you. Being from the south when you talk about being you know. And. You always hear about its amazing in new york its amazing california its amazing in seattle chicago the south its only talked about queer and transmedia or in the context of you know theres the statistics you know atlantas rising hiv rates or you know queer Homeless Youth rates or things like that were always. Sticks and were never fully humanized the south east the south region of the United States has the largest population of queer and trans people in america we have so many historical figures and moments and figureheads we have our own stonewall we have so many vibrant communities that are constantly negated under this idea that the south is incredibly conservative and it definitely isnt certain pockets but to completely erase the existence and the reality of a and entire you know quarter of the nation. Is harmful i think and so thats part of why a southern fried where pride came up because we see ourselves our president in media we didnt see ourselves as you know black and brown queer and trans you poor peoples sex workers. Reflected we needed to build community in that regard and so we started in 2014 and its been 5 amazing years of Building Community because there wasnt. Enough for us. As marginalized people. From the from so from the outside looking in like you know what do you think is like one of the biggest misconceptions you know of community you must solve what do you know for folks never even realize that exists and that its so strongly about what do you think its a bigger misconception is that if youre going to struggle with even to get into music oh well i think. I think people have a major misconception that. Were all miserable that were all just waiting for some kind of like savior to come along and save us from the south we dont need to be safe from the south i think yeah this idea that southern people are just so overly oppressed by republicans and conservatives and whatnot. Which does play out sometimes and Political Races and things like that. The idea they were miserable and that we need saving we dont need saving we just need assistance we need respect and we need to be thought of a considered as legitimate communities. And i think in terms of like me when putting my music out there you know obviously a beautiful drag queen and a few i think a lot of people think that drag is very limited and it only exists in one kind of form of live thinking top 40 hits and then performing in bars and clubs and so when you put that on top of being without is just like. You know how it is even work i think people think that you have to make some kind of great. To new york city where you find yourself and love yourself and thats not the case i want to stay at the wall file so that land where my life when you sit down when you sit down to write a song you know what youre doing ok youre what do you look for you know what inspires you just song by song as a conversation you had or is it just thoughts were going around youre like what what does that process when you sit down and say ok im going to put pen to paper put it over figure out how to make a hit song i it varies you know sometimes ill get like a melody stuck in my head and ill take my voice. And be like this is a song youre going create and so i like you know i record that i build upon it sometimes as a phrase so like the song one started off with a phrase that i thought about what does one mean and it was right after i had read invisible man by Ralph Ellison and so there is a portion of that book that talks about where that coming here to work from like a paint factory and the trying to make the purest form of white and any kind of a little dot of anything which is completely messed up and thought about like you know what are some situations where i feel like the one that messes up the situation or the one being encroached on by a whiteness so really its just like you know it can be anything you know melody can be a phrase it can be a certain kind of feeling. I get inspiration from anything really. This song is called. And its. Probably you dont know. If. Youve got questions lets take a 2nd because you. Posted. This show. On the screen. It was because. You need to log disconnect take some time just so. You need to log off just and that takes time to so. This is how you do you. Think is trying to show you. Because how do you take. Me is trying to change. A clock out you thought you were out you. Need to log all this takes time to so because how do you. Do you can. Say oh my god how do you. Do you need to log off. Because how do you. Do you. Think you. Log off literally i was like scrolling on and facebook you know as one. Hours and you dont see anything and its like reading people statuses i just you know. Didnt really say anything and its like i feel like people sometimes think they can solve all their so problems with social media and thats just not the case so literally i was like you need to log off you need to disconnect and i was like. This could work into something and so at that time when i was writing the songs on my 1st hologram. A lot of the songs already talking about like ways that we kind of communicate to the world outside like we think we know who we are internally thats great but trying to communicate to the world to be like social Media Technology just like person to person interactions. With logoff it was really about you know. Are we actually affectively communicating who we are to the world outside is the algorithm that were all playing into really like doesnt mean anything if they completely delete instagram or facebook where we are like where would your self value be as a person and d. Lake form self value as a person on the internet or is it like in here within you it was just a lot of questions i had i thought i had the answer is. Yes like a lot of who is me to logoff disconnect and take some time to self reflection to great salt its a really great song its a great message you know its interesting because it also kind of in that internet world or in that you know online world that we exist in you know i think its easy to talk about the enemies its easy to draw a lot of a better word if you talk about those who would stand against us whether it be our you know our religion our gender or sexuality or whatever may be a lot of people can stand against us but them at the same time allies are an interesting kind of mix too because while a lot of people kind of say amen ally i changed my avatar to be this picture or you know i. Dont think online and you know but you know what should allies really like how can allies truly help how can they truly make a difference when theyre fighting for a cause you know beyond just kind of giving you a verbal hey youre doing great youre on i believe in you. I think you know this is something ive always had conversations around because you know theres a lot of people who are really fervent supporters of any kind of marginalized community you know when you think about. A community you think about how some people think that the last or that you know in the black lives Matter Movement that it wouldnt be successful without you know the allies and i think you know even as like a marginalized person within myself obviously i dont get to meet all the i didnt in the world so obviously im an ally to other people i think if youre in a situation where youre trying to support a movement or marginalize community and you constantly hear your words your voice more than others youre probably. Shouldnt be happening i think sometimes you have to listen and show up and not so much be heard i think sometimes ally ship is very performative is very a look at me im doing this i use all the pronouns i showed up to the protest i made a sign im like agree but like. You know you need to sometimes take a seat back and realize that you know whatever community your cause that youre trying to be an ally to these are very harsh real lived i didnt use them realities and taking up space and talking over people and trying to perform being an ally honestly i think sometimes i dont even like the word ally i think sometimes that you should just be a decent human being in this should be expected things that we have people like you shouldnt get like a trophy for like showing up for like women and you shouldnt get a trophy for showing up for like i dont know where trans people you shouldnt you know just be like natural things that just come from being a decent human being but you know i think that also asked me to you know what you are going to say thank you for saying that because its one of the things the black i see a law amongst in all the kind of Ally Community and things like that im like you guys are you stop performing for yourselves you know stop performing serious selves actually see how you can truly help people and elevate other voices not your own what your popularity does not help. You. You know but. The other question i have because its fascinating to me and you know its great talking to someone who is right out there both artistically impersonally and making a difference in this world like yourself youre putting out really great music and you put yourself out there that takes a lot of courage and can also take some tonne of creativity and you have both. You know so i want to kind of finish up and ask you this and its an interesting question that opposed quite a bit to other musicians who sat across from me in these chairs what do you want your legacy to be. Theres no right or wrong answer you. Know i think my legacy. I want to. When i eventually disappear and turn into like a pile of glitter i want to be remembered as somebody who. Really tried to leave things better than when at what i have found you know even if the smallest change ill be completely grateful i want to be remembered as somebody who love the art of you know southern where entranced people who was always trying to create spaces when they when there werent any and so as long as like that attached to my legacy thats totally you know i think. Theres this great quote from dorian corey in paris is burning and i think its actually the quote and. Shes like you be shooting the arrow and it goes are a high rate for you and i think thats really you know i i dont really get caught up and wondering whos going to remember me when i when i die i think i focus more slay what am i going to actively being right now being the person the people in the you know my being the person that i need myself to be and as long as im very present right now i think the legacy will inform itself and that is our show for you to remember everyone in this world we are not told that we are loved and so i tell you all i love you tyrrel but you are watching the hawks have a great day and night everybody. Seemed wrong. Just. Yet to shape our. Attic and engage with equals betrayal. When so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. The European Union closes its external borders for a month and a bit to limit the spread of covert 90 forces a nationwide log down our correspondent experiences what its like. I need to be leaving this is also being told the thing. Thats so to say i think. The World Health Organization urges countries to take a leaf out of beijings book and impose tougher restrictions to fund the pandemic is the situation in china itself begins to ease. With the world too distracted by covert 19 a controversial bill that critics say would practically