Conorsthoughtscom.files.wordpress.com



Hannah Hart Was Not A ‘Drag’ At PSU Berks: Internet celebrity headlines night of awareness and celebration for LGBTQ+ communityBy Conor BirminghamWhere else could someone see drag queens lip singing rap songs, a television and web celebrity giving a motivational talk, and a Penn State Berks student dancing to a Beyoncé song?The NOISE Concert, held on April 27, provided all that and more during a stressful time, the week before final exams. Taran Rickard, who is a first-year student and computer science major, said the event was “the chance to relax while forgetting my worries for a couple of hours.”Communication Arts and Science Associate Professor Dr. Cheryl Nichols organized the event. In an email, she wrote that the concert was held in collaboration with “the national Day of Silence … a day of activism, to spread awareness of voices (of LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities) that are lost or made silent due to harassment, bullying, prejudice, and discrimination. The NOISE event, which happens at the end of the Day of Silence, celebrates those marginalized voices that are heard or that struggle/fight to be heard.”The concert featured: The Cabaret All-Stars (drag entertainers), We Are Reading dancers, and celebrity Hannah Hart. Members of The Cabaret All-Stars emceed the event that started with their members dancing and singing to popular and classic songs, then progressed to Hart’s discussion on who she is, what she does, and why she is here.Hart was introduced as an author of two books, an actress and producer for a movie, a member on the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, an advocate of the LGBTQ+ community, and an entertainer on YouTube for over 2.5 million people.Her talk started with how she grew up in San Francisco but experienced some problems.“Now California is a relatively liberal state, but my family and I were really religious,” Hart said, “like cross on my chest religious.”This became a challenge for her because when she was attending the University of California, she started to experience some changes in her sexuality and felt that she had started to lose God whom she had a strong relationship with.“I started experimenting with both guys and girls,” Hart said. “I had to see what I liked and didn’t,” she added, drawing laughter.Hart got her start on YouTube by just submitting a video online so her friends could see it because back then people could not simply send a link to others. “If technology was different, and I could just send a link to my friends I might not be standing up on this stage today,” Hart said.She explained how she eventually accepted who she was and became comfortable with it but still had trouble coming out to her family.On YouTube, however, she told her followers she was gay, even though she feared the backlash that could potentially follow.After almost two years on the site, she decided to make it a full-time gig and committed to YouTube and her series “My Drunk Kitchen” which receives the most views among her videos.She then developed a series called “Hello Harto: The Tour Show” which was a project that gave food to local communities all over the country.It was not until recently that she “focused on being a voice for the LGBTQ community.”She felt that once she had built up her following, it was time to start really giving back and helping others that really need it. Following the talk, a Q&A section opened the floor for any audience member to ask Hart a question.Once the Q&A was done, the drag entertainers again came out to entertain the audience with different members singing songs and the dancers getting a chance to show off their moves.Phillip Matundan, a first-year Health & Human Development major, got to join with the entertainers and dance to Beyoncé, much to the crowd’s amusement.He was so good that one of the drag queens exclaimed, “That was the first time we did something like that and they were actually good!”The entertainers wrapped up their show by thanking Nicholas for setting this event up because, “Without her, we wouldn’t be here.”Nicholas and the Rainbow Alliance are responsible for the event where students of the Alliance worked the event.Students from CAS 470 also worked the concert and, prior to the event, tried to come up with different ways of communicating to spread the message about the Day of Silence.“The Rainbow Alliance (members) were the ones who picked her (Hannah Hart) for this event with many of them being fans of her,” Nicholas said. “In class they read articles on the efficacy of ‘silence’ as a tool for activism.”Nicholas worked with Angela Cuva, assistant director of campus life, who is in charge of the Arts & Lecture series to set up the Noise Concert. The sponsors for the event were the Arts & Lecture Series, The Guest Lectures Endowment, and the Communication Arts & Sciences program. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download