Black & Boujee Will Be ‘A Party With A Purpose’

Photo of Black & Boujee cast members | Used with permission from Robyn Banks.

Tomorrow, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Robyn Banks, in conjunction with IMPULSE NYC, is hosting Black & Boujee, a “party with a purpose,” at Hush (HK) - completely free of charge, despite having 18 performers.

Black & Boujee is a variety show and will highlight some performers who may have not been given the opportunity to perform at well-known queer establishments such as The Stonewall Inn, The Q bar, etc. “It would be good to introduce the cast to new audiences,” she said.

The entire cast of the variety show are people of color (POC).

“I don’t believe in asking people to provide their talent for free,” Banks said and added, “I believe there is so much POC talent in New York and I wanted to showcase as much of it as I could. In the show, we have an amazing combination of trans and non-binary representation, Drag Queens, Kings, artists, burlesque, live singers, poets, dancers and pole dancers.”

In addition to paying performers, the budget allowed for a videographer, cameraman, a behind the scene person and two assistants.

Banks was born and raised in New York City and has been a part of the city's nightlife for the last thirteen years. She is using her voice and platform, along with IMPULSE NYC, to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS, encourage PrEP usage and to educate the community on other issues that affect LGBTQ+ people.

Photo of Black & Boujee promotional flyer | Used with permission from Robyn Banks.

In addition to this, she is the Director of Events at IMPULSE NYC, a nonprofit organization which aids and provides information to the community on topics such as safe sex, HIV Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U), pregnancy prevention, mental health, to name a few.

“We hold events, gatherings, and parties with hopes that when people leave, they leave with a message,” New York City drag queen and Director of Events at IMPULSE NYC, Banks said.

“With me knowing that black history month was approaching, I had planned and put together an 18 person variety show called Black & Boujee,” Banks said, “As someone who is a queer Black person and Drag Queen, I felt like i needed to use my voice and my platform to really get the word out, and to challenge people to make those changes as well.”

For example, she highlights a recent CDC study issued on World AIDS Day that stated new HIV infections decreased in white men who have sex with men (MSM), there has been an increase in Black and Latinx MSM; PrEP awareness and usage was higher among white MSM while there was still a high stigma with Black and Latinx MSM.

“I figured I could use this event to educate audience members,” Banks said, adding that she wanted to “challenge them to really get the conversation going, all while enjoying a show.”