Black & Blue: How the Politics of a Backstreet Boy Broke My Heart… Twice My favorite singer once promised never to break my heart. He lied horribly, and I’m still trying to pick up the pieces.

Idols grow older. Fans grow wiser.

Here’s what I learned when the Backstreet Boys’ music gave me life - and when one of them left me behind.

New essay on @medium.com. ⬇️

#BackstreetBoys #BSBArmy #Millennium25 #TimesSquare #MediumWriters #BlackWriters #Politics

medium.com/counterarts/...

Black & Blue: How the Politics of a Backstreet Boy Broke My Heart… Twice My favorite singer once promised never to break my heart. He lied horribly, and I’m still trying to pick up the pieces.

[3] That’s the story I tell in my new essay on
@medium.com - about fandom, betrayal, and finally outgrowing your heroes.

Read it here. ⬇️

medium.com/counterarts/...

#BackstreetBoys #Millennium25 #BSBArmy #MediumWriters #WritingCommunity #BlackWriters #Politics

a group of people are standing in front of an airplane and one of them is saying i want it that way ALT: a group of people are standing in front of an airplane and one of them is saying i want it that way

[1] In 1999, I was one of the screaming fans in Times Square when the Backstreet Boys dropped Millennium.

For a Black, queer teen like me, they weren’t just music - they were survival. 🧵

#BackstreetBoys #Millennium25 #BSBArmy

In 1999, I screamed in Times Square for the #BackstreetBoys.

In 2021, I pained seeing one of them embrace Trump.

Next on @medium.com, I share what it’s like when your teen idol betrays the very culture that made him famous.

This Tuesday.

#MediumWriters #BSBArmy #Millennium25 #WritingCommunity