Honoring the life of Benjamin
The love that won't shut up
By Susan Tomlinson
Atlanta, Ga.
Performer/songwriter Benjamin was remembered by
a funeral parade of hundreds on Feb. 6 in Atlanta. Born Robert
Curtis Dickerson, Benjamin died at the age of 39. Benjamin, who
had been in a number of innovative bands, was best known for
his role as vocalist in The Opal Foxx Quartet and, most
recently, Smoke.
A truck full of musicians led 350 participants
through the Little Five Points neighborhood.
A large pink banner proclaimed "The Love That
Won't Shut Up," referring to a 1993 release by The Opal Foxx
Quartet. The song title put a humorously defiant spin on the
now-famous reference to homosexual love as "the love that dare
not speak its name" during the Oscar Wilde trials.
Throughout the funeral procession drum
majorettes and drag queens walked side by side with children
and masked mourners. Marchers shouted, sang and blew party
horns under a partly cloudy sky. They tossed condoms decorated
with Benjamin's image to crowds of onlookers. A trail of
confetti littered the 1.5-mile-long parade route.
Benjamin sang of life in a raw, often
startling, sometimes comic, yet always beautiful way. His
influence was far-reaching, profoundly affecting the local
music scene and nationally known artists. Punk icon Patti Smith
wrote a song for him.
"I learned it all from that drag queen," said
photographer and musician Chris Verene. "I learned how to say
drag queen. I learned how to love myself from Benjamin and the
world he introduced me to."
"He was fearless," said clarinetist and
long-time friend Dana Trotsky. "He wanted to show the world
that it didn't matter--that people shouldn't care" about gender
identity or sexual orientation.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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