ABOUT ISSUE 03
No One in Philadelphia opens with a question disguised as a premise: What does it mean to know a city? Not to visit it, sample it, or pass through, but to truly reckon with its weight, its contradictions, and the generosity of its queer scene.
The issue moves through time as much as it moves across the city. “The Queer Sounds of Philadelphia” outlines the sonic lineage of the scene through DJ Delish's selection of ten tracks; a playlist that doubles as a history lesson. “Philly Ballroom and Black Queer Nightlife,” by madison moore, traces the living genealogy of a Ballroom scene that has shaped global culture for over 30 years.
Unexpected turns into enveloping worlds are inevitable. “Underground Cuir Perreo” by Cynthia J. Román Cabrera maps where Spanglish, desire, and the politics of carving out joy collide on the dance floor. “Philly's Go-To 'Hole'“ drops you into a different format entirely: a comic based on many true stories, blending fiction with anecdote to tell an after-hours folklore.
The issue then asks harder questions about what keeps a scene alive, and at what cost. “Playing to Survive” by Eden Alison and “Raving, Refreshed” by Alice Siyuan Zhao look at the labor and economics underneath the party: who foots the bill, who builds to remember, and who keeps going anyway. “Capitalism Is Dead. The Party Can Save Us.” by AIVO takes that tension further, asking how nightlife might play a more prominent role in political revolution.
Identity is examined both tenderly and soberly. “Becoming Icon Ebony-Fierce” gives 14 years of queer and drag nightlife a voice and a face. “Is Music the Answer?” by Kyle Firestone reflects on five years of organizing the party Polari, measuring what music can, and cannot hold. “It's On the House” by Vi?t Raider-Hoàng turns to the collective Bounce House, and the notion of hospitality as a refreshing ethos in nightlife space-making.
The issue closes outside, at the edge: concrète’s infamous pier-rave. “A Slab of Reality” by Arien Wilkerson and Y?suke Araki takes raving to the city’s periphery, where the marginalized unite for musical joy and personal change.
While no publication can hold everything a city carries, we hope this one holds enough. To make you feel Philly. And to make you want to know more.
NO ONE CORE TEAM
Vi?t Raider-Hoàng, Jeremy Raider-Hoàng
EDITORIAL DESIGN
Hanna Karraby, Vi?t Raider-Hoàng, Jeremy Raider-Hoàng
PROOFREADER
Tom Biddulph
LOCAL ADVISORS
Mars Edwards (ONEELEVEN), Kyle Firestone, Patito M., Icon Ebony-Fierce, DJ Delish, Bob Skiba, John Anderies, Jonas Raider, David Sleasman
CONTRIBUTORS
Bread Tarleton, DJ Delish, madison moore, Cynthia J. Román Cabrera, Eden Alison, Alice Siyuan Zhao, Icon Ebony-Fierce, AIVO, Kyle Firestone, Arien Wilkerson, Y?suke Araki
COVER STICKERS COURTESY OF
THE “HOLE,” PUMPDABEAT, DAWTA, SAZÓN, Against The Grain, Refresh, CURFEW, Snatcherella 3000, SUB ZERO, Polari, Bounce House, concrète