Pretty Persuasion
Beauty Slays the Beast was omnipresent last fall, with members of the mostly female activist group parading in politically charged masks, organizing a multipronged music and performance-art festival and urging voter registration at local nightclubs. After the election, the collective disappeared from public view, surfacing only for a lone car wash-slash-garage sale. Behind the scenes, though, Beauty Slays the Beast was planning its second annual all-day bonanza.
“We decided to create an event that would help get people to care again and care more than they did before,” says member Skye Howard.
On Saturday, Beauty Slays the Beast presents Power to the People, a 12-hour event loosely based on old-school tent revivals. Doris Henson, KC5, the Afterparty, Andy Graham and the Moment Band, and E-Vent head the musical lineup, and Ernie Locke presides over the proceedings as a “preacher.” Break dancing, cabaret skits and burlesque routines round out the bill.
“We hope people will be moved to action,” says BSTB founder Sarah Beasley. “American people are good people, but they are just asleep. We want to wake these people up.”
A fundraiser for the auxiliary chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU2, Power to the People focuses on the Bill of Rights and the importance of free expression.
“It’s extremely important to keep the structure behind our liberties intact,” Howard says. “If they slip away while we’re not looking or because we suspend them in the name of security, our integrity and safety start to deteriorate.”
But Power to the People isn’t all about grim discussion of troubling topics. Howard touts the event’s carnival games, and Beasley promotes the cakewalk — stocked, she says, with “patriotic pastry treats made with love and passion by true, radical bakers.”
Beauty Slays the Beast might disappear for a while again after Power to the People, but it promises to re-emerge with another “big festival or inspirational ball, or whatever” next year, Howard says. In the meantime, Beasley adds, “We’ll be busy acting as watchdogs, town criers and hopefully leaders, too.”
