KCUR Celebrates Fond Memories Of Downtown Soakie's Club

Here's the #TBT problem . . .

Anybody old enough to remember this part of town knows one thing for certain: Public radio newsies would've avoided this place like the plague. 

Kraske's part in this story is also hilarious if only because he would've gone ANYWHERE NEAR this kind of place when he was still going to work downtown. 

This dump was a classic dive that NOBODY ventured into without strictly being a part of that community and the pretend nostalgia imagines a history of progressive unity that NEVER existed. 

Of course, we'll also share more genteel perspectives for anybody who might want to play make believe for a moment . . . 

"For years, Soakie's in downtown Kansas City was one of the only Black gay bars in the United States. The bar closed in 2004, as development began on the Power & Light District, but a new historical marker remembers its impact.

"Soakie's started out as an Italian sandwich shop, but became home to many in Kansas City's Black LGBTQ+ community. The bar eventually closed when development began to ramp up in the area. Steve Kraske spoke with Nasir Montalvo, founder of Black/queer Kansas City, and drag icon and former Soakie's employee Craig Lovingood AKA Tisha Taylor about their involvement with Soakie's."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

KCUR: What Soakie's meant to Kansas City's Black queer community