Lynnee Denise Bonner

Lynnee Denise is working to document the artistic contributions of underrepresented individuals.

“You can’t help it. An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.” ― Nina Simone

The Work

I am currently working on raising the level of awareness about the cultural contributions, specifically in the realm of music, of unpopular identity groups. My goal is to bring a new level of discussion about people who are no longer with us upon losing the battle to HIV/AIDs, but were innovative in their respective fields.

Inspirations and Influences

I have many influences, but the two who come to mind are Nina Simone and Malcolm X. Nina, because she was a complex woman with many personal demons, which made her civil rights work even more important. She learned through the movement, another way to express anger and rage and took pride in the fact that her music served as one of the most important songs on the proverbial civil rights soundtrack. Malcolm simply because he allowed us to see him evolve and transform. Necessarily so, he questioned ideas, even when it was inconvenient to his faith, which I think is an important way to model activism.

Wisdom

What makes me tick is thinking about social justice in a global context, which requires travel and radical curiosity. I believe that in order to serve and meet the needs of our community, we must leave them and interact, where possible, with the world’s people. See what connects us as humans, and what the distinctions are between our experiences.

Field

Black American, female and queer, my work is informed by an identity-based interest in the intersection between music, culture and social justice. Through an interdisciplinary approach, including podcasts and lectures, I examine the political context of Black cultural products, people and ideas. Another part of my work includes documenting the artistic contributions of people who are underrepresented within popular culture — continental Africans, women and those living with HIV/AIDS and this work is central to my vision for social change.

My podcast showcases the intersectionality of my work: Lynnee Denise’s Podcast