C. Jerome Woods and Channing Gerard Joseph at CAAM

Some of the best things to do in Los Angeles cost nothing but an evening and a little curiosity. This one is a conversation about who built the city's drag scene and whose names got left out of the story. On Wednesday, October 21, the California African American Museum hosts C. Jerome Woods and Channing Gerard Joseph for a talk on the lineage of Black queer drag in Southern California.

When: Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM Where: California African American Museum, 600 State Dr., Los Angeles Price: Not listed on the source page. Check the museum before you go.

Who is speaking

C. Jerome Woods is a Los Angeles drag culture and Central Avenue nightlife historian. He knows the clubs, the performers and the neighborhood lore that rarely make it into the standard accounts of LA nightlife.

Channing Gerard Joseph is a USC professor and the author of House of Swann: Where Slaves Became Queens, and Changed the World. That book traces how formerly enslaved people shaped drag in America, so the two speakers approach the same subject from the archive and from lived community memory.

What to expect

The listing describes a dynamic dialogue rather than a lecture. Expect stories about performers, venues and the Black communities that made room for queer life well before it was widely accepted, with Central Avenue and Southern California as the backdrop. An hour is short, so it should stay focused.

The talk is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Free and Queer: Black Californian Roots of Gay Liberation. If you have the time, look through the exhibition too. The conversation will make more sense with the objects and photographs in your head, and it is a good reason to see the museum.

Getting there

CAAM sits at 600 State Dr. in Exposition Park, the same cluster of museums and gardens that holds several other LA institutions. Because this is an evening event on a weeknight, plan your parking and transit ahead of time and arrive a bit early. Details on entry and any reservation come from the museum, so confirm them on the official page linked above.

If you are building a list of LA events this weekend or next week, this one sits on a Wednesday, which makes it an easy midweek plan. Browse more of our arts and culture events for other talks, exhibitions and performances around town, or see what else is on the upcoming events Los Angeles calendar.