5/26/2006



Just got here to D.C...and im luving it.

Just got to D.C. The Black Pride host hotel is great, the room is "elite member" spacious, the hot boyz are out and about, the weather is perfect...yeah, I could learn to like this. I'm here promoting this weekend for the newest issue of Flavalife Magazine. The opening reception was cool, it was great running into and chilling with Maurice Jamal (who's promoting his new film) and meeting the Black Pride executive staff. Going to the Edge tonight, tomorrow i'll be at the "9:30 Nightclub", Sunday i'll be at LOVE as well as (of course) the much anticipated Khan Ball. Look for me. Dont you love these new "Flavalife" dog-tags? Dam, the summer is really here.

peace and blessing
frank leon

5/19/2006

latest issue of FLAVALIFE on stands


This latest issue of Flavalife Magazine is out and it is hot, hot, hot! FLAVALIFE (based in Miami) is a PG-rated, Black & Latino men's travel & entertainment guide with a readership of 45,000. Filled with travel information, model pictorials, hot fiction, fun editorials, video review, and advertising from the best in the world, each issue is a must read.

This issue features a very special spread written by yours truly entitled "The Flava Perfect 10: The Ballroom Scene's Sexiest 10 Men of 2006." Read all about ballroom cuties Whitney Mugler, Twain Mizrahi, Dash Prodigy, Raphael Allure, Darryl Prodigy, JT Mizrahi, Dante Aphrodite, Derrick Allure, Pony Blahnik and Rico Allure.

The new issue also features a complete guide to Black Pride 2006 as well as articles by activist Jasmyne Cannick and fellow producer/blogger extraordinare Rod McCullom. A few copy of the pdf version of the magazine is available here, though its nothing like the actual hardcopy. Pick one up today!


* Frank Mizrahi, the ballroom correspondent for FlavaLife Magazine would like to clarify comments made in the June/July issue that suggested that Father Whitney Miyake Mugler and Dash Prodigy were an item. After further research, it has come to light that these rumors were just passing speculations and were not based in truth. We apologize for any miscommunication from this previously reported news. A duplicate of this apology can be found here.

5/17/2006

Stasha and Tempress Mugler's Mother's Day Ball

An Atlanta police car after the Mugler ball was raided as a result of a stabbing and attack

Stasha and Tempress Miyake Mugler Present
The Long Kiss Goodnight
Mother's Day Ball
Atlanta, Georgia
Sunday, May 15th, 2005

Photos by Frank Leon Roberts exclusively for FlavaLife Magazine, your hottest black and Latino men's urban travel and entertainment guide
*************

Just got back yesterday from Atlanta. I feel kind of weird sharing pictures of this weekend’s ball as if everything is simply “business as usual.” So I’ll preface this post with a few quick words. Without going into unnecessary details, I’ll just say that what I experienced on Sunday night at Stasha and Tempress Mugler’s event was one of the ugliest things I’ve ever witnessed at a ball. While my overall weekend in Atlanta was hot as hell (shout-out to all my house brothers and sisters across the country, as well as the boys of "Club 708" and "Atlanta Live"), the ball itself was terrible because it ended with people being attacked, stabbed, and hit with champaigne bottles. What’s worse is that in the days since the incident took place people have decided to point figures and ask “why” certain houses didn’t come to the “defense” of those being attacked, or whether people “deserved” what they got, instead of condemning the actions of those that behaved like animals. Members of our community still think its “cute” and “phab” to behave like field coons. Then people wonder why the ballroom scene continues to be stigmatized by members both inside and outside of the black gay community. What a shame.

Nonetheless, the senior members of the House of Mizrahi are dedicated to positive leadership, advocacy, and impact. This is not a house that measures its effectiveness according to who is throwing punches in parking lots. There is a reason this house has won "House of the Year" in three cities: our battles take place on the ballroom floor. Its a shame that in 2006, not everyone has followed this model.

Regardless of this rare and isolated incident, I still believe that the underground black ballroom scene is one of the most important, positive, self-affirming, and gloriously creative communities that has ever come out of black gay culture in New York City. There is nothing quite like it, and the scene provides a radical and productive departure from the phony, neoliberal, hypermasculinized tendencies that have come to categorize black gay culture as of late. See you at the next ball.

*special thanks to Keith Boykin for highlighting this post!

The House of Mizrahi: "Look at me, look at me, look at me bitch!"



Mother Stasha and Tempress Miyake Mugler
















































"GRAND PRIZE $1000
FEM QUEEN FACE
When she enters the building will she part the sea or will she drown in her own misery! With your presence known with an entrance that cannot be chopped and an attitude that won’t be stopped. We want to see that TRIPLE S EFFECT! We want to see that kissed by the god’s carta with an alluring look to match. The look must be sickening, sexy, and spring minded. A totally done spring effect with sex appeal! The look is on you, but make it hot! "


Ebony Power!

The Legendary Rose Chanel



The drop dead gorgeous "new bitch" Amiyah Mizrahi



(this was a real butterfly in Amiyah's hair)