Blackberri (born Charles Timothy Ashmore; May 31, 1945 – December 13, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter and

community activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. His music focused on issues such as

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

, and

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

. During the

AIDS epidemic The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...

, Blackberri worked in HIV education and prevention in

Black communities Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

Early life

Blackberri was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

and raised in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Blackberri was drafted into the U.S. Navy in 1965. He was

discharged Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

in 1966 for being gay. Blackberri stated "I was under investigation because one of my

shipmate {{multipleissues, {{original research, date=December 2020 {{refimprove, date=December 2020 A shipmate is a mate on one's own ship (i.e., a member of the same ship). Usage in Navies In the navies of English-speaking nations (and the United States ...

s turned me in... they had evidence, they arrested me, went through my personal belongings and found incriminating letters and other things." He got stranded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, washing dishes and doing drugs.

Career

Blackberri studied voice at

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

and sang the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. In Tucson, he started a rock band, Gunther Quint, with his first song "Frenchie", about a one-night stand before his discharge. While living in a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

collective in 1970, he was named Blackberri, and changed his name legally. Blackberri moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1974 and joined Breeze while

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

to earn money. He dated Reiner, a blues guitar player from the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

. In 1975, Blackberri's performance at the ''Two Songmakers'' concert was broadcast on

KQED KQED may refer to: * KQED (TV), a PBS member station in San Francisco * KQED-FM KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member radio station in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is KQED Inc., which also owns its television partners, both ...

. This was the first gay-themed music featured on television in San Francisco. In 1981, he released ''Blackberri and Friends: Finally''. He contributed to films ''

Tongues Untied ''Tongues Untied'' is a 1989 American experimental documentary film directed by Marlon T. Riggs, and featuring Riggs, Essex Hemphill and Brian Freeman. The film seeks, in its author's words to, "...shatter the nation's brutalizing silence on matt ...

'', '' Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives'', and ''

Looking for Langston ''Looking for Langston'' is a 1989 British black-and-white film, directed by Isaac Julien and produced by Sankofa Film & Video Productions. It combines authentic archival newsreel footage of Harlem in the 1920s with scripted scenes to produce a ...

''. During the AIDS epidemic, Blackberri supported HIV education and prevention in the African-American LGBT community. He was a death counselor at

San Francisco General Hospital The Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG) is a Public hospital in San Francisco, California, under the purview of the city's Department of Public Health. It serves as the only Level I Trauma Ce ...

AIDS Ward through the

Shanti Project The Shanti Project is a non-profit human services agency based in San Francisco and founded in 1974 by Dr. Charles Garfield in Berkeley, CA. Its goals are to provide peer support and guidance to people affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other l ...

. In 2002, he received a Lifetime Achievement AIDS Hero Award at San Francisco Candlelight Vigil. In 2017, he received the Audrey Joseph Entertainment Award from San Francisco Pride. In 2019, his song "Eat the Rich" was included in Patrick Haggerty's ''

Lavender Country Lavender Country was an American country music band formed in 1972 whose self-titled 1973 album is the first known gay-themed album in country music history. Based in Seattle, Washington, the band originally consisted of lead singer and guitarist ...

''.

Personal life and death

Blackberri was a Lucumi priest who traveled to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

thirteen times. He had a heart attack in October 2021, and died on December 13, 2021, at the

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Sutter Health Alta Bates Summit Medical Center is located in the East Bay (California), East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its three hospital campuses are located in Berkeley, California, Berkeley (Alta Bates Campus, Herrick Campus) and Oaklan ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, at age 76.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1945 births 2021 deaths African-American activists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American LGBT people African-American songwriters American male singer-songwriters American military personnel discharged for homosexuality American Santeríans Gay military personnel American gay musicians African-American LGBT people Military personnel from Baltimore Military personnel from Buffalo, New York Singers from Baltimore Musicians from Buffalo, New York Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Singers from San Francisco United States Navy sailors University of Arizona alumni Singer-songwriters from Maryland African-American United States Navy personnel

Early life

Career

Personal life and death

See also

References

External links