Honey Dijon, Amazon Music, and Pride Live have come together to create a new jukebox exhibit at the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center.
Honey Dijon might be one of the most renowned DJs in the dance music scene, but her passion runs far deeper than electronic beats. This Chicago-born artist has carved out a significant niche for herself in the scene musically while continuing to use her platform to support and fight for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. This month, Honey Dijon will continue that mission with the launch of a new jukebox exhibit at the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center (SNMVC).
The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center is the first LGBTQIA+ center in the National Park Service and will officially open on June 28, the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. This center will serve as an educational resource with informational lectures, tours, visual arts displays, and exhibitions.
A replica jukebox of the one that was playing the night of the uprising in 1969, is one of those exhibits and was created in a joint effort between founding a partner of the SNMVC, Amazon, and Pride Live, a leading social advocacy organization for the LGBTQIA+ community.
When I think of Stonewall, I think of liberation, rebellion, and owning your own narrative. I hope this curation gives a peek into the soundtrack of an inspiring era and the trailblazers who changed history forever, and the fact that the Visitor Center is the vision of two queer women of color, makes this project even more meaningful.
Honey Dijon
A jukebox would be nothing without the music, and that’s where Honey Dijon comes in. She thoughtfully curated songs from that era that help represent the spirit and collective joy of the Stonewall Community for everyone to rediscover, including Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and more. Amazon helped source the chosen records for the jukebox from archivists at Sony Music and ABKCO Records, and Pride Live has created collectible tokens that replicate the bar’s jukebox experience.
“I wanted to contextualize what queer people experienced during the Stonewall Rebellion: the oppression, but also the hard-fought happiness and freedom,” Honey Dijon shared. “These Queer people had the music; and they had each other. These songs are a way for us to better understand their story.”
Check out the short film about the project and the history behind the jukebox on YouTube, and give Honey Dijon’s curated playlist a listen on Amazon Music. The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center and the jukebox exhibit will open to the public on Friday, June 28. Entry is free of charge. More details can be found on their official website.
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