Talene Salmaszadeh Oral History
Item
Title
Talene Salmaszadeh Oral History
Identifier
2024.005.007
Type
Oral History
Description
Talene Beuche Salmaszadeh lived and worked in Riverside for over twenty years and is an avid supporter of the local LGBTQ+ community. Through her role as a longtime host of Back to the Grind’s open mic poetry nights, her work at Back to the Grind, and as an organizer of the Saturation Fest art show, she was incredibly involved in Riverside’s LGBTQ+ art community for the past 20 years. She begins by discussing how she came to Riverside in 2001 and became involved with the local LGBTQ+ community through her regular visits to the Menagerie and activity with Riverside’s Underground Poetry Organization (RUPO). Salmaszadeh details the establishment of Back to the Grind coffee shop as a queer-friendly arts and community space which early on hosted RUPO’s community open mic poetry nights. She then describes how the Saturation Fest art show came to be, a process in which she was closely involved with as an organizer over the years. Salmaszadeh then touches on the murder of Jeffrey Owens, and the impact his death had on the local LGBTQ+ community. She closes out by discussing several key players in the local LGBTQ+ community and reflecting on the great ability of the Saturation Fest and Back to the Grind to be safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth and as well as for the broader community.
Subject
LGBTQ
LGBTQ Community
LGBTQ History
LGBTQ Media
Gay bars
Local Business
Performing Arts
Homophobia
Spatial Coverage
Riverside (Calif.)
Temporal Coverage
2000s-present
Creator
Talene Beuche Salmaszadeh
Catherine Gudis
Date
June 15, 2023
Contributor
A People's History of the I.E.
Format
Audio
Language
English
Rights
Duration
01:18:14