‘The Essence Of Giving Hope’: Remembering Activist And Ballroom Icon Jahaira DeAlto

Jahaira DeAlto was unapologetic.

She walked in her truth, in life and in ballroom. The category she was best known for is called “realness.” On the runway, friends say, she ascended.

Queen for a night, to vamp and strut for the House of Balenciaga. On May 2, Boston lost this important trans activist, killed in her Dorchester home.

DeAlto, 42, taught her best friend about ballroom. Nolan Tesis holds onto those lessons, how today’s “nots,” might be tomorrow’s legends. So be kind to everyone.

“That’s the beauty of the ballroom scene, for people who have nothing, who have no hope, it allows you a space to imagine a different possibility and then you create that,” he said.

Read the rest of the story at WBUR’s website.