Sensei Aishitemasu | Hidden Figures: Jewel Thais-Williams #BlackHERstoryMonth 18/28 @SenseiAishitemasu | Uploaded February 2022 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
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Jewel Thais-Williams (b May 9, 1939) is a former nightclub owner and community organizer.
Jewel Thais-Williams was born on May 9, 1939 in Gary, Indiana. The fifth of 7 children, Jewel moved with her family to San Diego when she was 4 years old. After high school, she graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in history, realizing that she was a lesbian in her 20s.
After working many jobs, Thais-Williams felt that she would not be able to acquire personal wealth without starting her own business, and opened a dress shop with her sister. But in the 1970s an economic downturn closed the store, and she began to look for a recession-proof business venture. Thais-Williams realized that bars generally survived bad times and decided to procure one for herself, despite the fact that in 1973, California laws banned women from tending bar unless they were the owner. After noticing she was often not let in the prominent Westside gay clubs as a Black woman, in 1973 she purchased a club that had previously shunned Black patrons. Putting down $1,000 for the bar and taking out an $18,000 loan, she created Jewel’s Catch One, a seven-room safe haven for Black queer Angelenos.
Located on Pico Blvd and affectionately dubbed ‘The Catch’ by its customers, Jewel’s club was the only Black disco in Los Angeles, and one of the first in America. Becoming the epicenter of Black gay nightlife in LA, Catch One attracted a Black star clientele regardless of sexual orientation, that included Luther Vandross, Rick James, Chaka Khan, Janet Jackson, Etta James, Sammy Davis Jr. and Whitney Houston. The club also served as a meeting place for In the Meantime Men, a local gay and bisexual men’s organization, as a shelter and soup kitchen for many LGBT youth who were homeless, and as a community location for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and political organizations.
In 2001 she opened a non-profit free clinic, the Village Health Foundation. Thais-Williams also served on the board of AIDS Project LA, and co-founded both the Minority AIDS Project and the Imani Unidos Food Pantry in South Los Angeles. She and her wife Rue also own and operate Rue’s House, providing services and housing facilities to poor Black women and children living with HIV/AIDS. In 2015, at age 76 and after 42 years of being owner-operator, Thais-Williams sold The Catch. She still lives and works in Los Angeles.
#HiddenFigures #JewelThaisWilliams
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Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture'
Paperback: amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6
Kindle: amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6
Digital download (e-book): gumroad.com/l/IkUa
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Links:
Jewel Thais-Williams:
theoutwordsarchive.org/subjectdetail/jewel-thais-williams
JEWEL THAIS-WILLIAMS:
thelavendereffect.org/projects/ohp/jewel-thais-williams
Jewel Thais-Williams:
lamag.com/culturefiles/black-history-month-spotlight-jewel-thais-williams
London Film Festival - Jewel Thais-Williams, Star of 'Jewel's Catch One' Documentary, is an Unsung LGBT Hero:
newsweek.com/london-film-festival-jewel-thais-williams-star-jewels-catch-one-documentary-507408
Jewel Thais-Williams Celebrates Forty Years in Four-Day Extravaganza:
lasentinel.net/jewel-thais-williams-celebrates-forty-years-in-four-day-extravaganza.html
Great Read - Jewel’s Catch One disco’s demise marks era’s end for L.A.'s gay blacks:
latimes.com/entertainment/great-reads/la-et-c1-black-gay-clubs-20150316-story.html
The story of L.A. club Jewel’s Catch One and its pioneering owner finds its way to Netflix:
latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-jewels-catch-one-documentary-20180502-story.html
A new documentary explores the roots of Jewel’s Catch One, one of L.A.'s first black gay discos:
latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-jewels-catch-one-outfest-documentary-20160606-snap-story.html
City Council honors Thais-Williams, club owner who supported black LGBTQ community:
latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-05/intersection-dedicated-in-honor-of-lgbtq-human-rights-activist-jewel-thais-williams
If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting!
CashApp: $SerenSensei
Patreon: patreon.com/seren_sensei
All Patrons get access to the Discord server!
NEW MERCH SHOP: the-bheezebake-project.creator-spring.com
Jewel Thais-Williams (b May 9, 1939) is a former nightclub owner and community organizer.
Jewel Thais-Williams was born on May 9, 1939 in Gary, Indiana. The fifth of 7 children, Jewel moved with her family to San Diego when she was 4 years old. After high school, she graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in history, realizing that she was a lesbian in her 20s.
After working many jobs, Thais-Williams felt that she would not be able to acquire personal wealth without starting her own business, and opened a dress shop with her sister. But in the 1970s an economic downturn closed the store, and she began to look for a recession-proof business venture. Thais-Williams realized that bars generally survived bad times and decided to procure one for herself, despite the fact that in 1973, California laws banned women from tending bar unless they were the owner. After noticing she was often not let in the prominent Westside gay clubs as a Black woman, in 1973 she purchased a club that had previously shunned Black patrons. Putting down $1,000 for the bar and taking out an $18,000 loan, she created Jewel’s Catch One, a seven-room safe haven for Black queer Angelenos.
Located on Pico Blvd and affectionately dubbed ‘The Catch’ by its customers, Jewel’s club was the only Black disco in Los Angeles, and one of the first in America. Becoming the epicenter of Black gay nightlife in LA, Catch One attracted a Black star clientele regardless of sexual orientation, that included Luther Vandross, Rick James, Chaka Khan, Janet Jackson, Etta James, Sammy Davis Jr. and Whitney Houston. The club also served as a meeting place for In the Meantime Men, a local gay and bisexual men’s organization, as a shelter and soup kitchen for many LGBT youth who were homeless, and as a community location for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and political organizations.
In 2001 she opened a non-profit free clinic, the Village Health Foundation. Thais-Williams also served on the board of AIDS Project LA, and co-founded both the Minority AIDS Project and the Imani Unidos Food Pantry in South Los Angeles. She and her wife Rue also own and operate Rue’s House, providing services and housing facilities to poor Black women and children living with HIV/AIDS. In 2015, at age 76 and after 42 years of being owner-operator, Thais-Williams sold The Catch. She still lives and works in Los Angeles.
#HiddenFigures #JewelThaisWilliams
******************
Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! teepublic.com/user/sssseren
shophouseof950.com/embroidery-tees/theblackamericans
shophouseof950.com/embroidery-tees/dacs?rq=d.a.c.s
Follow me on social media!
Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu
Personal Tumblr: sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com
Tumblr for my work: sssseren.tumblr.com
Snapchat: sssseren
GoFundMe: gofundme.com/tc5wh7q
******************
Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture'
Paperback: amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6
Kindle: amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6
Digital download (e-book): gumroad.com/l/IkUa
******************
Links:
Jewel Thais-Williams:
theoutwordsarchive.org/subjectdetail/jewel-thais-williams
JEWEL THAIS-WILLIAMS:
thelavendereffect.org/projects/ohp/jewel-thais-williams
Jewel Thais-Williams:
lamag.com/culturefiles/black-history-month-spotlight-jewel-thais-williams
London Film Festival - Jewel Thais-Williams, Star of 'Jewel's Catch One' Documentary, is an Unsung LGBT Hero:
newsweek.com/london-film-festival-jewel-thais-williams-star-jewels-catch-one-documentary-507408
Jewel Thais-Williams Celebrates Forty Years in Four-Day Extravaganza:
lasentinel.net/jewel-thais-williams-celebrates-forty-years-in-four-day-extravaganza.html
Great Read - Jewel’s Catch One disco’s demise marks era’s end for L.A.'s gay blacks:
latimes.com/entertainment/great-reads/la-et-c1-black-gay-clubs-20150316-story.html
The story of L.A. club Jewel’s Catch One and its pioneering owner finds its way to Netflix:
latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-jewels-catch-one-documentary-20180502-story.html
A new documentary explores the roots of Jewel’s Catch One, one of L.A.'s first black gay discos:
latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-jewels-catch-one-outfest-documentary-20160606-snap-story.html
City Council honors Thais-Williams, club owner who supported black LGBTQ community:
latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-05/intersection-dedicated-in-honor-of-lgbtq-human-rights-activist-jewel-thais-williams
