In a new illustrated essay created as part of Art Design Chicago, the Ladydrawers Comic Collective looks at the city’s legacy of queer art and activism through the ages.

Inspired by the current exhibition The Many Hats of Ralph Arnold: Art, Identity & Politics and the multi-layered identity of its subject, photocollage artist Ralph Arnold, the essay shines light on Chicago's creatives of color who often go unmentioned in traditional LGBTQIA histories.

The players featured vary from contemporaries of Arnold, such as playwright Lorraine Hansberry, to Cristalle Brown, a Chicago rapper and mentor known locally as Psalm One, who continues her work on the South Side today.

“LGBTQ kids tell me all the time they thought I was speaking for them. Now they know for certain.” – Psalm One ​

View the full illustration by visiting Sixty’s website.

The Other Queers is produced in partnership with Sixty Inches from Center. The Many Hats of Ralph Arnold: Art, Identity & Politics is on view through December 21 at the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, and presented as part of Art Design Chicago.