Rally the Troupes drag show comes to Mills College

Landa Lakes (back left) and her crew perform at the first Rally the Troupes social justice burlesque show in Oakland, at Mills College.

A man dressed in jeans and a t-shirt kneels on the ground, his hands held at an awkward angle by the chains that bind him to a drag king who is standing behind him wearing a sharp suit. Like a marionette, he is forced to bring his trembling hands to his face and smoke. The scene unfolds next to a 4-foot cardboard replica of a cigarette, as Maroon 5’s “Harder to Breathe” blares from the speakers.

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