Coca Crystal

Coca Crystal (December 21, 1947 – March 1, 2016) was an American television personality and political activist, connected with 1960s counterculture.[1] She was best known for her weekly cable-access variety show The Coca Crystal Show: If I Can't Dance, You Can Keep Your Revolution, which ran from 1977 to 1995.[2][3]

Coca Crystal
Born
Jacqueline Diamond

December 21, 1947
Manhattan, New York, U.S
DiedMarch 1, 2016(2016-03-01) (aged 68)
Rochelle Park, New Jersey, U.S
OccupationTelevision personality
Parent(s)Jack Diamond
Rita Dunn

Biography

Born as Jacqueline Diamond on December 21, 1947, to Jack Diamond, owner of J. Diamond Furs and Rita Dunn, a former fur model.[4] She was born in Manhattan and raised in Mamaroneck.[4]

Starting in 1969, she was a contributor to the East Village Other (EVO) and the name Coca Crystal was created as her pen name.[5] She would write about politics, women's issues and personal events, many of which earned her the title "slumgoddess".[6]

Her cable-access, weekly variety show television show The Coca Crystal Show: If I Can't Dance, You Can Keep Your Revolution would always start out with lighting a joint, oftentimes she would be pulling the joint from a flower pot and then smoking it.[3] She would talk about protests, anti-nuke activism, local and world news with special segment called Newborn News and invite a wide variety of guests. Some guests on her show included: Philip Glass, Debbie Harry, Abbie Hoffman, Judith Malina, Cesar Chavez, Dana Beal, and Tuli Kupferberg of the Fugs.[3][4] One of her frequent guests, Glenn O'Brien went on to host his own long running public-access television show, TV Party after he appeared on Coca's show.[7]

In 2013, a play written, via interview with Coca Crystal and titled If I Can't Dance You Can Keep Your Revolution: The Coca Crystal Story was performed by Danielle Quisenberry.[8] The play was shown at Emerging Artists Theatre, TADA! Theater, and part of the East Village Theater Festival at Metropolitan Playhouse in New York City.[8][9][10]

Crystal died of respiratory failure on March 1, 2016 in Rochelle Park, New Jersey at age 68.[4] In 2006 she was diagnosed with lung cancer and had struggled with many treatments prior to her passing.[2]

gollark: "OS"ey, I mean.
gollark: Well, it looks OSey.
gollark: https://gist.github.com/SquidDev/6fa444798bbe01f4068bf82a76ac273f
gollark: That was kind of phrased a bit crudely, but just... consider not doing that?
gollark: I can't think of any other issues except WHY ARE YOU MAKING AN OS PLEASE STOP.

See also

References
  1. "Forgotten Female Saints of the Counterculture". Flavorwire. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  2. Oldershausen, Sasha Von (2012-05-13). "Coca Crystal, a Wild Child Turned 'Unconventional' Mother". Retrieved 2017-12-16.
  3. Unconscious and Irrational (2009-03-21). "Coca Crystal's Dance Revolution". Unconscious and Irrational. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  4. Grimes, William (2016-04-02). "Coca Crystal, Avatar of Counterculture and Provocateur, Dies at 68". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  5. "RIP Coca Crystal". EV Grieve. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  6. "Recollections, Crystal". East Village Other. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  7. Hawkins, Joan (2015). Downtown Film and TV Culture: 1975–2001. Intellect Books. ISBN 1783204222.
  8. Maurer, Daniel. "On Stage, Coca Crystal Gets an East Village Other". The Local East Village. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  9. "If I Cant Dance You Can Keep Your Revolution: The Coca Crystal Story". allevents.in. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  10. "One Woman Standing". Brown Paper Tickets (BPT). Retrieved 2016-04-19.
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