Victor Jackson’s father tossed his first pair of ballet shoes into the trash. It was a failed attempt to derail his son’s desire to study dance, restrict access to what he believed to be queer affirming spaces, and to suppress a noticeably burgeoning queer identity. It didn’t work. But that didn’t stop his minister father from trying, nor did it extinguish Jackson’s fire for an artform that would catapult him into his purpose. When Jackson saw his ballet shoes in the trash, which were purchased at Goodwill and gifted to him by his babysitter, he said he knew that he’d be solely responsible for finding ways to receive the training he needed and to create ways to learn and to lean into his passion.

An Atlanta native, Jackson, 35, tells The Reckoning that he didn’t take his first dance class until he was a 17-year-old senior at Tri-Cities High School.

“There was always this battle for me to dance. And because I couldn’t take classes and my dad didn’t want me to, I would just study movie musicals; whenever “CATS” or “The Nutcracker” would come on Georgia Public Television, I would watch it,” said Jackson. “Fame, “The Wiz,” “A Chorus Line,” “West Side Story,” “All That Jazz,” “Sweet Charity,” those were all films that I watched growing up that helped me learn how to dance.” 

Reality television viewers may recall seeing Jackson on several episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta in his element as a choreographer and friend to cast member and fellow Tri-Cities High School graduate Kandi Burrus. But ironically, Jackson says for a long time during his formative years he didn’t have the language for who he would ultimately become. 

“I didn’t even know the word choreographer growing up. I was never in spaces where that word was used,” said Jackson. “Now being somebody that has been on TV around the world as a choreographer, I think it is a testament to the power of purpose. I think it’s a testament to all things essentially working together for your good. It is a testament to the fact that no person, even your parents can detour your destiny.” 

Having grown up as a preacher’s kid in a strict religious household, Jackson says challenging his father’s decision that forbade him from taking dance classes was not an option. 

“Talking back was not tolerated. It was something that I really wanted to do and I didn’t fully understand my dad’s apprehension, but I knew that I wanted to dance and I couldn’t take classes, but my brother played football, and he played every season, so I noticed the disparity there,” he said. 

Jackson says he believes his father’s decision that temporarily stood in the way of his destiny was rooted in homophobia and the fear of his sexual orientation being anything outside of the socially acceptable heterosexual norm. But he says he was just beginning to unpack the truth about his sexuality around this time after having his first boyfriend. 

“Am I gay? Am I not gay? Am I bisexual? By the time I was 19 or 20, I was in a place where...my parents had sent me to therapy and to interventions and to the altar for prayer, and I’d prayed on my own: God, what is this? Who am I? And how do you see me? All I kept hearing was Psalms 139:14: “I praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth quite well.”

Jackson says at age 26, ten years after dating his first boyfriend and embracing the truth about his intersecting identities as a Black, same gender loving man of faith, that he began to operate in the fullness of who he is.

“The universe conspires in the favor of my uniqueness. And if I hide it, if I shy away from it, if I shrink it, then I’m not operating in my purpose—then I’m not moving in the way that God created me to move on the earth,” he said. “And so I lead with my uniqueness being both a Black and queer man in America, and I have watched it open up opportunities for me in Russia, in Germany, in New Zealand, in London, and across the United States.” 

‘He Belongs To The City’

In a career that has placed Jackson as a choreographer and creative director for artists like Iggy Azalea, Kandi Burrus, Jack Mizrahi, and Hailie Sahar among others, this multi-talented artist who comes from a musical family and also sings, is taking center stage and utilizing the gifts he normally gives to elevate the live performances of other artists and applying it to his own projects—as seen in the virtual Global Pride performance this past June of his newest single “He Belongs To The City.” An uptempo house-infused track that bears witness to Jackson’s dual identity as a Black queer man, “He Belongs To The City” finds him simultaneously declaring his independence and unyielding affection for a man he simply can’t shake off. 

The potential impact of an openly gay Black artist professing his love for another man without having to change the pronouns to appease homophobic listeners is a reflection of the current cultural climate and a representation of the type of artist Jackson is. Although the song is written from the lens of a Black queer experience, it is also resonating with Black women. 

“I played “He Belongs To The City” and some other records for a friend of mine who is a minister last year, and she loved it,” said Jackson. “She said, ‘Oh, Victor, this is great! I can listen to [music by] a male artist and not have to change the pronouns.’ It never occurred to me how much people feel like they’re missing in music,” he said. “There is still not full representation across the spectrum of music. So to have songs that affirm my uniqueness and the uniqueness of other listeners is incredible to me.” 

For Jackson, placing a hierarchy on his identity and only presenting his Blackness as an acceptable form of representation to his audience while ignoring his queerness was not an option. He believes that doing so would have moved him outside of his purpose. 

“I knew that for me to operate in my purpose, for me to move in authenticity and for me to be everything that God created me to be that I had to love everything about me,” said Jackson. “And it wasn’t just my Blackness and it wasn’t just my queerness…there were other things there as well, but I knew those were the two most front-facing things and those were the two things that identified the communities that I was called to impact. I came to the point where I realized that if I was to live a purpose-filled life and if I was to live a life with intentionality, then I would have to fully embrace my Blackness and my queerness,” he said. 

The same rule applies to how Jackson shows up now as an adult in spaces where his family is present; determined not to leave any part of his identity behind while teaching people how to love him in the process. 

“The self-love that I exhibit is what sets the tone for how people engage with me,” said Jackson. “The tone at which my parents engage with me in light of my uniqueness has changed drastically since I was 16. I will say that there is light there and I’m grateful for it, but I definitely knew that it was up to me. Acceptance is cool but respect is preferred.” 

Jackson’s calling to serve the Black LGBTQ+ community extends beyond issues of sexuality and acceptance as a spokesmodel for GLAAD’s effort to turn out the LGBTQ vote in one of the most consequential presidential elections of our lifetime in November. 

“We are embarking upon the most important election of our generation,” said Jackson. “There are so many rights that are on the line. The Supreme Court is already trying to overturn LGBTQ+rights, and not only the rights of the queer community, but funding for public school arts programs, public transportation, public housing, healthcare, all of those things are on the line and they affect our queer community, but they also affect our country as a whole. So anyone who can vote needs to vote. It is so serious. It is not a game. It is truly a matter of life or death.”

(Cover image of Victor by Drea Nicole Photography)