I grew up in a nice New England town where you could wear white after Labor Day because, heck, it didn’t matter, everyone was white already! This is not a racist statement, it’s just the truth! Everyone was goddamn white!

Me at my junior prom with a bunch of other white people

That said, I grew up in a very welcoming and open-minded household. Just because I didn’t know any black people didn’t mean I didn’t like them! In fact, my first crush ever was of the African American persuasion. His name? The Kid.

Ta da!

The Kid, of course, was one of the original cast members of the child-star-factory called Kids Incorporated. Look at their wikipedia page and it’s like a frigging Who’s Who of ’90s pop stars, and not all of them are washed up! Alums include Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mario Lopez, Shanice, Martika, and of course Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson before she was a recovering meth addict and a Black Eyed Pea!

I used to watch Kids on Saturday afternoons (before it migrated over to the premium pay channel Disney in the late ’80s.). And I became obsessed with The Kid. He was one smooth talkin’ and talented kid, so much that they deemed him not worth of having his own name on the show, electing, instead, to call him The Kid. Way to keep a brother down!

The Kid was played by Rahsaan Patterson, who went on to a successful career as an openly gay professional musician that no one has ever heard of. How could I not know? He dressed like a flashy young black Dorothy Zbornak!

Ah, first love! Such a state of denial.