Coca Crystal - Misplaced Pages

American Underground personality (1947–2016)

Coca Crystal
Born	Jacqueline Diamond December 21, 1947 Manhattan, New York, U.S
Died	March 1, 2016(2016-03-01) (aged 68) Rochelle Park, New Jersey, U.S
Occupation	Television personality
Parent(s)	Jack Diamond Rita Dunn

Part of a series on

Anarchism

Schools of thought

Methodology
Black Feminist Green Primitivist Social ecology Total liberation Individualist Egoist Market Philosophical Mutualist Queer Religious Christian Jewish Social Collectivist Parecon Communist Magonism Without adjectives
Counter-economics Illegalism Insurrectionary Pacifist Platformism Relationship Syndicalist Synthesis

Theory
Practice

Anarchy

Anarchist Black Cross

Anarchist criminology

Anationalism

Anti-authoritarianism

Anti-capitalism

Anti-militarism

Affinity group

Autonomous social center

Black bloc

Classless society

Class struggle

Consensus decision-making

Conscientious objector

Participatory politics

Permanent autonomous zone

Prefigurative politics

Proletarian internationalism

Propaganda of the deed

Temporary autonomous zone

Union of egoists

Voluntary association

Workers' council

People

Issues

History

Culture

Economics

By region

Lists

Biography

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

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

In 1975 she adopted her sisters mentally and physically handicapped son, Gustav Che Finkelstein, after her sister was arrested and imprisoned for possession of Hashish in Morocco. Gus received an “executive producer" credit and his babysitter was interviewed on her show. She cared for Gus up until her death.

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. 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, Tiny Tim, and Tuli Kupferberg of the Fugs. 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.

In April 1977, a woman claiming to be Crystal called the New York Times to claim the pieing of conservative activist and author Phyllis Schlafly on behalf of the Emma Goldman Brigade. Schlafly was attending a Women's National Republican Club event thrown in her honor at the landmark Waldorf Astoria New York.

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. 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.

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

References

"Forgotten Female Saints of the Counterculture". Flavorwire. 10 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
^ Oldershausen, Sasha Von (2012-05-13). "Coca Crystal, a Wild Child Turned 'Unconventional' Mother". Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
^ Unconscious and Irrational (2009-03-21). "Coca Crystal's Dance Revolution". Unconscious and Irrational. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
^ Grimes, William (2016-04-02). "Coca Crystal, Avatar of Counterculture and Provocateur, Dies at 68". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
"RIP Coca Crystal". EV Grieve. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
"Recollections, Crystal". East Village Other. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
Hawkins, Joan (2015). Downtown Film and TV Culture: 1975–2001. Intellect Books. ISBN 978-1783204229.
^ Maurer, Daniel. "On Stage, Coca Crystal Gets an East Village Other". The Local East Village. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
"If I Can't Dance You Can Keep Your Revolution: The Coca Crystal Story". allevents.in. Archived from the original on 2018-05-20. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
"One Woman Standing". Brown Paper Tickets (BPT). Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2016-04-19.

External links

Coca Crystal Video Recordings and Papers, Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University Special Collections
Coca Crystal's Youtube videos
Promo for The Coca Crystal Show: If I Can’t Dance, You Can Keep Your Revolution (1994)
The final video: Coca Crystal Show (June 16, 1995)

Classical	Individualist Egoist Illegalist Naturist Philosophical Mutualist Social Collectivist Communist Magonist
Post-classical	Feminist Green Primitivist Social ecology Independence Insurrectionary Pacifist Religious Christian Buddhist Jewish Without adjectives
Contemporary	Black Free-market Postcolonial Post-anarchist Post-left Queer