“(In school) I wasn’t cool enough, I wasn’t Black enough, I wasn’t white enough, I wasn’t any of that stuff,” he said, recalling his youth. He’s found that sense of safety for himself through performance. So he looks to channel his past experiences into helping others feel comfortable. “It affected me in a lot of ways, and it still affects me, but my eyes are always open to make sure someone is safe,” he said. The way he views intimate relationships was further complicated later by several partners who Mitchell said raped him. He described a particularly traumatic incident at a family party in which he begged people to believe his story, but no one did. The work holds special value for him, he said, because he’s been sexually assaulted too.ĭecades ago, relatives forced him and another young relative to wrestle, he said, “which would then turn into them watching us doing sexual things with each other.” He spins discs in clubs at night, but during the day Mitchell volunteers with HOPE Works, an organization that has a 24-hour hotline for victims of sexual violence. He’s trying to conquer the mountain and, in the real world, show people who he is inside. He’s no longer trapped in his Craig Land home. But his dream has changed, and he has too. Maybe he’ll become the target of harassment. He worries that expressing himself - letting people know about his traumas, his sexuality, the complexity of being a gay Black man - will put him at risk. He fears he won’t be accepted if he is transparent about his identity. He’s worked with Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Yoko Ono, Backstreet Boys, The Strokes, Michael Buble and Moby.īut still he feels danger when he steps outside. His musical career has taken him to New York City, Boston, Jamaica and Canada. Mitchell has been playing gigs in the Winooski and Burlington area for more than 30 years. That latest twist to the dream - finally venturing outside, only to be met with a raging mountain - seems like a metaphor for where the local legend finds himself right now. “Maybe that’s from my childhood, because outside was always dangerous,” the 51-year-old said. He calls it Craig Land, a realm where the terrors of the outside world keep him locked between the four walls of his house. Mitchell, Winooski’s unofficial DJ laureate, has had the same recurring dream for nearly a decade. “The mountain wasn’t ready for you,” his friend yells. But when the peak is in sight, Kilimanjaro erupts, sending scorching lava toward the travelers. “You have to be ready for the mountain, and the mountain has to be ready for you,” says his friend, but Mitchell starts climbing. Craig Mitchell stands before Mount Kilimanjaro, flanked by a friend.
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