Once Upon a Time, Tanqueray
Tattletales from Tanqueray
If this is a book, I will read it. If this is a movie, I will watch it. That is who Tanqueray of Humans of New York is, a good storyteller. Who better can tell her story than Tanqueray herself.
She said, it takes her 18 minutes to do her act, in that few minutes, if you do it right, it will feel like it is forever.
In the first few minutes of reading Tattletales from Tanqueray, you will know you are in for a show, a great show. A story like no other. She sets the stage, as she introduces herself, the main character of what could be the most inspiring story of 2020.
New York, New York
Set in the 60s and the 70s, she will draw you to a time, when New York City is different from what it is today. The city that never sleeps. There is no place like New York.
Where dreams are made of, for a young Stephanie Johnson, she became famous not in Hollywood but in Time Square New York City, where tens of thousands of men, would shout her name, Tanqueray.
The Tanqueray Trust, the $2.5 million tip
Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind the Humans of New York Instagram page, (HONY), first brought Tanqueray to our lives in November 2019. We have welcomed her into our hearts. She was a viral sensation.
Like other viral stories, we haven’t heard from her again. Humans of New York started to serialize Tattletales from Tanqueray, in the hope that it will raise much-needed funds for Stephanie Johnson. A GoFund Me page was set up, to cover her living expenses and long-term medical care.
The Tanqueray Trust isn’t a call for charity, or call for help, but a call for support. It will allow Stephanie Johnson to live in comfort throughout the remaining days of her life.
And any money remaining at the end of her life will be donated to The Association To Benefit Children. a highly respected New York charity dedicated to helping the city’s most vulnerable children. — GoFundMe, The Tanqueray Trust.
Love is sweeter the second time around
Who gets a second chance at love, or fame? It must be after all written in her stars, for Tanqueray, she saved her best for last.
The Tanqueray Trust not only surpassed its fundraising goal. It has gone beyond its first million dollars. The $2.5 million dollar tip may even reach $3 million in a few days, with over 124, 000 people adding their dollar tip to the fund.
Like the good old days for Tanqueray, she knows how to put a great show, and she deserves every dollar tip that comes her way.
Truth is stranger than fiction — Mark Twain
Before the final show curtains fall, here she is, dancing to her beat, maybe even to the song that made her famous, Love to Love You, Baby. In her own words, she takes us back to a different world, when the world was full of life. There is no other place on earth to dream big but in New York City.
The stage is set, not in Time Square but on Instagram, and social media across the board. The audience is not all-male, but men and women who are finding inspiration in her story. Thousand of men used to know her name Tanqueray, now it is in the millions, her fame goes beyond New York City, and her name is now known around the world.
When I first learned of the Gofundme fundraising, The Tanqueray Trust, I was cheering for her. My prayer was, please make this happen, If there is someone who deserves this, it is her.
The world we live in today is dark. The lights of New York City have dimmed, it took Tanqueray to put back hope in the lives of many New Yorkers and people around the world.
The pandemic has put our lives on hold, even dreams are nothing but a passing thought to many. Her story, her life reminds us that there will always be peaks and valley, and we simply have to show up for life.
We need to continue living, that we will not only survive this pandemic. And soon, we will be back in a world, where we can dream again.
Tough luck, tough life. Yet, it is always those who lived a tough life and survived are the ones who have the best story to tell. When one feels that the world is full of uncertainty and confusion. Tanqueray is showing us to keep the faith, look at how her dream is coming to life. Because life will continue to surprise us.
A psychic in prison once foretold Tanqueray’s future. The money was the last to arrive. What is important, that while she was told, that she would have a tough and lonely life. that even in knowing, she continued to live her life, unapologetic.
It was in her stars, that her name will be known around the world, that Once Upon a Time, Tanqueray, weaved her narrative and here, in her own words;
But Tanqueray was Stephanie. And Stephanie was a teenage runaway from Albany: doing what she needed to do, and being who she needed to be, to get what she needed to get.
And this, Tattletales from Tanqueray will continue. The marquee lights are up beaming her name, as Tanqueray continues to inspire and make us believe, that dreams do come true.
Who is Tanqueray
Who is Tanqueray? It was the question, I asked myself when I first read about her on Facebook. Then, I read about the Tanqueray Trust. It’s the GoFundMe fundraising for Tanqueray by Brandon Stanton of HONY, Humans of New York. The outpouring online support for Tanqueray has made her a millionaire.
Her story was first shared on Hony, Humans of NewYork, by photographer Brandon in 2019.
My stripper name was Tanqueray. Back in the seventies I was the only black girl making white girl money. — Tanqueray, Humans of New York in 2019.
Follow the full series, Tattletales From Tanqueray, and please continue to support Tanqueray or Stephanie by donating to her GoFundMe page here.
