Terence Alan Smith, also known as Joan Jett Blakk, is an activist, political candidate, and drag queen from Detroit, Michigan.
[6] Following the 1992 campaign, Smith moved to San Francisco, California and joined the African-American stage comedy troupe Pomo Afro Homos.
He launched his talk show Late Nite with Joan Jett Blakk at Kiki Gallery under the production of Rick Jacobsen, and featuring Stephen Mounce as co-hostess Babette.
In 1999, Smith, again as Blakk, announced his intention to run for mayor of San Francisco against incumbent Willie Brown.
In August 2021 director Whitney Skauge[10] and Smith received the Outfest: Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival Special Programming Award: Freedom “for their collaboration on the short documentary The Beauty President, a reflection on the legacy of a young, Black, drag queen who, at the height of the AIDS crisis, brazenly ran against George H. W Bush for president on the Queer Nation Party Ticket in 1992.” In October 2021 the film premiered online with LA Times Studios.