Black Pride: Queer people of colour on how to be a better ally
Queer Black activists on why Black Pride is so important (PinkNews)
Ahead of UK Black Pride, PinkNews spoke to several activists on what the event means to them as queer people of colour and how white LGBTQ+ people can be allies.
Intersex activist Anick is part of the team behind this yearās UK Black Pride event in London on Sunday, July 8.
Anick spoke to PinkNews following Stonewallās survey that found 51 percent of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic LGBT face discrimination within the queer community.
Anick, 23, said: āIām actually surprised itās not higher than that because itās something which a lot of people of colour experience on a daily basis.
āWhen you walk into a room, you can often sense youāre the only person of colour there.
āPeople often say, āYouāre not really my typeā – they frame it in words of preference and think itās not racist but they should try being on the receiving on the end of that.
āSo donāt just say Iām an ally today, do something that actually makes you an ally.”
Tanya Compas, who leads on youth engagement at Black Pride, shared her experiences being in queer spaces as a black woman and the āpressure to performā her blackness.
āI feel like the mainstream Pride events are only catered to white, gay men.
Tanya Compas (PinkNews)
āI donāt feel safe in those spaces because theyāre looking at me like, āWhat are you doing here?’
āWithin the queer community, people of colour face a lot of issues.
āWhite people look at you like youāre a performing monkey ready to do the dance moves so they can say āyaaas queenā or use that kind of language.
āIāve felt that quite a lot in certain spaces, where I feel like I have to perform my blackness in order to be accepted – and if I donāt, then Iām āangry.ā
āAnd if you donāt reciprocate, theyāre like, āIām just trying to be your friend,ā but I donāt want to be your friend if youāre going to talk to me like that.
āIām still a human being, I donāt say āyaasā to everything.ā
Tanya suggested that if you are a white LGBTQ person thinking of attending events like Black Pride, consider how you might fit into those spaces.
āAnother great way to be an ally if youāre coming to black or POC-focused event, [is to] know itās not a space for you to be the centre of attention.
āUnderstand that weāve worked so hard to create spaces that make us feel safe, that if you now feel like you want to appropriate these spaces because they are cool, step back and think why you are going.
āIf youāre going to a black event, and you have no black friends, whatās going on?ā
Ryan Lanji, originally from Canada, runs a gay Bollywood and hip-hop night in London.
Ryan Lanji (PinkNews)
For him, Black Pride is āvery special and unique.ā
As a queer person of colour, he finds the LGBT community is not always welcoming.
āThere have been times where I have felt excluded by my own LGBT community.
āAnd I tell you itās really hard when you have to walk away from those situations and ask whether it was because of your colour.
āI think thatās one of the hardest challenges for us to overcome: finding spaces within our community where we feel comfortable.ā
āItās really important for them to welcome people in, and itās also important for people of colour to invite people in.ā
Angelina, 36, identifies as lesbian and lives in London. She said that Black Pride to her means āa stamp to say that we are here.ā
Angelina (PinkNews)
She told PinkNews how allies can step up: āYou can identify where weāre coming from, but you canāt say you know where weāre coming from.
āWhat we need is white allies to listen and then give us a position to be the spokesperson for our community – not be it for us.
āDonāt try to be the hero because youāre not a saviour, we just need you to treat us like yourselves and give us the opportunity to speak.ā
Kenneth Norwood, from New Orleans, told PinkNews about his experience of attending Pride events in New York and not being let into gay clubs because of his appearance.
āBlack Pride, to me, means resistance and preservation,ā he said.
Kenneth Norwood (PinkNews)
āResistance in a time where Pride has kind of been co-opted by corporate entities and itās kind of lost itās touch to what it used to be.ā
āPreservation in terms of keeping that historical narrative alive, that it wasnāt just a cisgender, white, male movement but actually it was a very, very inclusive black and Latina trans movement.ā
Kenneth added that Pride should never lose its historical connection to the Stonewall riots, and activists such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
āBlack spaces are disappearing, particularly in places where I used to live in New Orleans, theyāve either burned down or been shut down.
āSo they really have nowhere else to go because going to the white clubs have a very, very abrasive feel to them.
Anick (PinkNews)
āSo having a space means refuge, refuge to express yourself and not warrant any tension or anger.
āFrom relationships to everyday living, thereās a reluctance to accept you by a sea of people who just donāt look like you.”
He added that allies should āacknowledge where you stand in a system of oppressionā and recognise how they may be benefiting from that system.
āUnderstand that even if youāre a white, queer male, you still benefit from patriarchy.
āLike Iām a black queer male, I also acknowledge that I benefit from male privilege.
āSo itās about acknowledging those systems of oppression and how you dismantle them.ā
Collette Commodore added: āWe wouldnāt have Pride if it wasnāt for a black, trans woman so Iām very proud to be black and queer.
Collette Commodore (PinkNews)
āItās important to celebrate who we are with people you identify with – go to a safe space and just be yourself.
āThe best way you could be an ally is definitely to listen to queer people of colour when they tell you something.
āYou should always listen before you make a judgement and look things up for yourself to see what you could do to help.ā
UK Black Pride is Britain’s community-led organisation for African, Asian, Arab and Caribbean heritage LGBT people, their families and supportersā and this year is themed on Shades of the Diaspora.
UK Black Pride 2018 is on Sunday, July 8 in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, London.
