The youth worker and founder of the Exist Loudly Fund speaks to three young people about the mixed emotions stirred up by the Blklivesmatter movement and Pride month.
My emotions fluctuate between anger, rage, grief, sadness, isolation and loss, whilst simultaneously feeling torn, because I want to celebrate my queerness, our community, our existence and our power. Right now, being queer and Black has never felt more political and spaces for us have never felt more necessary.
As a youth worker, I work directly with queer Black young people, and have supported and held space for some incredible young people over the years through mentoring events and Queer Black Christmas, an event I launched in December 2019 to provide a space for queer Black young people who were estranged from, or had a strained relationship with, their families.
Earlier this month, I checked in with three of the young people I’ve worked with – because now, more than ever, we need to hear from and platform the voices and experiences of queer Black young people.These are just three examples of how queer Black young people feel right now – but it’s important to remember that their feelings and their experiences are not isolated.
It’s sad, because this year was going to be the first year that I attended UK Black Pride. That’s why Queer Black Christmas was so emotional for me: it was the first time I’d ever been in a space full of people like me. I felt truly at home and at peace, for once; I had found my chosen family. Queer Black spaces make us feel at peace with the world we have to face, because it reminds us that we are not completely alone.
This is why spaces that solely centre queer Black young people are so important to me, and why it’s so upsetting Pride is cancelled this year. Even though I don’t go to “white pride”, I go to UK Black Pride every year. Before attending UK Black Pride and meeting Tanya two years ago, I didn’t know any other queer Black people. But now I do: I’ve found other queer Black people who I can be my whole, truest self around. I don’t need to explain things to them, they just get it.
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