February is Black History Month. This month we celebrate the achievements of Black people and the community’s role in American history, and celebrate the beautiful diversity within the Black community. Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same-gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people have always been here, making history and fighting for liberation, though too often this history has been forgotten, erased, or taken for granted. This month we join with the National Black Justice Center to encourage you to learn more about leaders who make our history and how their lives and legacy can help us today.
NBJC’s We Have Always Been Here: Ubuntu Biography Project tells the too often untold stories of Black LGBTQ+/SGL people, including those from history. This month we honor torchbearers from our community, including Bayard Rustin, who organized the 1963 March on Washington, Billie Holiday, influential and pioneering jazz and swing music singer, Storme DeLarverie, a lesbian drag entertainer who said she threw the first punch at the Stonewall Uprising, and Audre Lorde, Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet, who dedicated her life and work to confronting racism, sexism, and homophobia (and whose birthday is celebrated this month). These are only a few among so many who have had a massive impact on the Black community and the country as a whole.
