"No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us." - Marsha P. Johnson
Every June many people around the United States celebrate Pride month through festivals, parades, conferences, educational workshops, and more. This year in the state of South Carolina, Black Pride is being celebrated at the end of August. While Pride month is a celebration that honors the 1969 Stonewall riots and the work that has been done to achieve justice and equal opportunities for the LGBTQIA+ community, Black pride is a time to amplify and recognize the voices and legacy of the many contributions that communities of color have made to the LGBTQIA+ community. Learning more about these individuals is a great way for children, teens, and adults to participate in not only honoring their legacies, but also recognizing the unique challenges they face being part of communities of color as well as the LGBTQIA+ community. To help you begin learning more, you'll find information below about several Black LGBTQIA+ historical figures and the many contributions they have made to music, writing, dancing, and more.
Check out the youth collections book list below to read materials about and by these amazing individuals.
Four-year-old TJ spends his days on his lively Harlem block playing with his best friends WT and Blinky and running errands for neighbors. As he comes of age as a "Little Man" with big dreams, TJ faces a world of grown-up adventures and realities. Baldwin's only children's book celebrates and explores the challenges and joys of black childhood. This new edition includes a foreword by Baldwin's nephew Tejan "TJ" Karefa-Smart and an afterword by his niece Aisha Karefa-Smart, with an introduction by two Baldwin scholars. In it we not only see life in 1970s Harlem from a black child's perspective, but we also gain a fuller appreciation of the genius of one of America's greatest writers.
Captures a story of passion, courage, and triumph through Bayard's own words and archival photographs, and through spirituals and protest songs that Bayard often sang.
A portrait of the passionate performer and civil rights advocate Josephine Baker, the woman who worked her way from the slums of St. Louis to the grandest stages in the world. Meticulously researched by both author and artist, Josephine's powerful story of struggle and triumph is an inspiration and a spectacle, just like the legend herself.
Describes the Stonewall Riots in New York City in 1969, which sparked the gay liberation movement in the United States, and details the history of LGBTQ rights since the riots.
A tribute to the life of the iconic jazz entertainer depicts her disadvantaged youth in a segregated America, her unique performance talents and the irrepressible sense of style that helped her overcome racial barriers