Celebrating Black LGBTQ History. Black History Is Expansive. Beautifully Queer.#TheOtherSideOfChange

The omission of Black queer figures from mainstream historical narratives is not accidental but a deliberate strategy to maintain patriarchal lenses and deny the existence and contributions of queer people. This erasure serves to sanitize history and control perceptions of identity.

Co-host Bria Baker states, 'Far too often, entire chapters of that history, specifically black queer history, get erased.' (01:42) and 'That omission is not accidental. It's very intentional.' (17:30). Dr. David Johns adds, 'the history has always been queer... that's purposeful.' (42:18)

Black queer individuals were central to the civil rights and Black liberation movements, serving as strategists, theorists, and organizers. Their contributions, often overlooked, were fundamental to the progress achieved.

Co-host Jamira Burley highlights Bayard Rustin organizing the March on Washington, Audre Lorde redefining feminism, Marsha P. Johnson sparking resistance at Stonewall (16:38). Bria Baker adds Angela Davis and James Baldwin as brilliant Black queer figures (21:51). Dr. Johns notes Bayard Rustin's role in introducing nonviolent civil disobedience to Dr. King (01:06:14).

Current legislative efforts to ban books, restrict healthcare for trans youth, and police gender expression are not merely 'culture wars' but a coordinated authoritarian strategy to control people's lives and dismantle civil rights, starting with the most vulnerable.

Bria Baker notes, 'In the last few years, there have been more than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced across state legislatures. This is a a decentralized movement to control the way that people dress, to control the people that we the way that people celebrate and love and show up in public. It's not random. It's extremely coordinated.' (27:28). Jamira Burley adds, 'That's an authoritary infrastructure being built in real time in front of our faces.' (29:34).

Pre-colonial African societies often embraced gender fluidity and diverse sexual expressions. The rigid, binary definitions of masculinity and femininity were imposed through colonization, forcing Black people into boxes antithetical to their original cultural understandings.

Jamira Burley states, 'queerness and trans communities have always existed throughout the history of black people if you look at the continent.' (26:09) and 'our masculinity and femininity were redefined. But it's all BS.' (26:21). Dr. David Johns explains, 'everything originated in Africa... where gender constructs don't exist... those people actually occupy revered sacred space in the community.' (42:27)

The lack of visibility and the constant political attacks on Black queer youth contribute to significantly higher rates of suicide, depression, and anxiety, exacerbated by a lack of access to mental health support. This systemic targeting amounts to a form of genocide.

Bria Baker highlights, 'LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide compared to their peers. And when you add race to that equation, um where are black LGBTQ youth um finding themselves?' (30:01). Dr. David Johns reports, 'the suicide rate for black youth generally has continued to increase while while the same time it has decreased for every other group of children' (01:01:32).