Photo: Lady Phyll Opoku by Chris Jepson
Despite a rainy start to proceedings, over 1300 people attended
the sixth annual UK Black Pride festival this weekend, hosted by
London's Birkbeck student union. The event is Europe's biggest
celebration of LGBT African, Arab, Asian and Caribbean unity and
marked an especially important time for queer people of colour in
the UK. Executive director for UKBP, Lady Phyll Opoku notes: "Today
we face many challenges; increased BNP and EDL activity, higher
incidents of homophobic and racist haste crime, coupled with cuts
in public services, the most vulnerable in society face many
difficulties. Coping with the duality of prejudice that blights the
lives of many of us is no easy feat."
But wasn't just the soul food and the dancehall music that made
this weekend's UK Black Pride event different from the many Prides
I've been to over the years. It was the fact that it's rare to see
so many queer people of colour assembled in one place. Ok, so
you'll find it at the likes of Bootylicious, Sunday Happy Day and
the many excellent club nights run by Patrick Lilley but during the
day, out in the open, it's a rare and beautiful thing. What struck
me as I gazed across the grounds of Birkbeck student union was the
fact that with all the diversity of people there, all the ages and
abilities, shapes and sizes, faith groups - yes there were queer
Sikhs (www.sarbat.net), queer Muslims, queer Christians - there was
a palpable sense of queer family in its widest sense.
Speaking to queer people of colour at the event, I asked why Black
Pride was important. Some, like Charmaine Francis, spoke about
standing up for those whose lives are in danger if they live openly
gay lives. Some, including film-maker Campbell X, told me that they
were glad to see so many queers of colour and their allies en
masse, and completely getting down and dancing to dancehall music
and chanting the lyrics. "Some people who want it banned need to
have a more nuanced approach to their activism. This music speaks
to LGBT people too.''
Judging by the bumping, grinding and wining of the gay men and
women there it was a joyful, celebratory event that had a great
effect on me. Headline act Ms Dynamite got the vibe right when she
shouted to the crowd: "Say it loud if you're black, gay and
proud."
One woman I met told me about how disappointed she was about
DIVA's August Candy Bar Girls cover, which she believed had caused
offence to many who thought it suggested that we endorse and
perpetuate a version of the scene that is young, white, and
able-bodied. While DIVA had no part in casting the girls in the
Channel 5 show, we agree that the show was not reflective of the
huge diversity within London's queer scene. It's a point that Lady
Phyll Opoku notes too. "Celebrating the success of openly black
LGBT people in all fields remains an uphill challenge. In this
context, the LGBT and wider public's knowledge about the diversity
in our community is shaped by myopic media stories that point at
events in other countries while ignoring discrimination in our own
back yard. This compounds the marginalisation of black LGBT people
on the mainstream 'scene'."
DIVA acknowledges this and recognises that we have our part to
play in redressing the imbalance. Our photographers spent the day
photographing revellers at the event and we'll be printing the
pictures in the next issue. Furthermore, we look forward to
connecting with the many people of colour whose lives and stories
are so important. Some of these stories were shown at film
screenings throughout the day inside the student union building.
Some were told by those with community stalls and some we heard
about during speeches from the stage from the likes of activist and
artist Skye Scarlett and others from the Naz Project, Unison and
Stonewall.
The last word goes to Lady Phyll Opoku: "Saturday 20 August 2011
was about celebrating and remembering people around the world and
in Britain who cannot gather to show pride. UK Black Pride held its
head high and gave confidence to those who are denied equality. Our
organisation is about working with our amazing community of
activists, sponsors and supporters to challenge stereotypes about
Britain's Black LGBT communities. Over 1300 people did just that on
Saturday."
For video vox pops from the event, see the video link below.
