Happy PRIDE?

What a strange and surreal time the past few months have been. Between the unprecedented complications that have arisen from Covid, the upcoming U.S. presidential election between two completely undesirable candidates, and the public outcry over police brutality and racial injustice, we clearly have our plates overwhelmingly full.

Now we’ve finally made it to June, a month that is usually spent partying and celebrating the progress that the LGBTQI+ community has made. But this Pride won’t be like the Pride of recent years. This year we can’t celebrate our own freedoms and progress without acknowledging and combating the major injustices that still go on against all of our Black brothers and sisters.

This year we are reminded that the first pride parade wasn’t a parade at all, but instead a revolt against an oppressive system. This year we must come together to challenge those that benefit from these abusive institutions. This year we must make it abundantly clear that #BlackLivesMatter

Whether it’s the Black trans women who have been murdered and whose investigations aren’t a priority to the police, the older Black man who pleads for his life moments before being strangled on camera by an officer, or the young Black boys who become a helpless victim because of prejudice and simply existing as they do. These stories are all too familiar to us. You can plug countless names into these scenarios and they would complete it perfectly. Why is that? Why do we have so many examples of innocent Black people that we’ve failed and in turn been victimized due to the color of their skin? The reason is because inherent prejudices and racist ideas not only exist within all of us, they’ve been woven into the very fabric of this country’s biggest institutions.

As a country we’ve never recovered from our greatest sins, one being the North American Slave Trade and the imprisonment of Black people. We can’t even agree on the undeniable horrors and exploitation that Black Americans experienced at this time. How could we when the matter is hardly covered in the public schooling system? Not to mention that I believe those in power are doing their best to keep us divided on these issues. Because when we rise up TOGETHER and demand JUSTICE FOR ALL they can not deny it.

I’m not saying you can't celebrate Pride this year. I am however saying that you should approach it thoughtfully and proactively. Giving space to the Black people around us and real consideration of Black issues and perspectives.

Remember the Stonewall Riots that started the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement and how they were ignited by Black trans women, learn the names of queer Black people whose contributions have pushed culture forward, and celebrate the Black excellence that shines daily and is a major piece of the LGBTQI+ story.

The Black community has been explaining, defending, and advocating for themselves for long enough. It is time that we all come together in solidarity to acknowledge the very real racism that exists, work together to develop solutions, & demand that these changes be implemented by our leaders.

Just a few more simple things you can do to support the Black community this pride month are to seek out and support black owned and operated businesses. The lasting effects of slavery and Jim Crow Laws still very much affect the upward mobility of a community and make it that much harder to start and have success with a small business. Have the difficult conversations with your loved ones who are ignorant or misinformed on the issues. This can go a long way to gain understanding and build allyship. Exercise your freedom and privilege to amplify the words of black voices. Just as we are all completely unique in our own way, we also all have unique and varying opportunities on how we can help. It’s up to us to discover how we can use our talents for the revolution.

But when all else fails, LISTEN.

I’ve included a link for resources as well as a collection of important petitions to sign.

Readers are encouraged to submit any further resources, petitions, & donation pages in the comment section..

National resource list

Petitions in no specific order: