Dear Community,
When we trace the lines of our history, there’s a rich tapestry holding both struggles and victories. Black history is doubly painful and powerful, and is always providing blueprints for alchemy in experiences of oppression. Those who come before us – figures like Bayard Rustin, James Baldwin, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, William Dorsey Swan, Sir Lady Java, Marsha P. Johnson, and so many more – have given us tools to carve out joy and advocate for ourselves at social, economic, and political levels. Their fearlessness – even in the face of danger – have shaped movements focusing on liberating all people, with extreme focus on uplifting Black LGBTQIA+ communities.
Mainstream Pride has grown into a global celebration but the truth is: not everyone has always been included. The earliest Prides have been birthed from protest, but over time, celebrations have way too often centered the experiences of white, cisgender, gay men leaving many Black LGBTQIA+ folks pushed to the margins.
While the first Pride parade took place in 1970, it wasn’t until over 20 years later – 1991 – that the first Black Gay Pride was held in Washington D.C. Disproportionately impacted by the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s, the criminalization of LGBTQIA+ people, and the prioritization of white-led stories in the greater LGBTQIA+ movement, a group of Black queer folx rallied together to create a space where our voices were heard, counted, and celebrated. Across the country, in our city of San Diego, Lesbians and Gays of African Descent United (LAGADU) was building out space for our local community. This group, now defunct, was the first Black group to march in the San Diego Pride Parade, and it’s a gift to know that nearly 40 years later, we have multiple Black-centered groups walking in this annual experience.
The Black Pride movement is crucial to the fabric of the broader Pride movement because our existence is tied to the past, present, and future of our freedom.
For Black LGBTQIA+ folks our joy, our grief, our resistance, and our identities were erased and pushed to the sidelines. But, Black LGBTQIA+ folks have always been here: leading uprisings, building culture, creating space but not always celebrated in the spaces we helped build.
This is why we’re grateful to operate San Diego Black Pride, a grassroots community-based-and-run organization dedicated to elevating and celebrating the Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ (LGBTQ+) population in San Diego County. We achieve this by organizing local events, providing networking opportunities, fostering financial literacy, offering emergency financial support, and creating educational opportunities that highlight and support the often-overlooked Black Queer experience in San Diego.
Since our founding in 2015 as the San Diego Black LGBTQ Coalition, we have evolved
significantly over the past decade into a standalone 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and a culture shifted in our community. What began as a community support group for Black gay men has grown into an inclusive entity that serves every facet of the Black Queer and Trans community, while also making space for our allies to thrive alongside. The San Diego Black Pride board is currently made up of a number of fierce and fearless individuals who are committed to serving the Black LGBTQIA+ community. Today, we continue to expand as a cornerstone of Black Queer and Trans social life, consistently raising awareness of our presence and increasing our support services.
To celebrate this, San Diego Black Pride returns this August with our 5th Anniversary celebration—a bold, three-day festival designed to uplift, unite, and inspire. This milestone year features powerful cultural programming, nightlife experiences, and community celebrations rooted in the brilliance of Black queer and trans expression. All are welcome to celebrate with us! We invite you to join any, or all, the days as we invigorate Hillcrest with Black Excellence!
If you aren’t able to attend our experiences, then we’re eager to share other opportunities for you to support and center Black LGBTQIA+ lives, and the work that Black Pride does. Some tangible ways you can support are:
Everything we do is curated by and for the Black LGBTQIA+ community. Because we deserve joy. We deserve space. And we deserve to be seen. As we do our work, we’re continually inspired by the words of the late Audre Lorde, “Without community, there is no liberation.”
In solidarity,
San Diego Black Pride Board of Directors
San Diego Pride raises funds primarily through festival ticket and beverage sales, and through sponsorships, and exhibitor fees. These funds support San Diego Pride’s community philanthropy which has distributed more than $2.5 million in advancement of its mission to foster pride, equality, and respect for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities locally, nationally, and globally.
