The organisation will be honouring their journey so far
BY KRYSTA MCKENZIE, IMAGE BY KOFI PAINTSIL
UK Black Pride (UKBP) is the world’s largest pride celebration for LGBTQIA people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern descent. Their story started with a small group of Black lesbians coming together in 2005, and now the organisation has been the recipient of countless awards and accolades for their extraordinary influence in communities of queer people of colour.
Perhaps what makes them so remarkable is how committed they are to staying true to their purpose. Earlier this year UK Black Pride announced recipients of their Community Action Fund, which split £75,000 between 10 organisations that work to provide safe and welcoming spaces for Black and brown LGBTQIA indivduals. There is no doubt that UKBP’s work is always done with community liberation in mind.
The theme for UKBP’s 2023 Pride celebration will be LEGACY — the perfect term to honour their journey so far as it acknowledges the inevitability of their lasting impact on society. It also calls for our community to look back at the power of our past and to use that power by continuing to advocate for change.
UK Black Pride co-founder and Executive Director Lady Phyll Opoku-Gyimah says, “UK Black Pride has gone from strength to strength over the last 18 years and we are so proud to have continuously given the community a space and platform to live and love unapologetically. LEGACY is the best way to describe the balance between looking at the last 18 years and looking forward to the next 18. We want our communities, on a collective and also an individual level, to think about the LEGACY they want to leave behind and how we can continue to move to a more inclusive future”.
UK Black Pride 2023 will be held on 19 August at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from 12pm to 8pm, and it is free to attend.
Visit ukblackpride.org.uk for further details about the celebration and to find out how to support the organisation.
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