National Black Justice Coalition Honors Trailblazing Black LGBTQ+ Leaders
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) will kick off its 8th annual Black Institute by co-producing the headlining and opening plenary panel at Creating Change 2021 conference, the largest convening of LGBTQ+ advocates in the country. The National LGBTQ Task Force typically produces the conference as a way for thousands to come together to recommit and uplift the LGBTQ+ community.
This year’s virtual event is themed "New Ideas for a New Era of Opportunity," and reflects opportunities to advance inclusive social, economic, and political changes ushered in by a new presidential administration and will take place between January 28-31 from 12 pm to 6 pm EST where three history-making advocacy leaders will be honored.
"For the first time ever, three of the Stonewall era LGBTQ+ equality organizations are being led by Black executive directors." They are Kierra Johnson, incoming Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign and Imani Rupert-Gordon, Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
All three will appear on the plenary panel, moderated by the National Black Justice Coalition's Executive Director, David J. Johns.
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"Too often, the legislative process, and the social influences that inform the legislative process, does not consider those with intersectional marginalized identities," says Johns. "The annual Black Institute provides opportunities for activists to connect their lived experience to advocacy opportunities, work that is critically important to advancing policies that address the often unmet needs of Black LGBTQ+/SGL people, families, and communities."
This year’s special guests will include “POSE”’s Dominique Jackson and Queen of Bounce music, Big Freedia.
Other Black Institute speakers include Nia Martin- Robinson (Planned Parenthood Federation of America), Dr. Ravi Perry (Political Science Department Chair at Howard University), Fox News Contributor Richard Fowler, and NBJC’s own Victoria Kirby York, Kia Darling-Hammond, and Sharon Lettman-Hicks, along with several Black LGBTQ+/SGL movement leaders such as Earl Fowlkes (Center for Black Equity), Bishop Tanyia Rawls (Freedom Center for Social Justice), Nadine Smith (Equality Florida), transgender advocate and organizer Camden Hargrove, Candace Bond-Therault (Planned Parenthood Federation of America), Shanequa Davis (National LGBTQ Task Force), and national religious leader Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart
As the nation's only civil rights organization focused on the intersection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and same gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) rights and racial equality, NBJC will also release the 2021 Policy Agenda at the Black Institute. This is an effort to address issues impacting Black LGBTQ+/SGL communities auch as criminal justice and health care reform, the violence currently facing Black transgender and nonbinary communities, economic and educational inequality, and civil rights inclusion and expansion.
For information on the schedule, special guests and to register, attendees and partners can visit, creatingchange.org.
