National Black Justice Coalition commemorates Lesbian Day of Visibility
Victoria Kirby York, deputy director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NJBC), commemorates the Lesbian Day of Visibility:
“Being a visible Black lesbian is powerful – it makes me feel connected deeply to spirit and without boundaries. Living my life in this authentic way makes me feel freer, bolder, audacious, and limitless.
“Every day my wife and I strive to show our daughter what it means to be an embodied woman, who knows herself and her worth. Black lesbian visibility means moving past barriers, exclusions, and attempts to marginalize who we are and succeeding anyway. These are the lessons I want our girls to carry with them: never let the limits of exclusion or the external and sometimes internal “but not you” narrative stop you from achieving your dreams.
“To the Black lesbian legends and icons that came before me, I say ‘thank you!’ I am here because you are. Thank you Audre Lorde, Barbara Smith, Ann Allen Shockley, and the many other Black lesbians who paved the way at tremendous cost to themselves in order for Black lesbian activists, artists and figures to be visible and impactful today.”
Earlier today Ms. Magazine published Kirby York’s opinion essay on Lesbian Day of Visibility and how Black lesbian visibility in popular culture has impacted her personal experience.
READ THE OP-ED HERE
ABOUT THE NBJC
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is America’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people, including people living with HIV.
