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Too often the contributions of people of colour and trans activists are overlooked and whitewashed from history. As we look back on the Stonewall riots of 1969 and the history of LGBTQ+ activism, we reflect on the ways cis white people benefit from minority-led labour.

Our panel discusses the origins of Pride as a protest, the hidden figures of the movement, and how the corporate sponsorship of Pride today challenges its original meaning. In conversation will be journalist and director of Black Girl Festival, Paula Akpan, gay rights pioneer Andrew Lumsden and spoken word poet, model and trans visibility activist Kai-Isaiah Jamal.

About The Speakers

Paula Akpan

Paula Akpan is a journalist, speaker and founding director of Black Girl Festival, the UK’s first arts and & cultural festival celebrating black women and girls.

Andrew Lumsden

Andrew Lumsden was in his twenties when he decided to explore the gay world of Sixties London, and found the Gay Liberation Front as he puts it. Decades later, he is regarded as one of the pioneering figures in the fight for LGBT rights in the UK. He is the co-author of Title Fight: The Battle for Gay News (Brilliance Books 1983) and of Souvenirs of Sirmione (One Roof Press 2010).

Kai-Isaiah Jamal

Kai-Isaiah Jamal is a spoken word poet, writer, model and trans visibility activist. Belonging to collective BBZ, Kai’s work and the work he is involved in all creates spaces, voices and representation for queer and trans people of colour.