Black Alphabet

Black Alphabet The premiere black focused LGBT arts organization based in Chicago with national programming. For more information, contact [email protected]

Black Alphabet is a 501c3 organization symbolizing the unity and sexual diversity in the Black community; affirming and celebrating the existing and emerging ways people self-identify in our community. Our mission is to empower the Black LGBTQ/SGL community and celebrate our achievements and foster our future through the medium of film.

May 17, 1990. The World Health Organization voted to remove homosexuality from its International Classification of Disea...
05/17/2026

May 17, 1990. The World Health Organization voted to remove homosexuality from its International Classification of Diseases. Until that day, being gay was officially classified as a mental disorder by the world's leading health authority. The vote is why May 17 — the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) — exists.

Thirty-six years later, the data tells a harder story. 65 UN member states still criminalize consensual same-sex relations. For the first time in years, that number rose rather than fell. At least 62 countries restrict freedom of expression on sexual orientation and gender identity. Only 18 nations offer legal gender recognition based on self-determination.

IDAHOBIT 2026's global theme is At the Heart of Democracy. Coordinated by ILGA World, observed in more than 150 countries, the day asks a question that should be uncomfortable: which democracies still treat q***r people as a criminal class? Which call themselves free while keeping the laws on the books?

Black Alphabet's work — the archive, the festival, the Jamii Center — is a record.

Documentation is how history holds the line when politics tries to move it backward.

Read about IDAHOBIT 2026 → https://may17.org

Which country's rollback of LGBTQIA+ rights has been most invisible in the news cycle this year?

Jason Collins died Tuesday at 47, after an eight-month battle with glioblastoma.In April 2013, he published an essay in ...
05/13/2026

Jason Collins died Tuesday at 47, after an eight-month battle with glioblastoma.

In April 2013, he published an essay in Sports Illustrated that began: "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay." That single decision made him the first active player in any of the four major American men's professional sports leagues — NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL — to come out as gay. He was 34 years old, a 12-year veteran, a center who had been to two NBA Finals with the New Jersey Nets.

The Brooklyn Nets signed him to a 10-day contract the following season. He played 22 games. He retired in 2014 and spent the next decade as an NBA Cares Ambassador and a quiet, persistent advocate.

Black Alphabet screened Game Face (2015), the Michiel Thomas documentary that followed Collins as he mentored Terrence Clemens, a young gay college basketball player in Oklahoma trying to navigate his own coming out. There is a scene of the two of them hiking in Los Angeles. Collins, already out, tells the younger player that integrity is worth the risk. That humor is necessary. That the haters will say what they say.

He is survived by his husband Brunson Green, his parents, and his twin brother Jarron.

Rest in power, Jason Collins.

Read his Sports Illustrated essay → https://www.si.com/more-sports/2013/04/29/jason-collins-gay-nba-player

Who was the first openly LGBTQ+ athlete who made you feel like the door had opened?

In 1926, Richard Bruce Nugent published "Smoke, Lilies and Jade" in the first and only issue of Fire!! magazine. It was ...
05/11/2026

In 1926, Richard Bruce Nugent published "Smoke, Lilies and Jade" in the first and only issue of Fire!! magazine. It was the first openly gay short story by a Black American author. The protagonist, Alex, says: "I am a homosexual. I have never been in what they call 'the closet.' It never occurred to me that it was anything to be ashamed of."

Nugent was 20 years old.

Forty-six years later, in 1972, filmmaker William Greaves arranged a four-hour gathering at Duke Ellington's Harlem townhouse. He invited the surviving artists, writers, musicians, and witnesses of the Harlem Renaissance — Aaron Douglas, Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, James Van Der Zee, Arna Bontemps, Romare Bearden, Ernest Crichlow, Ida Mae Cullen — and rolled 16mm film. Nugent was there in a red turtleneck, drink in hand, arm thrown wide, still talking back.

The footage sat for fifty-four years. Greaves died in 2014. His son David, who had operated camera that day in 1972, completed the documentary using his father's notes and workprints.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026 to two standing ovations and Best Documentary in IndieWire's critics survey. Neon acquired distribution after a heated bidding war with Netflix, Sony Pictures Classics, and Mubi. The film is currently screening at Cannes Directors' Fortnight (May 12–23, 2026). Theatrical release is scheduled for later this year.

The Harlem Renaissance was never just a literary movement. It was a room of people who refused to be remembered on anyone else's terms. Half a century later, that room is back on screen.

Learn more about the film: https://onceuponatimeinharlemfilm.com

Which Harlem Renaissance figure changed how you read the period?

Nine Tony nominations for Cats: The Jellicle Ball — and Black q***r artists are named in eight of them.The ballroom-cult...
05/06/2026

Nine Tony nominations for Cats: The Jellicle Ball — and Black q***r artists are named in eight of them.

The ballroom-culture reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in April. This morning, the American Theatre Wing put it among the most-nominated revivals of the season. Co-director Zhailon Levingston was nominated alongside Bill Rauch for Best Direction of a Musical. Choreographers Omari Wiles (House of Ninja Oricci) and Arturo Lyons (House of Miyake-Mugler) — both NYC ballroom legends — were nominated for Best Choreography. Costume designer Qween Jean, founder of Black Trans Liberation, was nominated for Best Costume Design. Lighting designer Adam Honoré earned a Best Lighting Design nod. The cast picked up three acting nominations: André De Shields and Sydney James Harcourt for Featured Actor, and "Tempress" Chasity Moore for Featured Actress.

The cast is built from working ballroom houses. Junior LaBeija — the legendary MC from the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning — plays Gus.

This isn't ballroom borrowed for flavor. The show handed Black and Latino q***r ball culture the keys to a Broadway house and asked it to lead. Nine Tony nominations later, the establishment agrees.

The 79th Tony Awards air Sunday, June 7, on CBS and Paramount+. Cats: The Jellicle Ball runs at the Broadhurst Theatre. Tickets and info → https://catsthejellicleball.com

Which of the nine nominations are you rooting for hardest?

Every great film festival starts with a screening committee.A small group of people sit in a dark room, watch hundreds o...
04/30/2026

Every great film festival starts with a screening committee.

A small group of people sit in a dark room, watch hundreds of submissions, argue, defend their favorites, and decide what an audience will see. We're rebuilding ours for 2026. And we want you in it.

The Black Alphabet Film Festival screening committee watches new work from Black q***r filmmakers around the world and shapes the lineup that goes to Chicago, Houston, Cincinnati, South Florida, Paris, London, and Johannesburg.

You don't need a film degree. You need a love of cinema, a point of view, and the time to watch closely.

Chicago-based. Volunteer. Apply by May 27. Link in bio.

We don't believe emerging artists should have to build their first major project alone.That's why N.O.V.A. exists.Nurtur...
04/27/2026

We don't believe emerging artists should have to build their first major project alone.

That's why N.O.V.A. exists.

Nurturing Our Voices Through Art is Black Alphabet's summer artist-in-residence program for emerging Black LGBTQ+ creatives in the Chicagoland area, ages 18–24. Selected residents receive:

→ A dedicated mentor in their discipline
→ A micro-budget to fund their project
→ A culminating showcase at the Jamii Center for Arts & Media

June through August. All disciplines welcome — visual art, film, music, dance, writing, performance, multimedia, and beyond. You don't need a degree. You don't need a résumé. You need a vision and the commitment to bring it to life.

Apply by May 27. Link in bio.

The Trump DOJ indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center today on 11 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to c...
04/22/2026

The Trump DOJ indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center today on 11 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Acting AG Todd Blanche alleged the civil rights organization secretly paid over $3 million to informants embedded inside the K*K, the United Klans of America, the National Socialist Movement, and other white supremacist groups — funneling money through shell bank accounts without disclosing the program to donors. The SPLC calls the charges false and says the program saved lives.

What is not in dispute: the SPLC was the primary institution tracking anti-LGBTQ+ hate group activity in the United States. 96 designated groups in 2024 — the highest number the organization had ever recorded. The groups on that list include organizations that have directly shaped anti-trans legislation, book bans, and conversion therapy policy across the country.

The indictment does not name any of those groups. It names the organization that named them.

The SPLC has been a target of conservative opposition for decades. Whether this prosecution is legitimate or political will be decided in court. What happens to the infrastructure of accountability in the meantime is not a legal question.

What do you make of the timing?

This Saturday. Venue SIX10. 610 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago.Black Alphabet Executive Director Adam L. McMath joins the Ligh...
04/14/2026

This Saturday. Venue SIX10. 610 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago.

Black Alphabet Executive Director Adam L. McMath joins the Lighthouse Foundation's Level Up Conference 2026 for "Leading Black LGBTQ+ Orgs with Excellence," part of the conference's "Creating Joy in the Work" track.

Black Alphabet has been running for thirteen years — programming across Chicago, nationally, and internationally since 2013. What it takes to sustain a Black LGBTQ+ arts organization that long, what the daily work actually looks like, and where the joy lives inside the grind — that's the conversation.

April 18, 1:15–2:00 PM.
Register → Bit.ly/LFLUC26

Who else is going to Level Up this weekend?

York Walker grew up in Chicago. He got his MFA at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, worked as a story edit...
04/13/2026

York Walker grew up in Chicago. He got his MFA at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, worked as a story editor on Dick Wolf's FBI, and wrote a play called Covenant that premiered Off-Broadway at Roundabout Theatre Company in October 2023. The New York Times called it a Critic's Pick. New York Magazine called it "blackout-and-blood-curdling-scream deliciousness." TheaterMania called it "undeniably spooky and absolutely enjoyable."

Now the play comes home.

Black Alphabet is hosting a meet and greet with York Walker on May 2 at the Goodman Theatre before the Chicago premiere of Covenant. The meet and greet runs 6:15–7:15 PM in the Owen Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn — then you stay for the show.

The play: A struggling guitarist leaves a small Georgia town and returns a blues star. Rumors of a darker deal spread through the community. But he's not the only one keeping secrets — and not the only one looking for salvation. York calls it a "striking Southern gothic work," and the critics agree.

York is the inaugural recipient of the Vineyard Theatre's Colman Domingo Award. His work has been developed at Manhattan Theatre Club, Victory Gardens, South Coast Repertory, and Arizona Theatre Company. He's a member of Marcus Gardley's New Wave Writer's Workshop. Chicago raised him. The American theatre claimed him. And he's bringing Covenant back to the city that made him.

Grab your tickets and use code BLACKALPHABET for a discount at checkout → goodmantheatre.org/covenant

Have you seen Covenant or read about it? What draws you to Southern gothic stories?

She helped bring The Chi to life for 8 seasons. Tomorrow she's reading her late brother's poetry at Jamii Center — and t...
04/10/2026

She helped bring The Chi to life for 8 seasons. Tomorrow she's reading her late brother's poetry at Jamii Center — and the room is almost full.

Billie Holiday Hughes grew up in Altgeld Gardens on the South Side. She built a career in film and television — The Chi (Seasons 1–8), Marvel's Ironheart, Heist 88, Sense8 — as a key assistant location manager.

Her brother Tony, who everyone called T-Soul, lived with HIV for 16 years. He wrote poetry the entire time. After Tony died from complications of HIV/AIDS, Billie published those poems in a book called Dancing with HIV.

Tomorrow, Saturday April 11 at noon, Billie is reading Tony's poems at Jamii Center for the Arts and Media in Bronzeville. This is a conversation about what it means to carry someone's voice after they're gone.

$20 includes your ticket, a copy of the book, and light refreshments.
We've already passed our anticipated audience. Jamii holds 80. If you want to be in the room, don't wait.

blackalphabet.org/event-details/dancing-with-hiv-book-event

Jamii Center for the Arts and Media
3850 S. Indiana Ave, Chicago

Address

201 S. Ashland Avenue
Chicago, IL
60607

Website

https://lnk.bio/BlackAlphabet

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