Black Americans’ contributions celebrated during Pride Month

Every June, Pride Month commemorates the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, celebrating the community’s diversity, resilience, and achievements. While this month honors many facets of LGBTQ+ history, the contributions of Black Americans have been particularly significant and deserve special recognition.The roots of Pride Month trace back to the Stonewall Riots of June 1969, a pivotal event in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Among the leading figures at Stonewall were Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two prominent activists of color. Johnson, a Black transgender woman, played a crucial role in the riots and subsequent activism, co-founding the Gay Liberation Front and Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), organizations dedicated to supporting marginalized members of the LGBTQ+ community. Her legacy continues to inspire modern movements for LGBTQ+ rights and racial justice.Another key figure is Bayard Rustin, a Black gay man whose strategic brilliance was instrumental in the civil rights movement. Rustin organized the 1963 March on Washington and was a close advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Despite facing discrimination within both the civil rights and LGBTQ+ movements due to his sexuality, Rustin’s contributions have had a lasting impact on the fight for equality.In more recent history, the Black Lives Matter...