National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day #NBHAAD 2024: Honoring the Legacies of Black LGBTQ Artists

Every February 7, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day asks us to stop and count our losses. This year we're naming some of the many

Black LGBTQ artists the HIV/AIDS epidemic took from us. Their art and their activism still shape how we fight HIV/AIDS in Black communities — and what we refuse to forget.

Marlon Riggs (1957-1994) was a filmmaker and educator who took on race and sexuality head-on. His documentary "Tongues Untied" looked straight at the lives of Black gay men in the middle of the AIDS crisis, and it flinched at nothing.

Essex Hemphill (1957-1995) was a poet and activist. On the page and in performance, he wrote about race, sexuality, and the AIDS epidemic as one story — because in his life, they were one story.

Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) founded Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and changed modern dance. "Revelations" is still performed, still filling houses, still his.

Sylvester James (1947-1988) — Sylvester, to everyone — took disco somewhere it hadn't been, on the strength of that voice. He was out, he was fearless, and the dance floor loved him for it. The joy in his records hasn't dated.

Assotto Saint (1957-1994) was a poet and playwright who founded Galiens Press to publish the work of Black gay men. His press and his own art made Black LGBTQ voices harder to ignore.

Craig G. Harris (1961-1991) made work that came directly out of his life as a Black gay man during the AIDS epidemic.

Willi Smith (1948-1987) designed clothes people could actually afford and actually wear. His label WilliWear was ahead of its time, and fashion has spent decades catching up.

Joseph Fairchild Beam (1954-1988) was an author and editor. His anthology "In the Life" gave Black gay writers a platform when almost no one else would print them.

Keith Barrow (1955-1983) sang R&B with real soul. His hit "You Know You Want to Be Loved" is a classic.

Each of these artists made the epidemic visible while celebrating Black LGBTQ life. Their work is unfinished. The fight against HIV/AIDS in Black communities goes on, and so does the duty to support the people living with it now.

Preserving stories like these is why Black Alphabet NFP was founded 11 years ago. We keep the narratives of Black LGBTQ artists alive — their culture, art, and activism — because a story that goes untold gets erased twice. Remembering is part of the fight for equality and justice, not a break from it.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day falls on February 7. It calls for engagement, education, and empowerment in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Black communities — communities the epidemic still hits hardest. There has been progress. There is more to do. Take the day to remember, then act.