• Safe & Sound - BLM Fest Remix

    OCT 8 - DEC 21 | 2022

  • Black Queerness has generally been erased from the National narrative. 
    We struggle to find Black Queer folk in our archives. Why is this?
    Who is keeping the records and what/who is prioritised?

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    In Brixton in the 1970’s, Shebeens provided a safe space for Queer Black and people of colour at a time when neighbouring pubs like The George (and society at large) were overtly discriminatory. When Jamaican-born Pearl Alcock opened a shebeen in her women’s clothing store on Railton Road, it was the only gay bar in Brixton. It provided a sanctuary for predominantly Black gay men and the local ‘Brixton Fairies’ from the nearby gay squat. 

    Given the time, most documentation of such spaces has been lost, discarded out of fear of incrimination or destroyed by the police, or as one person said in our research “We were too busy having a good time!"

  • We invite you to share your stories of Black safer spaces and the music that transports you back to those...

    We invite you to share your stories of Black safer spaces and the music that transports you back to those precious moments to build an intentionally Black and Queer community generated archive and playlist. 

     

    Throughout the season, we will be hosting Collective Listening Sessions curated by BLM Fest, founded by Kayza Rose. Join us as we recount the history of UK Black Queer party culture and explore its politics both in these space and beyond, accompanied by some of the story's key tracks.


    Listen and contribute to the playlist!