Along with Modern Military, the Center for Black Equity is proud to participate in the Black LGBTQ+ Preservation Project, dedicated to preserving and uplifting the Black LGBTQ+ legacy in Washington, DC.
For almost three decades, the Center for Black Equity has worked to ensure that the voices of our community are not only heard but honored, especially in a city that has long stood at the crossroads of activism, identity, and resilience.
Our participation in this initiative is not just institutional; it is deeply personal. For those of us who have lived, loved, struggled, and led within this city, the importance of preserving our stories is urgent. DC’s Black LGBTQ+ community has been instrumental in shaping national conversations around HIV prevention, civil rights, ballroom culture, and queer liberation. Yet, these contributions too often go unrecognized or are omitted entirely from mainstream historical narratives.
This grant gives us an opportunity to ensure that our histories are collected, protected, and shared with the reverence they deserve. Through oral histories, archives, and community-based storytelling, we can fill in the gaps and correct the erasures that have plagued our past.
It is especially important to note that DC’s Black LGBTQ+ story is inextricably linked to military and veteran experiences. Many Black queer individuals came to the nation’s capital through military service, whether stationed at Andrews Air Force Base, Fort McNair, Joint Base Anacostia Bolling, or the Pentagon, or settled here after serving overseas. For many, DC offered a space to build new lives and find chosen family. Some became community organizers, while others lived quietly but left indelible marks on local institutions, houses of worship, and neighborhoods.
The presence of Black LGBTQ+ veterans in our history is undeniable. Yet we rarely see their names etched in plaques or memorials. This project allows us to honor them not just as service members, but as people who carried dual burdens of serving a country that often denied their full humanity, and of building community in the margins of Blackness, queerness, and military identity.
And we need it rooted right here, in the heart of DC. A city that birthed trailblazers, from activists and drag performers to HIV warriors and veterans turned advocates. A city that has always pulsed with Black brilliance, Black resistance, and Black queer love.
Through this grant, we are preserving not just stories, but legacy, leadership, and liberation.
