HELEN OPARA

ANIMATOR, ILLUSTRATOR

“In the U.K., Black History Month happens in October. Whilst LGBTQ History Month is celebrated concurrently in the U.S. The same happens again in February, but it’s flipped and reversed! To showcase how these experiences can intersect, I created spot illustrations of 8 Black LGBTQ people that should be in History books. There are so many more others I could have included, so I hope this sparks folks’ interests and gets them to look at underrepresented histories and stories. Here they are…
1) Area Scatter - A Nigerian Igbo performer and musician
2) Berto Pasuka - A Jamaican dancer and co-founder of the dance company ‘Les Ballet Negres.’
3) Gladys Bentley - An African American blues singer, pianist, and entertainer.
4) Marielle Franco - A Brazilian politician, feminist, socialist, and human rights activist.
5) Rotimi Fani Kayode - A Nigerian photographer. Co-founder of Association of Black Photographers - now known as Autograph ABP.
6) Simon Nkoli - A South African anti-apartheid, LGBTQIA and AIDs activist.
7) Tracey Norman - An African American model, known as the first trans woman model to achieve prominence in fashion.
8) Willi Ninja - An African American dancer and choreographer. Known as the Godfather of Vogue [featured here].”

BLACK & NERDY

“A professional geek. Because blackness comes in all shades. Be it weird, sporty, geeky, awkward, queer, trans, mixed or disabled.”