Digital creator and the director of BlaqUK (spelt with a q) Nic Farmer is inspired by a colour photograph of a man sitting on a red metal bench, his legs crossed and right arm resting across his body. He is holding a black tote bag with gold sequin detail. We know the man to be David McAlmott on his way to London Pride in 1992. It looks hot, similar to the day Nic went to UK Black Pride to talk to people about what it meant to be at such a huge gathering for the Black LGBTQ+ community. Together we go on a journey to celebrate Black culture and heritage in a space where Black Queer people are the majority. 
 
CONTENT WARNING: This podcast is about the experience of Black LGBTQIA+ communities with open discussion about racism, homophobia, transphobia and sexual discrimination.
Black and Gay, Back in the Day is an Aunt Nell Production. This eye opening series highlights the importance of Black LGBTQIA+ history, amplifying the work of its founders Marc Thompson and Jason Okundaye, as we repaint the photographs through audio, helping to facilitate the mission of honouring and remembering Black queer life in Britain.  

Host: Marc Thompson
Co-host: Nic Farmer
Producers: Shivani Dave, Tash Walker
Assistant Producer: Abi McIntosh
Artwork: Kemi Oyolede
Music: Amaroun 
Thanks to UK Black Pride
Black and Gay, Back in the Day is an Aunt Nell Production, supported by the Audio Content Fund.


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Welcome to Black and Gay Back in the Day.

We're bringing to life the archive of images of Black LGBTQ plus life in Britain from the 1970s to the early noughties.

I'm an activist and health promotion specialist and I built this archive with a journalist and writer Jason Okindea.

In this episode we're looking at a photograph of someone on a journey to celebrate their identity.

A color photograph of a man sitting on a red metal bench, his legs crossed, his right arm resting across his body.

He is holding a black tote bag with a gold sequined detail.

He is wearing red shorts, a multicolored T-shirt with green, purple, orange, and red stripes.

He completes the look with iconic heart-shaped sunglasses and a beaded choker.

We know the man to be David McCormack on his way to London Pride in 1992.

Taking up space as a black LGBTQ plus person can be radical.

It's important to understand and embrace all elements of our identity.

Now in London, there are a few places that allow us to do that.

Nick Farmer is transporting us to 1 of those spaces.

I'm looking at a photo of David McCormack on his way to London Pride in 1992.

It's just absolutely amazing to see that level of happiness in this 1 photo can tell a million stories.

I can definitely resonate with David here.

It took me a long journey to get here from Leicester today and to see them waiting to go to London Pride is definitely a moment I had today when I was waiting on that train to get here anxious but ready to have a good time and feel safe in a space like UK Black Pride.

And the scenes are absolutely amazing, everyone looks great, they have shown out today.

I'm here with some friends, I can see some stores, some amazing stores.

People are selling things, they're talking about amazing institutions.

We've also got the big UK Black Pride sign.

There's loads of different flags, that's so cool.

We've also got music in the background, hearing a bit of Vibes Cartel, love them classic Bashment tunes.

The trip from Leicester was tiring but I'm glad that I'm here, I'm buzzing.

My name is Nick, my pronouns are they, he and I'm a content creator.

UK Black Pride has always been a very special place to me, especially since we've had the pandemic and not being able to have a safe space for black individuals, people of color to come together and fight and celebrate and love each other as freely as they can.

You don't get many spaces like this in the world and to have 1 of these spaces in London in the UK is so so important.

I'm so glad that I've been able to see how UK Black Pride has evolved and that people are so comfortable to come here and just be themselves.

It's not often that you get this and so this does mean a lot to me to just see everyone being themselves, being unapologetic.

And because of these magical, magical moments, I need to know how the people are feeling today.

of a podcast called Black and Gay back in the day?

If you could just introduce yourself, your name, your pronouns, where you're from.

My pronouns are he, him, and I live in Brixton, the capital of Black Britain.

And what does it mean to be here today for UK Black Pride?

What does it mean to be at Black Gay Pride?

some friends and when we arrived I was saying to them, I remember the first black gay club I went to 40 years ago and the dance floor was smaller than my living room.

it just blows my mind when I think about that.

And so yeah, so black gay pride, I guess what that gives to me is a sense of pride, the fact that the community has developed and grown enough that we can be having a celebration in 1 of the most fantastic venues in London.

And the fact that we're all together in community, we're about love, and it's good to be able to be in a space where that's happening.

Oh my gosh, guys, I just saw Tanya Compass, literally fangirling right now.

I'm so excited to see the content creators, the TikTokers, just the activists in this space today.

There will be a lot of squealing so sorry headphone users.

My name's Ebony, I'm 28, my pronouns are they, them and I'm from Leicester.

I think for me, especially because it's like my first Black Pride, it's nice that there is a space for Black people to kind of come together and celebrate.

Sometimes it's difficult to feel like you're kind of crossing over lines and what side of the fence you sit on, but here it's very much, this is all encompassing of who you are.

So I think to me, it's nice to have that space where I can be both as openly and happily as I need to be.

Yeah, and I remember you saying that you're from Leicester.

How does it feel, kind of, what the difference is?

What are you noticing coming to London today and being at Black Pride and coming from Leicester today, that journey?

So I'm from London originally, I haven't been back in a few years.

So it's definitely a nice shock to kind of see, not just how busy it is, but also like the space that we're in.

This was the space of 1 of the biggest, proudest moments of Britain.

So for Black Pride to be here kind of encapsulates that Black people are part of that pride and should be able to take up space in a place like this.

Oh my gosh, over there, I think that's Mark Thompson.

He's the person who set up the Instagram account black and gay back in the day.

I'm feeling good, I'm feeling good, Great atmosphere today.

It's really, really warm but the atmosphere is amazing.

Lady Phil's just gone by, you know, so it's a good buzz.

I'm just looking around the stores, you know, trying to get what everyone else's reactions are to Black Pride today.

You know, it's been a couple of years, so it's great to see so many people out here today.

Go and enjoy it and engage in it and let's catch up and talk a bit more later.

So we got some tents over here, It seems as though they're maybe...

They have a free monkeypox vaccine store here.

You know, I think also 1 thing that's so important about Pride is yeah we can come to celebrate and dance but also education and learn.

And the fact that we have this space, we have all this space with the Olympic Park, just means that more people can be educated, more people can learn about the issues that are going on with the community and that's just brilliant.

Hi I'm Wansu, I use she, her pronouns and I'm from Manchester.

Amazing, and what does it mean to be at Black Pride today?

Being at Black Pride is important to me because it symbolises community, specifically black queer community.

This is the community that makes me feel comfortable, that makes me feel inspired to do what I do on a daily basis and it's about family really for me so that's why I'm here today.

The outfits today are absolutely fantabulous I'm seeing sparkles I'm seeing glitter.

Ooh, they got a jello-fried suya grill and burrito.

Goodness me, they're gonna make me hungry today.

Are the funds in the bank gonna allow me to eat all of this food?

Would you like to be interviewed for the podcast Black and Gay back in the day?

The owner of Wealth has arrived here at Black Pride

And what exactly does it mean to you today to be here at UK Black Pride?

It means I get to celebrate other beautiful, melanated people.

It means I get to give lots of time, extra time that I normally don't have, normally in my regular day-to-day life, to actually engage in what other people are doing, what their passion is, what their business is about, and to connect.

But yes, a lot about celebrating, definitely.

I'm Keys, she, her, and I've come from Bristol today.

Amazing, did you travel today to Bristol?

So what does it mean to you today to be here at Black Pride?

Well, I love Black Pride, and it's my chance to be in the majority and to share with other people my culture, my music, and just to kind of be black, out, and gay.

Last time I saw you was at UK Black Pride and now I'm at home on Zoom and you're at home in your room on Zoom as well but it's good to connect with you again.

So just to you know to just make a little apology in advance because I'm at home my dog is here and he's kind of scrabbling around a bit and he's chewing on a stick just to keep him distracted so if you do hear in the background that's just Bo being Bo.

So would you like to see him as he's here?

My aunt had the exact same dog, also called Bo, Boey.

So when you literally showed me the dog and you was like, his name is Bo, I was like,

I mean, we just saw each other at UK Black Pride.

I was really busy working so I didn't kind of get to go to the stage and see the performances but just being in that atmosphere with queer people of colour engaging in particularly the community space was really important for me.

So yeah, I had a really good day, hot, but a really good day, hot and dusty.

Yeah, I still haven't got my shoes clean.

Nobody can ever laugh at my crocs again because trust me they just came off, I got wiped down and they were good to go.

So listen, it's so good to reconnect with you again and kind of let's have a conversation about you know some of the stuff that you saw there but Nick, I just want to kind of kick off by just thinking you know how important is it to you that we have a UK Black Pride?

We need spaces as people of colour and Black people, we need our own spaces to feel free.

Many times within queer spaces, people of colour do not always feel safe and they should be able to feel safe in these spaces, but they don't.

And so for a space like UK Black Pride to be created where an individual can be free, 100% themselves is so, so, so important.

And it's something that everyone should feel.

And so the fact that this space has now been created or it has been created for so many years, it's a wonderful thing to see.

Yeah, I was saying to somebody a couple of days ago that the fact that it's now in August rather than in Pride month is really great, right?

And if we think about intersectionality, the fact that UK Black Pride now sits after London Pride and then before the Notting Hill Carnival, Black queer people, we get to celebrate like throughout all of summer.

And you know, I hadn't even made that that distinction.

And I think it's so important because we need these places to celebrate and to be able to continue experiencing joy throughout summer.

It's transitions and shows all of our culture in 1 throughout the summer, which is absolutely great.

And I totally agree with you, you know, that it is about celebration and long may that continue and let it grow and grow and grow.

But thinking about growth, UK Black Pride is in London.

I mean, do you wish that there was something like that where you are and in other spaces around the country?

I think, you know, London being the capital, it is always going to be a space that is buzzing and full of life.

But there are other communities within the UK.

We have Birmingham, we have Manchester, these are spaces where queer people of colour have been for many, many years.

And I know that there are organisations that are doing the work to create those safe spaces, but there's not enough.

If we were able to branch out slightly more, I mean, you know, selfishly moving to the Midlands, it would be nice to have a bit more events for queer people of colour up north.

But I know that these spaces are slowly forming.

And it would definitely mean a lot to those who cannot always travel down to London and are living in areas that aren't, you know, central, to be able to find queer joy and queer community in the places that they live already, if it's not the capital.

Yeah, and I think 1 of the great things about that is, you know, we have to remember that UK Black Pride didn't happen overnight.

It's been nearly, you know, 18 years to get to probably what is 1 of the biggest festivals for black queer people, queer people of colour globally, you know, and it kind of occupies a very special space.

So I hope that in the future we do see UK Black Pride in Manchester, in Leicester, in Leeds, in Glasgow, you know, even in Cymru in Wales.

Wherever there are black folk, we should be celebrating UK Black Pride.

And that kind of leads me to kind of think, you know, how do you feel about having to travel down to these spaces to be with community?

You know, being brought up actually in London, it does just feel like coming back home and being familiar with the streets of London.

But at the same time, within the same breath, it is frustrating that I have to travel in order to find the community that can be so easily be found within London.

That, you know, it's kind of like a double-edged sword for me.

I love London, I love what comes with it, I love the culture, but the fact that sometimes I can't just, you know, go down the road and there's, I don't, in Leicester there's not like a gay village that maybe you'll have in Manchester or Soho.

So, it would be nice to be able to just walk across, I don't know, go to the centre and be able to find a space that I know I fit 100% in.

But the fact that those spaces are created in different cities makes it worth it.

It does, it makes it worth it for the community.

Can you jump on a bus or whatever is on a train and go to Manchester and you're in a black queer club like we go to a queer bruck in London or Pussy Palace?

Oh my gosh I really wish there was, you know what, there probably are, I just don't know about them.

So like, if I want to go to a predominantly queer black event, I know I'm going to London, when you know, I'm trying to shake a leg.

So, you know, so usually Nick, at this point, I would say, Uncle Mark would kick into gear and say, well, why are you not creating those spaces?

But before that, why do you think that aren't the spaces to party, to socialize outside of London as they are in London?

And I think there are individuals, there are young people, I mentioned Black UK before, trying to squeeze into those spaces and trying to squeeze into those institutions.

I think it's really hard when you're outside of London to cultivate or curate specific spaces like queer, queer black spaces, when you are still met with discrimination and racism, I think it's really hard to break into the club scene and create your own space as a person of colour up north.

And once again, Black UK, it's young individuals.

It's sometimes very hard to be taken seriously, even if you know exactly what you're talking about.

It's about perception and how people perceive you and how capable they perceive you to be in marketing something.

I mean, even I know I have a lot of experience working in universities and creating student nights for specific individuals.

And the backlash that I get, or the pushback that I get from those institutions and those managers who tell us, you know, there's just not demand for it.

And it's like, no, you just don't want to go out of your way to create something because you're not in those spaces and it doesn't matter whether there are 05:10 individuals it will impact them in some way and I think that is part of the problem.

They don't want to take a chance on something that they don't see as viable or profitable when really they don't have an in in the market.

There's an interesting conversation to be had, isn't there, that right now we are so able to connect online, which has been fantastic for queer people, you know, particularly those who might be isolated or struggling and or, you know, have no connection at all, but nothing beats in real life.

Nothing beats connection, seeing people face to face, which I think is truly wonderful.

And I mean, you got to speak to lots of people at UK Black Pride.

How was it hearing from all those people and how did that impact on you and your work going forward?

See all Black and Gay, Back in the Day transcripts on Applepodcasts

UK Black Pride with Nic Farmer