ORLANDO | Mayor Buddy Dyer issued a city proclamation declaring Feb. 1 “All Black Lives Fund Day,” kicking off Black History Month at City Hall in downtown Orlando.
“All Black Lives Fund Day” recognizes the contributions of Black-led LGBTQ organizations in Central Florida and celebrates the fundraising efforts of the Contigo Fund’s All Black Lives Fund.
The All Black Lives Fund was created by Contigo Fund and officially launched June 10 to coincide with the “Justice for #AllBlackLives Rally” that took place at City Hall in Orlando the same day.
The All Black Lives Fund has raised $100,000 since it launched.
The event was attended by state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani and City Commissioner Bakari Burns, who read the proclamation on the steps of City Hall in front of more than two dozen community leaders and activists.
“We as a community continue to fight for social justice and end systemic racism but we need to make sure that this movement is inclusive and truly represents our dynamic Black communities,” Burns said. “Thank you again to the Contigo Fund for recognizing the importance of Black leadership in the LGBTQ+ movement and giving them the opportunity to influence how these funds will be utilized.”
Founding director for the Contigo Fund, Marco Antonio Quiroga says supporting LGBTQ communities of color, particularly organizations led by and for marginalized communities, is core to what Contigo Fund stands for and is what is needed most in this historic moment.
“The Black LGBTQ community here in Central Florida has been historically under resourced,” he says. “Many Black LGBTQ leaders have been at the forefront of extraordinarily important work for our community but they themselves have gone underappreciated, unspoken and unpaid in many instances, so we need to make sure we are investing in their leadership for the movement.”
The All Black Lives Fund grant recipients were decided upon by a community advisory committee made up of Black LGBTQ leaders in Central Florida and announced by Quiroga at the event.
The All Black Lives Fund community advisory committee for the All Black Lives Fund award $30,000 each to the Gender Advancement Project, Divas in Dialogue and Bros in Convo.
Gender Advancement Project (GAP), founded by Ashley Figueroa and Nikole Parker, is a trans-led grassroots movement dedicated to the progression and inclusion of transgender and gender nonbinary individuals in all facets of society.
Bros in Convo is a Black, queer-led community organization promoting and providing health equity to Black gay, bisexual, queer and same gender-loving men in Central Florida.
“I’m just truly humbled and honored,” says Daniel Downer, Bros in Convo’s founder and executive director. “I started Bros in Convo for the love of this community and this is a really big boost to some exciting things we want to do to help our community.”
Divas in Dialogue is a support group for trans women of color where they empower, build and strengthen each other while ensuring everyone has a seat at the table.
“I’m so grateful,” says Mulan Montrese Williams, founder of Divas in Dialogue. “We are an organization just starting off and this is going to help us to grow and be able to do more in the trans community and for the trans community.”
The remaining $10,000 will be set aside for microgrants to new and emerging initiatives that are Black LGBTQ led. Quiroga says those microgrant opportunities will be announced later this month.
Contigo Fund emerged in 2016 following the Pulse tragedy. The Contigo Fund is the first and only LGBTQ Latinx fund in the United States and has grown into the number one top funder of LGBTQ communities of color in the entire southern United States.
For more information on the organizations awarded the grants, visit GenderAdvancementProject.org, Facebook.com/DivasinDialogue and BrosInConvo.org. To learn more about the work of Contigo Fund, visit ContigoFund.org.
Photos by Jeremy Williams.
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