After nearly a month of civil unrest across the nation sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, demonstrations are raging on in Philadelphia. Sunday’s Philly Queer March for Black Lives shined a light on the Black voices of the LGBTQ community.
“There is very little to be proud of — Black men, Black trans women are being horrifically killed in the streets,” said Tariem A. Burroughs, activist and organizer of the march.
Earlier this month, the murder of Black transgender woman Dominique Fells in Philadelphia garnered national attention. She was the second Black transgender woman killed that week in the U.S.
This year, Burroughs said it was important to have a march rather than a pride parade.
“Honestly, this is not the time to toss glitter, to sing and to dance. This is the time to come together as a community and support our Black queer brothers and sisters,” he said. “If you even look back to the roots of pride, the first pride was a riot, so we need to get back to our roots.”
He said the fight is not over yet.
“We aren’t there yet. As long as members of our community are being killed, that means we still have a lot of work to do.”