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01
Community Power & Learning >

Goal: Build spaces where we can grow, lead, and love ourselves.

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We’re doing this by:

  • Creating learning spaces focused on BLAQ history, health, and leadership.​

  • Making sure folks can learn without always depending on the most impacted to teach.

  • Investing in STEM innovations that protect our lives, our voices, and our ideas

02
Art, Media & Culture That Reflects Us >

Goal: Celebrate our stories, art, and voices.

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We’re doing this by:

  • Uplifting BLAQ artists and making space for their work.

  • Challenging harmful media with truth and creativity.

  • Hosting cultural events that honor our past and our future.

03
Relationships That Uplift EACH OTHER >

Goal: Grow welcoming families, friendships, and networks built on love and belonging.

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We’re doing this by:

  • Supporting BLAQ families, young people, and community elders.

  • Lifting up caretaking practices that come from our traditions.

  • Building networks of support across generations.

04
HOLISTIC Health & Wellness >

Goal: Ensure we have access to the care we deserve.

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We’re doing this by:

  • Coordinating community-led health programs focused on healing and whole-person wellness.

  • Directing folks to mental health and cultural care rooted in who we are.

  • Pushing for healthcare systems that serve us, not harm us.

05
Money That Works For Us By Us >

Goal: Create community wealth without exploitation.

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We’re doing this by:

  • Supporting BLAQ-owned businesses and mutual aid amongst each other.

  • Investing in ways to make money that center people, not profit.

  • Dismantling harmful economic systems and replacing them with our own.

06
ACCOUNTABLE Safety, CARE & Protection >

Goal: Keep us safe — without the police.

 

We’re doing this by:

  • Building community response plans that don’t rely on state and carceral systems.

  • Teaching safety, de-escalation, and conflict resolution.

  • Creating safety nets built on trust, love, and accountability.

07
Politics That Represent Us >

Goal: Build power in our communities and beyond.

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We’re doing this by:

  • Getting involved in local and national policy that supports our people.

  • Educating our folks on how systems work — and how to change them.

  • Fostering new institutions that center BLAQ community leadership.

Black and Queer Liberation Everywhere

We know the systems we live under here in the United States and globally are built to hold us back. We’re not just saying no to oppression. We’re saying yes to something better.

We understand that we all exist at various intersections of identity, which means none of us is truly free until all of us are free.

We Lead Our Futures

We believe in doing things our way. That means creating our own systems, building community-led projects, and deciding what’s best for us without waiting for permission.

We are committed to empowering autonomous systems rooted in restoration, self-reliance, and sustainability.

Undoing Harm, Restoring Power

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From police violence, cultural erasure, to forced displacement, BLAQ folks face harm that’s rooted in history.

 

We’re working to unlearn, heal, and grow stronger together. That means practicing justice that repairs instead of punishes, and accountability that restores instead of breaks.

Give, Receive, and Grow

We’re done with systems that pit us against each other. We’re not here for toxic competition. We need relationships that nurture, uplift, and make space for everyone.

We believe in mutual care, where giving and receiving support are a two-way street. 

We Repair and Transform Together

Our people have been through a lot, and we’re still standing. That’s why we center healing, joy, rest, and recovery in everything.

Our work prioritizes restoring our communities and fostering environments of emotional, physical, mental, sexual, financial, social, and spiritual well-being of our members.

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Liberation First, Always

BLAQ freedom is our north star.

 

The oppression we face isn’t just individual—it's institutional, systemic, and generational.

 

We’re not just surviving. We’re building a new world where we are cared for, seen, and in charge.

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Here For The Long Haul

We understand that liberation doesn’t happen overnight. Real change takes daily commitment, time, effort, and love.

 

We promise to keep showing up for our people and remain accountable to our local community and the global fight for justice.

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Community Over Cliques

We’re not here for popularity contests. We’re here to build a deep and intentional community built for and by Black Queer folks.

 

Trust, complementary values, shared vision, and empowerment are at the foundation of our organizing methods, events, and programs.

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Healing
Is
Power

We don’t heal in isolation. We heal together.

 

That means showing up with care, kindness, truth, and accountability.

 

We are reclaiming our minds, our bodies, our power, and our futures.

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BLAQ Equity Baltimore is a community-driven force for change, here for all Black LGBTQIA+/SGL(BLAQ) individuals. We believe in the power of every member of our community, especially our trans and gender-expansive/non-conforming family, who are often overlooked. We reject systems that perpetuate violence, marginalization, and exploitation and instead embrace healing, reciprocity, and community care. Our unique approach involves showcasing and preserving our cultural pride and integrating principles of self-determination and transformative justice in our daily lives. 

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Our goal? Make Baltimore a go-to spot on the East Coast for BLAQ culture and community.

What We Believe &
What We’re Building:

PURPOSE

We exist so that Black LGBTQIA+/SGL people in Baltimore have the power, resources, and community support to shape our own futures — on our own terms.

OUR PURPOSE  >

MISSION

To bring together safe spaces where Black LGBTQIA+/SGL Baltimoreans can gather joyfully, build support systems, and lead the way in shaping an equitable future where we are all safe, celebrated, and in control of our own lives.

OUR MISSION  >

VISION

A Baltimore where all Black LGBTQIA+/SGL people are fully free — free to be ourselves, free to be safe, and free to build lives full of joy, power, and connection.

 OUR VISION    >

AT THE CORE OF OUR WORK:

How we're determined to move through the world:

THE BLAQ EQUITY AGENDA

What About Allies... ?

At BLAQ Equity Baltimore, we center BLAQ leadership and community members. That said – Allies, particularly those who are white or straight, can still support, advocate for, and protect our community.

 

Here's how allies can help:

  • Amplify Us: Pass the mic. Share our work and our stories. Use your platform to elevate Black Queer leadership, not take up space yourself. Make sure we’re heard.

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  • Share Resources: Give what you can—put your time, space, money, and energy into supporting Black Queer-led initiatives.

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  • Stand Up: Use your privilege to fight injustice in spaces BLAQ folx aren't in. Be about the work, not the spotlight. Challenge oppression wherever you see it.

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