September 13: Black, Brilliant & Queer — Alain Locke Helped Create a Cultural Revolution
🏳️🌈 THIS DAY IN LGBTQ+ HISTORY
Sometimes LGBTQ+ history isn't found on a protest line with a sign in hand. Sometimes it is found behind a desk, with a pen, an idea, an education and enough influence to change how an entire generation sees itself. September 13 reminds us that queer people were not simply participating in history; we were helping create the culture.
One of the most important examples is Alain Locke, the Black philosopher, educator, writer and cultural critic whose ideas became deeply connected to what we now call the Harlem Renaissance. Locke was born on September 13, 1885, in Philadelphia. He would eventually become the first Black Rhodes Scholar and one of the most influential Black intellectuals of the early twentieth century. His work encouraged Black artists and writers to stop allowing white America to determine what Black identity, beauty, intelligence and creativity were supposed to look like. That message still sounds modern: stop waiting for somebody else to define you.
🖤 BLACK. GAY. EDUCATED. AND HELPING BUILD A MOVEMENT.
Locke's sexuality existed in a very different world from ours. He lived during an era when being openly gay could carry enormous social and professional consequences, and we should be careful about forcing today's identity language onto people who lived more than a century ago. Historical scholarship, however, documents his romantic interests in and relationships with men. That makes his place in Black LGBTQ+ history especially important.
Locke was not standing outside of Black history looking in. He was helping shape it. In 1925, he edited The New Negro, an anthology that brought together Black writers, artists, poets and thinkers associated with the cultural movement emerging in Harlem and beyond. The work helped establish him as one of the intellectual architects of what became known as the Harlem Renaissance.
Think about what that represents. At a time when America was still aggressively segregated, Black people were creating art, literature, music, fashion and ideas that would permanently influence American culture. Within that movement were also people whose lives challenged society's expectations surrounding sexuality and gender. The Harlem Renaissance was not just Black history. Queer people were there too.
🏳️🌈 WE DIDN'T JUST JOIN CULTURE. WE CREATED IT.
That part of the story matters because LGBTQ+ history is sometimes told as though queer people suddenly appeared during Stonewall in 1969. We did not. Black LGBTQ+ people did not suddenly appear when Pride became mainstream. We were already writers, professors, musicians, artists, poets, entrepreneurs, performers, thinkers and community builders. Sometimes we were quietly influencing entire cultural movements while society lacked the language or the willingness to acknowledge every part of who we were.
Locke understood something that still matters today: people need control over their own narrative. If another group controls your image, it can decide what the world believes about you. That was true for Black America in Locke's generation, and it remains true for LGBTQ+ communities today. It is also why independent Black and LGBTQ+ media matters.
👑 1939: ANOTHER SEPTEMBER 13 BIRTHDAY — TED NORTHE
September 13 also marks the 1939 birth of Canadian LGBTQ+ activist and drag performer Ted Northe. Northe became an outspoken advocate for gay rights during an era when homosexuality was still criminalized in Canada. He later became known as the “Empress of Canada” and helped establish the first Canadian chapter of the Imperial Court System in 1971. The organization became part of a broader tradition of LGBTQ+ community-building, performance, philanthropy and chosen family.
His story gives us another side of LGBTQ+ history. Locke helped create intellectual and artistic space, while Northe helped create community space. Both mattered because marginalized people need more than laws protecting them. We need places where we can actually exist. We need organizations, media, nightlife, art, conversations and safe social spaces. We need places where we do not have to explain why we belong.
🎥 FROM HARLEM TO INBLK: CONTROL YOUR OWN NARRATIVE
This history connects directly to what I Am Me Inc. and INBLK are building today. Alain Locke understood the importance of giving Black voices a platform rather than waiting for mainstream America to accurately tell Black stories. That philosophy translates easily into today's media world.
When Black LGBTQ+ people control our own platforms, we get to decide which conversations deserve attention. We can discuss race without removing sexuality from the conversation, and we can discuss LGBTQ+ issues without pretending race does not matter. We can talk about masculinity, femininity, relationships, religion, politics, entertainment, health, community and everyday life from perspectives that mainstream media may overlook.
That is why representation cannot simply mean seeing a Black LGBTQ+ face on somebody else's platform. Ownership matters too. Who owns the camera? Who controls the microphone? Who chooses the topic? Who edits the conversation? Who decides which voices are valuable?
Those questions would have looked different during Alain Locke's lifetime, but the principle remains familiar: if we do not participate in telling our story, somebody else will tell it for us.
🏳️🌈 WHY SEPTEMBER 13 MATTERS
September 13 reminds us that LGBTQ+ history is not one story. Alain Locke demonstrates the power of intellect, culture and Black self-definition. Ted Northe represents visibility, community-building and the willingness to challenge laws and social expectations that attempted to keep gay people hidden.
Their lives unfolded differently, but both remind us that creating space can itself become activism. Sometimes you march, organize, perform, write, teach or create an organization. Sometimes you simply build a table because you got tired of waiting for somebody to offer you a seat at theirs.
For Black LGBTQ+ people especially, remembering figures like Alain Locke expands our understanding of where we come from. Our history did not begin with Stonewall, marriage equality or social media. We were already there. We were part of the Harlem Renaissance. We were shaping music, writing literature, educating generations, creating nightlife, organizing communities and challenging expectations.
Today, we have tools previous generations could barely imagine for documenting ourselves. The responsibility now belongs to us. Tell our stories. Build our platforms. Preserve our history. Make sure the generations coming behind us know that Black LGBTQ+ people have always been part of the culture we helped create.
🏳️🌈 Know the history. Respect the legacy. Own the narrative. Keep building the future.
I AM ME INC.
This Day in LGBTQ+ History is presented by I Am Me Inc. as part of our commitment to informing, empowering, connecting and celebrating LGBTQ+ people and our Allies.
🌐 Visit www.iammecorp.org
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Our History. Our Voices. Our Legacy.
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