STORM TRACKER: Follow 'Storm Amy' as it bears down on Ireland amid brutal forecast
Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Being black and gay in the UK isn’t black and white – sometimes LGBTQ+ people are left out of the conversation when talking about blackness.
So to celebrate UK Black Pride this month, here are some amazing people you should really know about.
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, the co-founder of UK Black Pride, is all about black queer joy and advocating for everywhere to be free, safe and equal.
📣 I am really excited to announce my appointment to @SkyGroup Independent Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Advisory Council, the council will support the business as it continues to broaden its focus across wider intersections of D&I including LGBTQ+ inclusion and social mobility.… https://t.co/B2LY8HJlaz pic.twitter.com/layVgFJNMK
— Phyll Opoku-Gyimah (Dr Lady Phyll) (@MsLadyPhyll) July 27, 2023
UK Black Pride is one of the world’s largest celebration for LGBTQ+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle-Eastern descent. They hold an annual celebration, which will be returning on August 19 alongside other activities and campaigns, including #StopRainbowRacism, throughout the year.
Opoku-Gyimah was also recently appointed to Sky’s Independent Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, which will support the business as it continues to broaden its focus across wider intersections of D&I including LGBTQ+ inclusion and social mobility.
Jason Okundaye
Jason Okundaye believes lifting black British gay history out of obscurity is an urgent task. It’s why he launched Black and Gay, Back in the Day with Marc Thompson, a digital community archive honouring and remembering black queer life in Britain, as it was.
He also wrote his debut book Revolutionary Acts: Stories of Love, Brotherhood, and Resilience from Black Gay Britain, which serves as a living document of black British gay men’s desires, dreams, frustrations and resilience. It’s scheduled for publication in March next year.
Liv Little
In 2015, Liv Little founded gal-dem, a magazine platforming stories about female and non-binary people of colour, all whilst being a politics and social student at the University of Bristol. Though it closed down this year, its cultural impact in the media cannot be denied.
Edward Enninful
Edward Enninful is the outgoing European editorial director of Vogue and the first black editor-in-chief of British Vogue, who started leading the magazine in August 2017. During his time as editor-in-chief of the publication, he has helped shape a new vision for fashion media — not just in the UK, but globally — where he has placed a “diversity of perspective” at its core and continues to champion young people.
He also wrote a memoir, A Visible Man, where he details his story about going from a working-class outsider to the heights of the fashion industry, and how he’s always championed inclusion and representation in the worlds of design and photography.
Tanya Compas
Using mediums such as digital storytelling and creative intervention, the organisation curates experiences that build community, autonomy and confidence, encouraging youth to exist loudly.
It’s one of the reasons why the charity launched Queer Black Christmas in 2019, to help tackle homelessness amongst black LGBTQ+ young people.
With over 150 episodes, Two Twos Podcast, hosted by two black lesbians, Rose Frimpong and Nana Duncan, has proved to be a necessary platform for black LGBTQ+ people in the UK.
After meeting through an ex-girlfriend five years ago, the duo noticed that there was a lack of representation and decided to start a YouTube channel.
It has since grown into the podcast it is today, where they have frank and hilarious conversations about everything from sex and relationships to lazy stereotypes, which of course is made easy because of their close friendship.
Rikki Beadle-Blair
Born and raised in south east London, the playwright, dancer, and British actor Rikki Beadle-Blair prides himself in being a creative instigator.
This summer, Beadle-Blair was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Warwick for his outstanding contributions and achievements to the arts and LGBTQ+ activism.
Remi Burgz
She’s a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, and encourages other black women in the industry to be themselves and get comfortable in their own skin.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
