Busy Being Black means the search for possibility and meaning in our lives is endless. In part two of my conversation with Marc Thompson, a gay Black elder, HIV activist and writer, we wax lyrical on everything from our favourite books to the role cultural appropriation can play in how we better understand and bump into our history. If you haven’t yet listened to our first conversation, I Have a Virus Older Than You, it’s a wonderful precursor to our chat today. Throughout this conversation, we’re a bit more profligate in our swearing, as the effect of our wine-guzzling takes hold.

Busy Being Black is the podcast exploring how we live in the fullness of our queer Black lives.

Thank you to our partners: UK Black Pride: http://ukblackpride.org.uk/ BlackOut UK: blkoutuk.com Be sure to follow Busy Being Black: twitter.com/_busybeingblack instagram.com/_busybeingblack

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Busy Being Black means we recognise we did not get here alone. Marc Thompson is a gay Black elder, an HIV activist and writer, and one of three founders of Black Out UK, a platform dedicated to amplifying the stories of gay Black men. In my first of two conversations with Marc, we discuss the gay Black experience in the 1980s, including the little known effects of the HIV crisis on our community. We also touch on the importance of intergenerational conversations, and our responsibility as a new generation of queer Black folk to pursue a connection with our elders, those who might better illuminate our path through the present.

Busy Being Black is a podcast exploring how we live in the fullness of our queer Black lives.

Thank you to our partners: UK Black Pride: http://ukblackpride.org.uk/ BlackOUt UK: blkoutuk.com Be sure to follow Busy Being Black: twitter.com/_busybeingblack instagram.com/_busybeingblack

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Busy Being Black means cultivating a mindset that allows us to constantly embrace and celebrate cultures outside our own. Ryan Lanji, an art and fashion curator, was raised in Canada in a melting pot of cultures and realities that has left a lasting impression on how he sees and interacts with the world around him. His club night, Hungama, is named so for the Hindu word for chaos and bedlam — a word his mother used to describe the joy and revelry of big family gatherings. Indeed, it seems that so much of Ryan’s work centres around a collision of cultures that fosters a deeper cultural appreciation to help amplify our similarities.

Busy Being Black is a podcast exploring how we thrive in the fullness of our queer Black lives.

Thank you to our partners: UK Black Pride: http://ukblackpride.org.uk// BlackOut UK: blkoutuk.com/ Be sure to follow Busy Being Black: twitter.com/_busybeingblack instagram.com/_busybeingblack

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Busy Being Black means we refuse to let wherever we come from define where or how far we will go in life. This is just one of the lessons I was reminded of in my conversation with Bisi Alimi, the activist and angelic troublemaker behind the Bisi Alimi Foundation. Bisi was born in Lagos in 1975 and came to international attention when he became the first ever person to come out on Nigerian television. His life since has been a veritable whirlwind, but as I learned in our conversation, the very moments that might have broken others became the moments in which he found his strength, an ability he believes lies within all of us.

Busy Being Black is a podcast exploring how we thrive in the fullness of our queer Black lives.

Thank you to our partners: UK Black Pride: http://ukblackpride.org.uk// BlackOut UK: blkoutuk.com/ Be sure to follow Busy Being Black: twitter.com/_busybeingblack instagram.com/_busybeingblack

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Busy Being Black is a podcast exploring how we thrive in the fullness of our queer Black lives. Thank you to our partners: UK Black Pride: http://ukblackpride.org.uk// BlackOut UK: blkoutuk.com/ Be sure to follow Busy Being Black: twitter.com/_busybeingblack instagram.com/_busybeingblack

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.