What does it mean to create community? As we find ourselves officially in June, the month held to designate solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, we must get clear on what it means to hold space. While the vast majority of corporations will capitalize off Pride Month by adding cheesy rainbow aesthetics to all of their branding materials, some organizations do hold space for queer people, namely, Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative or MOBI.
MOBI is a New York-based collective that organizes and facilitates conversations geared toward gay and queer people of color centered around the pillars of wellness, community and personal development. As MOBI prepares to commemorate its fifth anniversary and the in-person return of its popular MOBIfest, the organization’s Founder and Executive Director, DaShawn Usher, stopped by Blavity News to reflect on the importance of creating space for Black, queer people, some of his proudest moments of MOBI’s five years in existence and his hopes for the future of the organization.