“I’m From Driftwood” is a nonprofit project that’s dedicated to bringing the stories of the LGBT community, the experiences of people “from all walks of life,” to the world. Their most recent initiative, the Community Spotlight, aims to devote a week to stories specifically from people that belong to typically underserved members of the queer community. The week of February 6th will be the Black Community Spotlight, in recognition of the fact that “there has been less progress for the black LGBTQ community in terms of workplace discrimination, housing discrimination, HIV/AIDS prevention, homelessness and general acceptance from both the straight community and even from the non-black LGBTQ community.”

These intimate stories from black LGBT individuals will take you through an array of emotions: a bisexual woman is graciously lead out of the closet by her mother only to be asked whom she would look at walking down the street: Halle Berry or Denzel Washington; a 70-year-old gay man remembers the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and while he lost many friends, it brought the black LGBT community closer together; a transgender woman, accomplished actress Laverne Cox, shares an empowering story about the secret to overcoming bullying, both as a child and as an adult; and a lesbian shares words of wisdom she received from an elder that dramatically changed her life less than 48 hours after hearing them. While the video stories have all been collected, members of the black LGBT community are encouraged to continue sharing their written stories on the website.

If you’re in NYC, you can get an extra-special preview of the Black Community Spotlight on Tuesday, the 31st. Besides a sneak peek at the featured stories, there’s also a silent auction, raffle, and a one-hour open bar!

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