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ZAMI NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging) is a national organization committed to building a strong and sustainable base of power for Black lesbian feminists aged 40 and older. Our mission is clear: to advance health/wellness, housing/food justice, movement work, education, and community-engaged research that centers the lives, experiences, and leadership of Black lesbians as we age. We exist to confront and disrupt the systems that have historically marginalized our voices, and to affirm the wisdom, creativity, and resilience of our communities.
We work from a Black feminist social justice framework that understands aging as both a personal journey and a political one. Aging is not just about getting older, it’s about how systems of power shape our access to housing, healthcare, community, and dignity. We challenge narratives that render older Black lesbians invisible or irrelevant, and instead promote new paradigms of conscious aging rooted in agency, joy, and collective care.
At ZAMI NOBLA, we affirm that our work is community work, it is collective work, and it is work rooted in a commitment to social justice. We are actively engaged in the fight against racialized ageism, misogynoir, ableism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia. These forms of oppression do not operate separately in our lives, they are deeply interconnected, and we approach our mission with the understanding that liberation must be intersectional.

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of The Complete Works of Pat Parker

Black Lesbians Breast Cancer & The Power of Our Stories

Queer Black Heritage Screening

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Caregiving Among Older Black Same-Gender-Loving Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From Qualitative Research

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Mary Anne Adams, MSW

Angela Denise Davis, M.Div., M.S.

Miyako Jones

Wendy E. Belkin, JD, CPA

Alex Smith-Perry

Yolo Akili Robinson

Celebrating Pat Parker’s Revolutionary Legacy What a powerful morning at Charis honoring Pat Parker's Revolutionary Legacy and celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Complete Works of Pat Parker! Grateful for the moving readings by SaraEllen Strongman, Briona Simone Jones, Frances Wood, Bettina Judd, Stahimili Mapp, Tajh Martin, and Charlene Carruthers, with opening poet LeConte Dill. ZAMI NOBLA was honored to collaborate with Sinister Wisdom and Charis Books & More to celebrate Pat Parker's extraordinary life, words, and enduring legacy. Black lesbian voices. Radical truth. Revolutionary words. A legacy that lives on! #PatParker #ZAMINOBLA #BlackLesbianPoet #SinisterWisdom #CharisBooks

Not every assumption is the truth. Your thoughts aren't facts. Question them before you allow them to shape your reality. #zaminobla

PAT PARKER'S WORDS LIVE ON! ✊🏾 Poet. Black Lesbian Feminist. Revolutionary. Truth-teller. Ten years after the publication of The Complete Works of Pat Parker, her fearless words continue to inspire resistance, liberation, and pride in who we are. Join ZAMI NOBLA, Charis Books & More/Charis Circle, and Sinister Wisdom for a special celebration of Pat Parker's extraordinary literary and activist legacy. 📅 **THIS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8** ⏰ **10:30 AM ET** 📍 **In Person + Virtual** Link to RSVP for Virtual in Profile Experience powerful readings from an extraordinary lineup of poets, writers, and activists honoring a woman who refused to be silent. #PatParker #ZAMINOBLA #BlackLesbianHistory #SinisterWisdom #CharisBooks

2027 Medicare Workshop: What You Need to Know Medicare can be confusing, and with changes to coverage, costs, and benefits, staying informed is more important than ever. ZAMI NOBLA National invites you to join us for a free, informative Medicare workshop designed to help older adults, people approaching Medicare eligibility, and those assisting loved ones navigate Medicare with greater confidence. Date: Thursday, November 5, 2026 Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Location: Virtual via Zoom Presenter: Roma Cotanza We'll also have time for your questions. At ZAMI NOBLA, we believe access to accurate healthcare information is essential to aging with dignity, independence, and security. Whether you're already enrolled in Medicare, preparing to enroll, or helping someone navigate their benefits, this workshop is for you. Registration is FREE, but you must register in advance. Link in Profile: #zaminobla #medicare

What Time Is It? It's Revolution Time! #zaminobla

What does it cost emotionally to keep explaining your humanity to people who say they love you? #zaminobla #lgbtqofinstagram

Shifting the Paradigm 84 year old, Rev. Janice Smith, ZAMI NOBLA's oldest Georgia State Chapter member is living proof that elders in their mid 80s can learn new skills. #zaminobla #blacklesbianelders #elders #lgbtqiaofinstagram

Thank you to ZAMI NOBLA member, Dr. Arlene Edwards, fifth from the left for representing us as a panelist yesterday at the Emory + Grady LGBTQ Health Disparities discussion.

💜 MEDICARE IS CHANGING IN 2027. ARE YOU READY? Your healthcare. Your benefits. Your future! Join ZAMI NOBLA for a FREE virtual workshop covering Medicare changes, coverage options, costs, enrollment deadlines, and more! 📅 Thursday, November 5 ⏰ 7 PM ET | Zoom 🎤 Presenter: Roma Cotanza 💜 FREE & OPEN TO ALL! 📌 Advance registration required. 🔗 REGISTER TODAY: Link in Profile. 📣 Share with someone who needs this information! #ZAMINOBLA #Medicare2027 #HealthyAging #MedicareEducation

Love that disappears at the ballot box is not unconditional love. Love is more than words. It is reflected in our actions, our values, and the choices we make. #loveisaction #zaminobla

Join Charis, ZAMI NOBLA, and Sinister Wisdom for a morning celebration of the 10th Anniversary of The Complete Works of Pat Parker. Featuring readings of her work by: SaraEllen Strongman, Briona Simone Jones, Frances Wood, Bettina Judd, Stahimili Mapp, and Charlene Carruthers. LeConté Dill will be the opening poet, reading from her book, Soul Survivors, which is in the lineage of Pat Parker. This event is part of our celebration of the National Women's Studies Association Conference and Charis' 52nd birthday weekend (Nov. 5-9th). The weekend's events are co-sponsored by Sinister Wisdom. Check the Charis events calendar for all events. About Pat Parker During her lifetime, Pat Parker (1944-1989) was a renowned African-American, lesbian-feminist poet and performer. She was the author of Jonestown & Other Madness (1985), Movement in Black (1978, 1983, 1989, 1999), Womanslaughter (1978), Pit Stop (1974, 1975), and Child of Myself (1972, 1974). Her poems appeared in numerous journals, newspapers, and anthologies. With Judy Grahn, she recorded the album Where Would I Be Without You (Olivia Records, 1976), and one of her spoken poems appeared on the album Lesbian Concentrate. She performed live readings at numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad. Her work is often included in Women's Studies curricula. Parker was born in Houston, TX, in 1944 and moved to Los Angeles, CA after she graduated high school. She lived in the San Francisco bay area from 1965 until her death. Parker died in 1989 from complications of cancer. Her partner of nine years, Martha Dunham, and their daughter, Anastasia Dunham-Parker-Brady, survived her as well as Cassidy Brown whom she co-parented.

BLACK LESBIANS, BREAST CANCER & THE POWER OF OUR STORIES Join Us! All Are Welcome 📅 Wednesday, October 14, 2026 ⏰ 7:00 PM ET 📍 Zoom | Registration Link in Profile What happens when Black lesbians are left out of conversations about breast cancer? Our stories go unheard. Our healthcare needs are overlooked. And our experiences remain invisible. This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, ZAMI NOBLA is bringing our voices to the forefront! 💜 MEET OUR PANELISTS Breast Cancer Survivors: Mary Anne Adams • Sheila Crain • Dawn Freeman Researcher: Dr. Tonia Poteat Moderator: Angela Denise Davis Join us for an honest, informative, and community-centered conversation about surviving breast cancer, navigating healthcare systems, breast health research, screening, prevention, and advocating for ourselves. Our stories are powerful. Our health matters. And our voices deserve to be heard. Mark your calendar, share this post, and invite your friends! Let’s turn awareness into action! #ZAMINOBLA #BreastCancerAwareness #BlackLesbianHealth #BreastCancerSurvivors #HealthEquity

What a celebration we had today at Atlanta Pride! Echos of Louder and Prouder were heard and felt throughout the route and in Piedmont Park. ZAMI NOBLA was proud to represent as a 2026 Grand Marshall! It was a joy seeing so many familiar faces, and loved ones. Thank you to thousands for showing up and showing out! Kudos to the leadership, and volunteers at Atlanta Pride! What an undertaking! #atlantapride #LouderAndProuder #zaminobla

Image: Four figures, including one navigating with a cane, one using a wheelchair and one with a guide dog. Text: "Blindness is a spectrum."

Jennifer Horn, Colorado ZAMI NOBLA’s Board Chair #ZAMINOBLA #zaminobla #BlackLesbianElders #blacklesbiansofig

ATL PRIDE may be hampered by the forecasted storms, but our pride is not dampened by the winds of oppression! Louder and Prouder we RISE! Mary Anne Adams #ZAMINOBLA

ZAMI NOBLA Louder and Prouder repping at Atlanta Pride reception! #zaminobla #atlantapride

About Last Night... #zaminobla #atlantapride #grandmarshall #prideparade #lgbtqofinstagram

Thinking critically saves lives! #bellhooks #zaminobla

I feel compelled to say something about the social media dragging of Jasmine Guy because she doesn’t look the way she did more than 30 years ago when she portrayed Whitley Gilbert on A Different World. Of course she doesn’t. More than 30 years have passed. What strikes me is how little we hear about the appearance of Kadeem Hardison, who played Dwayne Wayne. He, too, has aged, as human beings are supposed to do. So perhaps this isn’t really a post about Jasmine Guy at all. It’s about the deeply institutionalized misogyny and ageism that teach us to scrutinize women’s faces and bodies as they grow older, while allowing men the simple privilege of aging. When did natural aging become something women are expected to apologize for, conceal, or correct? We seem to demand that women somehow age without appearing to age, through makeup, false eyelashes, Botox, cosmetic procedures, filters, and whatever else is required to maintain the illusion of perpetual youth. There is nothing shameful about looking your age. I also believe some of this cruelty reflects our collective inability to reckon with mortality. Aging reminds us that time is passing. It reminds us that our bodies change, that youth is temporary, and ultimately that none of us will be here forever. Rather than confront those truths, our culture too often turns aging into something to ridicule, especially when it appears on the faces and bodies of women. And women who dare to age naturally, visibly, and proudly are treated as though they have committed some offense, or conversely achieved an extraordinary feat, if "they don't look their age." Jasmine Guy does not owe us Whitley Gilbert’s face forever. None of us owes the world an illusion of perpetual youth. May we have the courage, and the grace to let women grow old. Mary Anne Adams Executive Director

Violinist/Vocalist LaTonya Peoples performing at ZAMI NOBLA's Audre Lorde Scholarship Celebration. #zaminobla #audrelorde #audrelordescholarshipfund #latonyapeoples

Yolo Akili Robinson, Parents, Brother, and Niece celebrate his recognition as a ZAMI NOBLA 2026 Village Keeper! #zaminobla #audrelordescholarshipfund #yoloakili #BEAM

Sunday, September 20, 2026, we gathered at the College Park Woman’s Club for ZAMI NOBLA’s Audre Lorde Scholarship Celebration & Community Awards Luncheon. After months of planning, it was deeply moving to see so many people we love gathered together to honor our Audre Lorde Scholars and Village Keepers. The afternoon was filled with community, remembrance, music, laughter, and love. Now, we’re sharing some of the moments that made the day so special. As you look through the photos, find yourself, find someone you love, tag your people, and share the memories that speak to you. This is our village, and these are our stories. Stay tuned—more photographs and videos are coming soon! If these images move you, we invite you to help sustain the work behind them. Support ZAMI NOBLA with a donation, become a dues- paying member, volunteer, or share our work with someone who should know about us. www.zaminobla.org Your support helps us continue honoring Black lesbian elders, investing in our scholars, and creating spaces where our community can gather, connect, and thrive. #zaminobla #audrelordescholarshipfund #villagekeepers #blacklesbianelders #communitycare Photos by Eric Kamusau Catering by VanTrece Hospitality Group

TWO GATHERINGS. ONE WEEKEND. SO MUCH TO CELEBRATE. This September, ZAMI NOBLA brings us together in Atlanta to celebrate Black Queer stories, Black Lesbian excellence, our Village Keepers, and the enduring legacy of Audre Lorde. Bring a friend. Bring your people. All are welcome. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 | 7–9 PM QUEER BLACK HERITAGE SCREENING Tara Theatre | 2345 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE, Atlanta Experience powerful films celebrating the stories, creativity, resilience, and lives of Black Queer and Trans communities. Sliding Scale Tickets Available https://oof.eventive.org/schedule/6a81e1fe6d0c404731d35d8f Presented by QWOCMAP, hosted by ZAMI NOBLA, and part of Out On Film’s Queer All Year series. Community Partners: Visionary Justice StoryLab • Trans Housing Atlanta • Living Lesbian Archive SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 | 2–5 PM AUDRE LORDE SCHOLARSHIP CELEBRATION & COMMUNITY AWARDS LUNCHEON College Park Woman’s Club | 3413 N. Main Street, College Park Join us as we celebrate our 2026 Audre Lorde Scholars and Village Keepers with a catered luncheon by VanTrece Hospitality Group and live music from Angela Denise Davis, LaTonya Peoples & Renee Edwards. Tickets: $35 | Early Bird & Sliding Scale Available Ticket link in bio. #ZAMINOBLA #AudreLorde #BlackLesbianExcellence #BlackQueerStories #LGBTQ #VillageKeepers #QueerAtlanta #AtlantaEvents #CommunityCelebration

Angela UkeGriot, Arlene Edwards, and I attended Arts in the Afternoon at Black Gay Pride today at the Starling Hotel to support ZAMI NOBLA New York based member, Michelle Elizabeth Brown, and our Trans Cousins. #zaminobla #blackgaypride #artintheafternoon #BlackLesbianElders #transcousins

Several ZAMI NOBLA North Carolina State Chapter members showed up last night to support Sister member, Dr. Zelda Lockhart at her community reading. If you don't know her work, you better ask somebody. Books by Zelda Lockhart: Fifth Born, Fifth Born ll, Trinity, Cold Running, and The Soul of the Full-Length Manuscript. #zaminobla #zaminoblanorthcarolinastatechapter ##zeldalockhart #author #professor

Last weekend, we gathered with our North Carolina State Chapter in Charlotte for a beautiful weekend of sisterhood, laughter, history, and Black lesbian joy. We shared brunch and dinner, cheered together at a Charlotte Crown Professional Women’s Basketball game, and visited the Invisible Histories Archives, where LGBTQ+ Southern stories are being preserved for generations to come. Breaking bread. Building community. Preserving our stories. Making new memories. 💜 #ZAMINOBLA #ZAMINOBLANC #ZAMI NOBLAGA#BlackLesbianJoy #BlackLesbianCommunity

Join us for an extraordinary evening of film, history, culture, and community at the Queer Black Heritage Screening. Friday, September 18, 2026 7–9 PM Tara Theatre | 2345 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE, Atlanta Tickets: $15 | Sliding fee available Presented by QWOCMAP, hosted by ZAMI NOBLA, and part of Out on Film’s Queer All Year series, With Community Partners: Visionary Justice StoryLab • Trans Housing Atlanta • Living Lesbian Archive This special Atlanta event is a satellite screening of the 22nd Annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival. Come experience films that center the creativity, resilience, memory, and lives of Black queer and trans communities. Bring a friend. Bring your people. Celebrate Black Queer Heritage with us. Proceeds support ZAMI NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging) 🎟️ GET YOUR TICKETS: Link in Profile.

Last night’s conversation at The MURPH, hosted by BEAM on Psychiatric Care for Black folks in Georgia was so significant and meaningful. Much gratitude to BEAM’s Executive Director, Yolo Akili Robinson, and Panelists: Vanessa Jackson, Dr. Sarah Vinson, and Dr. D Dionne Bates. #BEAM #ZAMINOBLA #PsychiatricCareforBlackFolks #communitycare #themurphatl

Thank you Rhonda Freeman and Sarah Crymes for supporting ZAMI NOBLA's new home for the next year at The MURPH.

ZAMI NOBLA's North Carolina State Chapter marching in the Charlotte Pride Parade. #zaminobla #zaminoblanorthcarolinastatechapter #charlottepride #blacklesbianelders

ZAMI NOBLA North Carolina Chapter Members showed up and showed out at World Pride! #zaminobla #zaminoblanorthcarolinastatechapter #blacklesbianelders #lgbtqofinstagram

Community showed up today at The MURPH Atl for Reading for the Revolution! We are grateful for the books you donated. You can still donate books for The MURPH’s lending library, or you can purchase a books from Charis Books and More to Donate! Thank you to The MURPH, and Charis Books and More for the opportunity to partner. Thank you to Vanessa Jackson for your stellar leadership! #readingfortherevolution #bookloversday

The lantana and the butterfly bushes are showing out today at The Biggers House! #zaminobla #zaminoblabiggershouseforblacklesbianelders

This is what age 80 looks like! ZAMI NOBLA North Carolina State Chapter member, Veronica.

Thicker Than Water A Cookout for Black Affirming and Chosen Families Saturday, August 1, 2026 Cleopas R. Johnson Park, 570 Atlanta Student Movement Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30314 Free, Registration Required: Link in Bio: genderlib.org/cookout

Reimagining Community in the Age of Disconnection Communal living isn’t just for cults or millennials with a pipe dream. Join editor Samantha Paige Rosen and contributors Mary Anne Adams and Elizabeth Hart Bergstrom to Living, Together, a new anthology on communal living that invites us to imagine what new opportunities for connection exist when we push through the walls society has built for us. Our panel will be moderated by freelance writer and reporter Rainesford Stauffer. Living, Together: Reimagining Community in the Age of Disconnection is literary, activist, and queer, vulnerable and hopeful in its exploration of the different ways we might come together through intentional community, with essay topics on chosen family, mutual aid, living with friends, living with siblings in adulthood, multigenerational households, transformative neighbor relationships, homes on wheels, drag houses as historic models for community, artist and immigrant communities, and more. Zoom Registration Link in Bio.

We The People Have Had Enough! Pictured: ZAMI NOBLA Georgia based 'member, Mari. #zaminobla #ZAMINOBLA

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