History is important: it helps us understand where we came from, and where we’re going. Here at Unicorn Magazine, we’re celebrating Black History Month by taking a look at the Black history in the making *right now*.
The way-pavers making art and shouting loudly and proudly with their work. Inspiring, exciting creative powerhouses who take your breath away and put a smile on your face at the same time. The kind of people your grandkids will read about in a textbook one day and wish they’d met.
So we’re continuing what we started with our Unicorn Loves series in Issue 4, highlighting some awesome queer Black artists and activists we love here at Unicorn, and think you’ll love too.
Aurielle Marie

‘Poet, activist, scholar, and awkward-turtle-badass’
Unicorn Loves: her evocative, lyrical & badass poetry, and her body-positive posts that put a middle finger up to fatphobia
Malik Nashad Sharpe

‘Shy, ambivalent, Black femme choreographer’
Unicorn Loves: their powerful, provocative experimental choreography, and their unique fashion sense
Be Steadwell

‘musician, filmmaker, storyteller’
Unicorn Loves: their fresh queer musical style – we defy you to find us another artist that can combine Downton Abbey and being a fuccboi and pull it off effortlessly
Zanele Muholi

‘Visual activist, photographer, art practitioner, humanitarian’
Unicorn Loves: their stunning photography exploring race, gender and sexuality through portraits of Black queer individuals – and they fact that they ‘identify as a human being’. YES. Gender is a construct, folks.
MNEK
(@mnek)

‘i make music for u and me. but mostly me.’
Unicorn Loves: his never-ending musical talents: writing, singing, producing, he does it all. And he’s super down to earth and lovely.
Jari Jones

‘Actress / Model / Creative / Activist’
Unicorn Loves: that she was the first Black trans woman producer of a film competing at the Cannes Film Festival. Pair that with a stunning smoulder and a killer smile in her modelling shots, and she’s plain unstoppable.
As well as the artists we’ve listed today, we’re also honoured here at Unicorn Magazine to have had some brilliant Black contributors including Nalu, Kai Hazlewood and Zayna Ratty. But now is the time for us to say: we need to do more. And we need your help to do it.
If you are a Black writer, artist, activist, or a passionate person with a story to tell, we want to hear from you. We want to hear your stories, in your own words, told your way. We want to honour Black history by showing Black lives, work and experiences, here, now, today.
Get in touch with us either by DM or visiting https://staging7.unicornzine.com/contribute/.
Once you’ve browsed, liked, followed or shared these brilliant artists’ & activists’ work, make sure to check out some important organisations doing great work for the Black and POC queer community.
LONDON BI PANDAS ANTIRACISM RESOURCES
Written by Maddie Jones