Black Unicorn: Library and Archives Project

Black Unicorn: Library and Archives Project Black q***r feminist library; a cultural intervention; a collection reflecting the rich unfolding legacy of Black q***r and trans people across the Diaspora.

Support our work: paypal.me/blackunicornlibrary/ The Black Unicorn Project is a beacon of inspiration fueled by the brilliance of Black women’s stories, q***r and transgender herstories, a love of libraries, reading, and a desire for life-long learning. The Black Unicorn exists because there are not enough spaces to celebrate our beauty, to seek refuge from the world’s brutality and for education that feeds us. Black Unicorn centers the literary and artistic contributions of Black women; Black q***r, transgender, and gender nonconforming people and honors the far reaching influence our courageous story telling has had on the lives of generations worldwide. Using a Black q***r feminist approach Black Unicorn explores libraries as sites of possibility, the relationship between literacy and liberation and brings a unique experience and lense to material collection, information sharing and community building. In the foreword of the annotated bibliography “Black Lesbians” by J.R. Roberts, Barbara Smith recalls that she wrote to Audre Lorde asking “that what [she] most needed to know from her was, was it possible to be a Black le***an writer and live to tell about it. Her answer was yes – difficult, but possible.”

The Black Unicorn is a sacred space where readers and seekers learn that while our lives are incredibly complex, messy, tragic, beautiful and uncertain, we have always been worthy of the love of a thousand ancestors. It is important to know that while we may not have been meant to survive - we have.

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This project is made possible through the support of Boom Concepts, Industry-on-Industry, the Pittsburgh Foundation, and the Sprout Fund. This project is fiscally sponsored by New Sun Rising.

10/20/2025
09/11/2025

The American Library Association is pleased to announce that they are now accepting applications for the 2026 Jason Reynolds / Simon & Schuster Travel Grant.

The grant will cover the expenses of five (5) Black/African American youth or teen services librarians or school librarians/media specialists who work in either public or school libraries.
Recipients will receive up to $3000 (and not less than $1500) to pay for expenses related to attending the ALA Annual Conference including but not limited to travel, housing, registration, and a ticket to the Coretta Scott King Award Breakfast.

Find more information here: https://www.ala.org/news/2025/09/2026-jason-reynolds-simon-schuster-travel-grant-application-now-open

Please join the United Black Book Clubs on Wednesday, September 10th at 5:30 pm at the Homewood Auditorium to celebrate ...
09/09/2025

Please join the United Black Book Clubs on Wednesday, September 10th at 5:30 pm at the Homewood Auditorium to celebrate Dr. Edda Fields-Black, winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize!!!

Excited for this with TLC Libations!! Can't wait to spend time with Almah Lavon!
07/01/2025

Excited for this with TLC Libations!!
Can't wait to spend time with Almah Lavon!

Every 1st Tuesday in partnership with , we are hosting an open house for literary artists & enthusiasts to convene, share, and be in community, .

This month, we are featuring Almah LaVon ( ). Complimentary snacks & N/A Libations will be available.

Almah LaVon (theyy/themme) is an AfroPrismatic creature of myth rumored to wander among the squonk haunting the Allegheny National Forest. Their writing has appeared in Autostraddle, Feminist Wire, and The Black Femme Collective, with their biomythographical work surfacing in the Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology, does your mama know? (revised edition). Their creative nonfiction has been published in Q***r Magic: Power Beyond Boundaries and Black Quantum Futurism Vol. 1 as well as many other anthologies and publications. Their fiction can be found in Black from the Future: A Collection of Black Speculative Writing; Unfettered Hexes: Q***r Tales of Insatiable Darkness; the Berlin-based DADDY Magazine; and Harvard Divinity School's Peripheries Journal, among others.

Their novella The Graveyard Shift is part of the 2025 Neon Hemlock Novella Series.

04/11/2025
This Thursday, October 3rd, please join the Black Socialist Formation and the Department of Africana Studies at PITT for...
10/02/2024

This Thursday, October 3rd, please join the Black Socialist Formation and the Department of Africana Studies at PITT for a screening of "The Forgotten Occupation: Jim Crow Goes to Haiti." The filmmaker Alain Martin will be present and will be part of a panel discussion and Q& A.

If you missed the screening earlier this year, this is a great opportunity to learn and educate yourself on the U.S military's role in occupying Haiti and its continued impact on the Haitian people. The time for change is now!

10/3/24 - 6pm
Latin American Cultural Center
4338 Bigelow Blvd.
Pgh PA

Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler: Community Read-Along RSVP here for the virtual book discussion https://shortur...
04/02/2024

Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler: Community Read-Along

RSVP here for the virtual book discussion https://shorturl.at/eWX04

We are looking forward to reading with you all again! Join book lovers across the city for a community Read-Along of Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. We will host a virtual book discussion on April 18th at 6 pm with Dr. Josie Brown of Point Park University. She will lead us in conversation as we explore the looming horizon of a world torn apart by war, violence, greed, and environmental catastrophe, as described by Lauren Olamina through her journals and her daughter Asha's eyes.

About Parable of the Talents
In 2032, Lauren Olamina has survived the destruction of her home and family, and realized her vision of a peaceful community in northern California based on her newly founded faith, Earthseed. The fledgling community provides refuge for outcasts facing persecution after the election of an ultra-conservative president who vows to "make America great again." In an increasingly divided and dangerous nation, Lauren's subversive colony–a minority religious faction led by a young black woman–becomes a target for President Jarret's reign of terror and oppression. Years later, Asha Vere reads the journals of a mother she never knew, Lauren Olamina. As she searches for answers about her own past, she also struggles to reconcile with the legacy of a mother caught between her duty to her chosen family and her calling to lead humankind into a better future.

This series is part of the Parable Path, which is Toshi Reagon's framework for community organizing through artistic engagement, connected to her musical adaptation of Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower.

Address

Pittsburgh, PA

Opening Hours

11am - 6pm

Telephone

+19177488116

Website

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