San Diego Black Pride: Jordan Daniels

Please tell us about yourself. Who you are, how long have you been involved with the coalition and the reasons for getting involved?
My name is Jordan Daniels, I use he/him pronoun series, and I am a Black/Jewish kid from who grew up in the Bay and now calls San Diego home. This will be fourth consecutive year being involved with the Coalition and I originally got involved because I knew I was moving to Central San Diego and had attended a queer person of color Mixer, where I met some people from the Coalition who informed me how possible it was to connect with San Diego’s Black LGBTQ+ Community. As someone who exists at different intersections of identity, it’s crucial for me to work with others to build a thriving center for Black Queer and Trans life in San Diego, as well as a vibrant wider indigenous and person of color community. I believe one pathway to freedom is through lens of joy and creating spaces for joy in Black LGBTQ+ life in San Diego is the exact reason why I continue to commit to supporting this community.

What are some highlights from your time at the Coalition?
Putting together the first Black Pride and truly realizing how necessary it was for many folx. People from all around Southern California came for this, which underscored how impactful an event like this is. Also, organizing a virtual Black variety show in the beginning of the pandemic that directly supported the Coalition and Black artists/performers in San Diego. It was also a highlight to have launched the emergency Black Trans fund, which was for Black Trans community by a Black and Trans-led organization. To quickly provide direct support to Black Trans folx needing additional support in housing, accessing gender-affirming care, and finances was a deeply meaningful action we took. 

Share the importance of the organization to the community?
I think we’re in this space of really analyzing this question for ourselves, and understanding what our impact and significance is in the community. The organization has been important as the only project or organization solely focused on Black LGBTQ+ life in San Diego, and now we’re trying to understand – within we community – how important we are, and how to become the organization that makes the community feels represented, uplifted, and celebrated. We’re expanding our programs and resources to test out what more the community might enjoy from us, which is something quite important in itself – the act of working with the community to understand what it desires to feel supported.

SPIRIT OF STONEWALL COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

Jordan Daniels (He/Him) is a Queer Black and Jewish creative who has supported and served San Diego county’s LGBTQ+ community since moving to the region in 2012. When he first arrived, he attended weekly youth groups at the North County LGBTQ Resource Center and volunteered within the community. At MiraCosta College, Jordan helped lead the GSA as it built the “Queer Corner” in the Student Union, raised money for its endowed scholarship program, and helped produce the school’s first-ever drag show. In 2015, with support of an LGBTQ+ Activism Scholarship from PFLAG San Diego, Jordan transferred to CSU Long Beach to pursue his degree in Journalism.

In Long Beach, Jordan’s lens of social justice and equity evolved through his storytelling, community service, and social media activism. He strengthened his politic of liberation through Fat, Black, and Queer intersectional lenses, gaining a deeper understanding of himself and how he envisions his place in the work that he does today. Upon graduation, Jordan dived into Communications work back in North County after the passing of his father, and began working within San Diego’s Jewish community professionally, and volunteering for San Diego’s Black Queer and Trans community with the San Diego Black LGBTQ+ Coalition.

Today, Jordan lives in Hillcrest, serving Jews of Color and LGBTQ+ Jews around the country, and continues supporting San Diego’s Black Queer and Trans community through the new San Diego Black Pride (formerly the Coalition). He remains dedicated to serving the community through in-person programs as well as through social media education and conversations at @johodaniels. He also is the co-host of the iHeartMedia & Outspoken Network BFF: Black Fat Femme Podcast, which facilitates incredible dialogue with some of the country’s most vibrant Black Queer and Trans changemakers, media figures, and community members.