Photograph: Marta Feseha, Stanley Arts, 12 April 2026
Ivor's Compass is open. Claim yours.
In April, thirty of us spent an afternoon at Stanley Arts in the company of Ivor Cummings — civil servant, fixer, host, the man who met the Windrush at Tilbury and spent the years after making sure people landed somewhere soft. Seven tables, seven chapters of a remarkable Black queer life, and a room full of recognition.
What we built in that room is now yours. Ivor's Compass is a digital journal that takes you through seven directions drawn from Ivor's life — home, night, fire, threshold, shadow, silence, return — and asks you questions worth sitting with. Not a quiz. Not a form. A compass: something you pick up when you want to know where you are.
Alongside it sits the nineteen-page graphic novel of Ivor's life — free to read, built around the artwork commissioned for the day, and historically checked so the story holds up as history as well as art.
It's June, and the rainbows are out. Enjoy them — we intend to. But Pride began as protest, and this June has handed us a sharp reminder of why it still is one.
At the end of May, Ghana's parliament passed one of the most sweeping anti-LGBTQ laws on the continent: up to three years in prison simply for identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or queer, and up to ten for “promoting” our existence. It now sits on President Mahama's desk, awaiting his signature. For many of us this isn't foreign news. It's the family WhatsApp group. It's the towns we're from. It's whether home is safe to visit.
Our love and solidarity to Ghanaian queer people — there, and here in the diaspora — who carry this while continuing to organise, gather and care for each other under pressure most of us will never know. If you're Ghanaian and BLKOUT can be useful to you this month — a room, a listening ear, a connection — our door is open. So march this month, and dance — and hold Ghana in it.
BLKOUT is a Community Benefit Society — the members own it, and a board of members steers it. Every function on our board works in pairs, for accountability and mutual support, and so the work doesn't stall when life happens to one person.
This summer we're opening applications for new posts — including the pair who'll lead on fundraising and finance. You don't need to be an accountant. You need to care about this community and be willing to learn alongside the rest of us. The full call lands in next month's letter; if you already know it's you, don't wait for July — write to [email protected] now.
Save the date
The BLKOUT Annual Picnic — Sunday 16 August
Blankets, food, music, us. London venue announced soon — keep an eye on events.blkoutuk.com. For now, just guard the date.
Two minutes of fun: map your sky
One last thing — a small game with a serious heart. Constellations asks who's in your sky: the people you'd call at 2am, the ones you're learning from, the ones you've drifted from and miss. Tap your stars, get your archetype, share your star card if you fancy.
It's the playful front end of something we care about a lot: understanding how connected our community actually is, so we can build for connection rather than guess at it. Nothing is collected without your say-so.
