Navigating life with a disability, visible or not, is a reality many individuals face daily. As our community continues to thrive with events ranging from massive gatherings of up to 20,000 people to intimate weekend clubs, it’s crucial to address the barriers encountered by the Black disabled community. 

Within the past decade, the British diaspora has begun discovering a network of venues that host Black events or engage with Black culture in some way. Historically, there has been pushback from club owners and residents alike, validated through years of criminalisation at the hands of the police (think about Form 696 and its detrimental long-term impacts on Black nightclubs). Despite the scarcity of Black-owned clubs and late-night spaces, Black nightlife is currently thriving

I’ll play out a scenario we might all know too well: you’re amidst the strobing lights in the rave, half-swerving, half-dancing through the swarm of people. You lock eyes with someone and catch them just in time for the slow jams segment of the night, sharing a dance, a cheeky flirt or both - before you go your separate ways.