Black Leather…In Color, also known as Black Leather… In Color, and B.L.I.C [Edit]

Black Leather…In Color, also known as Black Leather… In Color, and B.L.I.C, was the first SM (meaning sadism and masochism) and Leather magazine written by and for people of color and their friends. It ran for a total of eight issues, beginning in 1994 and ending in 2000. It was founded by a collective that was led by Michele Buchanan (a bisexual woman), and Lidell Jackson, Darrell Perry, and S. Guy Giumento (all gay men). All of those four were African-American except for S. Guy Giumento, who was white. The magazine was based in New York City.

History

After the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, which occurred in Washington, D.C. on April 25, 1993, Darrell Perry and S. Guy Giumento sent letters to people of color in the (mainly) New York leather community, calling for “a nationally distributed publication specifically for People of Color and their friends involved in, or curious about, Leather/SM/radical sex/fetish practices and lifestyles.” The first meeting of what would eventually be Black Leather…In Color was at the Lesbian & Gay Community Center on August 15, 1993 in New York City. After that meeting, a message was sent out asking for contributions to the magazine. Michele Buchanan (using the name “Antoinette”), Lidell Jackson, and S. Guy Giumento were selected as editors, and the editorial board was Michele Buchanan, Lidell Jackson, and Jerry.

The first issue of Black Leather…In Color was the Winter 1993/1994 issue, released in the winter of 1994. After that, it was published at the rate of of one to two issues each year until its 7th issue, the Spring/Summer 1997 issue. Meetings were hosted in Michele Buchanan and Leonard Dworkin’s apartment. Leonard Dworkin, a white bisexual man who was Michele Buchanan’s partner and helped with the magazine by sharing what he had learned helping Prometheus magazine of The Eulenspiegel Society turn into a national magazine when it had previously been a newsletter, died on June 5th, 1998 due to a heart attack. Also around this time S. Guy Giumento left New York. After that, the final issue was the Fall/Winter 2000 issue.

Honors

Black Leather…In Color was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame in 2018.

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