Black BDSM History

All too often when we speak of the Leather community, the image put forth is one of white gay so-called "Old Guard" traditions and histories, but there is a rich history of Leather among Black BDSM practitioners. When it comes to Leather organizations there are two which immediately spring to mind (though one is no longer active).

Twenty years ago in Chicago, there was a group of visionary Black Leather men who saw the need to form a group that would directly address this issue. They felt that Men of Color who were interested in BDSM and the Leather culture had few welcoming avenues to learn more about this way of life. As are result, these men known as Mufasa Ali, Stephen Baillous, David, Nate and Wes, formed a Leather organization called ONYX. The stated purpose of ONYX is “to provide education, fraternization and serve as a bridge for Men of Color to the greater Leather community”. They were concerned that there wasn’t a safe space for Men of Color to educate themselves or to find other men who shared their cultural heritage. In addition to providing this education, they have been at the forefront in the Leather community, volunteering for a host of causes and community events, providing guidance and leadership, and being examples of brotherhood, not just to their core group, but to the BDSM and Leather community at large. From their humble beginnings in Chicago in 1995 with that one chapter, chapters of ONYX have emerged in the New York/Northeast area, the Mid Atlantic area, the Southeast, the Southwest and the Northwest and they show no sign of slowing down. They also have among their numbers a number of Leather women as associate members and a sister group called ONYX Pearls which carries on the same mission of Leather education and community serve. The ONYX Pearls Mid-Atlantic chapter recently was seen at the Master/slave Conference 2015 and at ONYX Blackout XX, volunteering and celebrating the twentieth anniversary of ONYX and the ONYX Pearls Southeast were out in force at the 20th Leather Leadership Conference. In 1998, in the New York area, influenced by the Brothers of ONYX in Chicago and a group called Brothers in Leather, the New York Panthers Leather Club was established, founded by John K. The goal was similar to that of ONYX, which is, be an autonomous, collective brotherhood that worked to promote safety, sanity, and consensual leather play and fun, in the New York area. While we would welcome all Leather men of color, the organization would be expressly for Men of Color, which differs from ONYX which allows whites and women to be associate members. The New York Panthers Leather Club ran from 1998 t0 2002. Original members of that organization like CirrTone and Darrell Black-n-Blue Perry are still active educators and participants in the Leather community today.

*giving thanks to The Dark Lair BDSM Education for People of Color