Blair Imani is writer, mental health advocate, and historian living at the intersections of Black, Queer, and Muslim identity. In addition to being a public speaker, Blair is the author of Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History (2018). She is also the official ambassador of Muslims for Progressive Values, one of the oldest progressive Muslim organizations to support the LGBTQ+ community.
Following her arrest at the protests of Alton Sterling’s murder in Baton Rouge, Blair Imani began using her voice on a national stage. As a public speaker Blair has presented around the world in Kenya, the United Kingdom, and in the United States at Yale University, Harvard University, Brown University and elsewhere. In 2017, Blair came out as a queer Muslim woman on national television while discussing safe spaces on Tucker Carlson Tonight. After speaking her truth, Blair began working with the internationally renowned LGBTQ rights organizations including the Tegan & Sara Foundation, GLAAD, It Gets Better and LOVELOUD to continue elevating the stories of queer people of faith globally.
As an advocate and historian, Blair focuses on supporting and uplifting Queer people of faith, girls and women, the Black community, and the LGBTQ community. Through storytelling in many forms, including the use of her platform on Twitter and Instagram, and her writing for outlets such as Huffington Post and VICE, she has dedicated herself to changing people’s perceptions of critical issues in the world.
For her important work, Blair has been honored as part of the OUT100 by Out Magazine, Logo30 by Logo TV, #Woke100 by ESSENCE and as one of 25 Gen-Z’ers creating change in the world by NYLON. She’s also been featured by countless outlets including them, Teen Vogue, Bustle, NowThis News, The Advocate, The Observer, Broadly, and more.