Salsa Soul Sisters

History

In the aftermath of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, the Gay Liberation Front was formed in New York City. In the same year, members split to form the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA). In 1971, GAA members internally formed the Black Lesbian Caucus. Caucus member and local minister Rev. Dolores Jackson saw a need to particularly focus on issues of racism impacting lesbians of color within the GAA. While a great deal of organizing and activism related to LGBTQ+ rights was beginning throughout the 1970s, queer and trans women of color were often excluded from these efforts and frequently faced sexism, racism, and exclusion from queer spaces and communities. The initial Salsa Soul Sisters group was intended to create a safe space for women of color to focus on their needs and directly address the sociopolitical issues affecting their community.

In 1974 the Black Lesbian Caucus reformulated itself as Salsa Soul Sisters, Third World Wimmin Inc, an autonomous group of Black and Latina lesbians offering its members a social and political alternative to the lesbian and gay bars, which had "historically exploited and discriminated against lesbians of color". They originally called themselves the Third World Gay Women's Association, with the informal moniker "Salsa-Soul Sisters". The original group was led by Rev. Dolores Jackson, Harriet Alston, Sonia Bailey, Luvenia Pinson, Candice Boyce, and Maua Flowers.

The group held weekly meetings to discuss social and political issues. Meeting spaces included a fire house in Manhattan (1974-1976), Washington Square United Methodist Church (1976-1987), and the LGBTQ Community Center (1987). Informal meetings often took place in members' homes. From 1977 to 1983, Salsa Soul Sisters published their own magazine, Azalea: A Magazine by Third World Lesbian, and developed a newsletter, Salsa Soul Gazette, in 1982.

The group was active in protests, demonstrations, and community organizing in New York City, and organization leaders frequently invited speakers to their events, including Betty Powell, Audre Lorde, Pat Parker, Jewel Gomez, and Barbara Smith. Through their activism and advocacy work, members risked their lives and livelihoods; it was common for queer women to be fired or socially ostracized for openly demonstrating and identifying as queer.

Throughout its 19 year existence, the group's membership grew to 200 women of all ages, identities and backgrounds. In 1993, the group split into two separate organizations, including the African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change (for African diaspora lesbians) and Las Buenas Amigas, or The Good Friends, for Latina lesbians.

The group's impact spans decades and generations, and Salsa Soul Sisters continues to be recognized as a historically significant and successful community of LGBTQ activists who paved the way for many queer women of color. In November 2019, the Center for Women's History at the New York Historical Society Museum and Library celebrated Salsa Soul Sisters with a panel featuring Cassandra Grant, Imani Rashid, Roberta Oloyade Stokes, and Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz, who discussed the organization's history, victories, and on-going struggles. At the event, ceremony speaker and First Lady of the City of New York Chirlane McCray shared her experience as a Salsa Soul Sister member, stating:

"The Sisters were so beautiful, and there were so many of them...these Sisters, they became family for me...my first New York family, and they fed my soul, they helped me see and navigate the world...We protected each other from a world that just refused to see us, let alone embrace us."