We’re forever grateful for the opportunity to connect with so many incredible activists, organizers, artists, and more through TurnOut’s work. This June, we partnered with Oakland Black Pride on volunteer operations for their first annual weekend of events: a roller skating party, pub crawl, artist market, live music and more.

We talked with André Singleton, who describes himself as a “soul of service,” about his experience as a volunteer at several of these events, and his thoughts on what made the first Oakland Black Pride so special. Read the full story on the TurnOut blog.

André is an educator, artist, photographer, and co-founder of the Very Black Project, and a trained death doula who moved to Oakland from New York in 2019. “I love any chance I get to be of service to folks who want to be seen as whole,” says André. “I love spending time with LGBTQ elders. In New York, I worked with SAGE NYC, and since coming to the Bay Area, I volunteer with Lavender Seniors. Because of my own experience navigating the world [as a Stage IV Hodgkin's survivor], I end up feeling really seen and heard in conversation with elders.” 

Volunteering is an extension of André’s guiding principles. “I'm here to leave this world in a better place than when I got here. I try to live by some African principles like kuumba (creativity), which invites us to always do as much as we can in the way we can to leave our community more beautiful than when we inherited it. I feel so fortunate to have experienced the deep wisdom that comes from living in your body, establishing communities of care, being together and working with each other.”

Earlier this year, André visited the Oakland LGBTQ+ Center in search of volunteer opportunities. “They sent me to the TurnOut website (which was pretty user-friendly, important for me, having visual challenges), and from there I was invited to a volunteer orientation. I had a great time, and here I am.”

He signed up to volunteer at Oakland Black Pride’s first ever weekend of events. “It was very soft and gentle. Often I’ve had the experience of volunteering where it feels like a power struggle, and where it’s hard to have your needs respected. But here, Olawya [Executive Director of Oakland Black Pride] was like ‘We're just happy you're here.’ I volunteered and I enjoyed myself.”

André also brought his practice as a photographer to the event. “I carry an Instax camera around and ask people if I can take a photo, and then I give them the photo to keep. In a super digitized culture it feels so powerful to physically feel the film happening. And then I get to hand it to people who either have never seen this kind of film or who haven’t in a long time. It becomes an offering: an artifact, an heirloom. It’s not transactional; you’re offering someone themselves. It can be affirming and healing.”

At Oakland Black Pride, this was especially powerful. “It was beautiful. In Oakland, folks are so aware: ‘We’re here because everything is not ok, but everything’s OK because we’re together.’ It was so sweet to be a soft landing place for people in this busy event.”