About ZAMI NOBLA
National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging
ZAMI NOBLA: A Cultural Home for Black Lesbian Feminists 40+
ZAMI NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging) is a national organization committed to building a strong and sustainable base of power for Black lesbian feminists aged 40 and older. Our mission is clear: to advance advocacy, education, and community-engaged research that centers the lives, experiences, and leadership of Black lesbians as we age. We exist to confront and disrupt the systems that have historically marginalized our voices, and to affirm the wisdom, creativity, and resilience of our communities.
We work from a Black feminist social justice framework that understands aging as both a personal journey and a political one. Aging is not just about getting older—it’s about how systems of power shape our access to housing, healthcare, community, and dignity. We challenge narratives that render older Black lesbians invisible or irrelevant, and instead promote new paradigms of conscious aging rooted in agency, joy, and collective care.
At ZAMI NOBLA, we affirm that our work is community work, it is collective work, and it is rooted in a commitment to social justice. We are actively engaged in the fight against racialized ageism, misogynoir, ableism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia. These forms of oppression do not operate separately in our lives—they are deeply interconnected—and we approach our mission with the understanding that liberation must be intersectional.
We believe in the power of community-engaged research as a tool for truth-telling, advocacy, and systemic change. We collect and amplify the voices of Black lesbian elders—documenting our stories, lifting up our needs, and shaping the policies and practices that impact our lives. Our advocacy work educates lawmakers, community leaders, and healthcare professionals on the unique experiences and challenges we face. And through education, cultural programs, and public storytelling, we ensure our herstories are not only preserved but honored.
Health and wellness are central to our work. We believe that healing—individual and collective—is a radical act. Whether we are creating safe spaces for gathering, advocating for equitable access to care, or building intergenerational programs rooted in joy, we are always guided by a vision of holistic well-being for our members.
This work is sustained and intergenerational. It honors those who came before us, serves those among us now, and lays the foundation for those yet to come. ZAMI NOBLA is not just an organization—it is a movement. It is a commitment to building a better, more just world for Black lesbian elders and for future generations. We are not aging out—we are aging into our power.
Through every initiative, every conversation, and every act of resistance, we affirm: Our lives matter. Our leadership matters. And our collective power is unstoppable.
History:
In 2011, Mary Anne Adams—a community activist, social worker, and public health researcher in metro Atlanta—noticed a troubling trend: more and more Black lesbians over 50 were vanishing from community events and organizations. She questioned whether health challenges, a youth-centered LGBTQ culture, or racialized ageism were driving them away. Determined to create space for advocacy, health/wellness support, and visibility, Adams founded ZAMI NOBLA: the National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging. By November 2015, the group secured 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Based in Atlanta, ZAMI NOBLA is the sole national organization focused on the needs and rights of Black lesbians over 40.
With 225 members, inclusive of chapters in Georgia and North Carolina and national members across 21 states, we combine advocacy, education, health/wellness programming, grassroots organizing, and community-led research to build power, amplify voices, and fight for justice—locally and nationwide. Additionally, we reach 3000 subscribers across our private Facebook groups, providing safe spaces to discuss mental, emotional, and aging challenges.
ZAMI NOBLA cannot undertake this work alone; your continued support and advocacy are crucial to our ability to assist the most vulnerable among us.
As Black lesbians marginalized by age, race, gender, disability, class, and sexual orientation, we sit at the fence line of oppressions that increase invisibility and negatively impact health outcomes. Black lesbians advocating for ourselves facilitate the design of appropriate programs and interventions that respond to our lived realities, meet our expressed needs, and significantly impact health inequities. It is also an act of rebellion and self-determination.
As the only organization in the country expressly building power for Black lesbian elders by us, with us, and for us, all of our projects and programs are consistent with the aim to organize our base, build community, advance feminism, and LGBTQ rights, and increase and sustain power.
We have state chapters headquartered in Leland, North Carolina, and Atlanta Georgia.