About ZAMI NOBLA
National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging
In 2011, Mary Anne Adams, a Metro Atlanta community activist, social worker, and public health researcher noticed that in increasing numbers, many Black lesbians older than age 50 were beginning to disappear from community-based activities and organizations. She wondered if health issues, the youth-oriented LGBTQ culture, or racialized ageism might be to blame. To increase opportunities for networking and social support, and to explore the healthcare needs and coping strategies of Black lesbians, Adams founded ZAMI NOBLA: National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging. In November 2015, ZAMI NOBLA was granted tax-exempt status by the IRS status as a 501 © (3) non-profit organization.
DEEPLY ROOTED in Atlanta, Georgia with a national reach, ZAMI NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging) is a membership-based organization committed to building a base of power for Black lesbians over the age of 40 living anywhere in the country. We center Service, Advocacy, and Community Action Research.
Our work is community work, it is collective work, it is communal work, it is feminist work, it is social justice work that fights actively against racialized ageism, racism, sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia. It is sustained work and a responsibility that we carry to forge a better world for future generations.
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 a state chapter headquartered in Leland, North Carolina.