Phyll Opoku-Gyimah

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Phyll Opoku-Gyimah
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah March 2014.jpg
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah at the Southbank Centre in March 2014
Born
Phyllis Akua Opoku-Gyimah

November 1974 (age 49)
Islington, London, England
Alma mater Lea Valley Academy
OccupationPolitical activist
Organisations
Political party
Awards
  • Independent on Sunday Pink List, 2011 (64), 2012
  • Black LGBT Community Award
  • Big Society Award nomination (2012)
  • World Pride Power List (2012)
  • European Diversity Awards Campaigner of the Year in 2017

Phyllis Akua Opoku-Gyimah (born November 1974), [1] also known as Lady Phyll, [2] is a British political activist known for her work for racial, gender and LGBT+ equality. She is Co-Founder and Chief Executive of UK Black Pride and former executive director of Kaleidoscope Trust. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Early life and education

Opoku-Gyimah was born in Britain in 1974 and attended Bullsmoor School in Lea Valley, where she first became politically active. [7] [8] She is of Ghanaian ancestry. [9] [10]

Career

Opoku-Gyimah joined the civil service working for the Department for Work and Pensions benefit fraud section. They are a co-founder, trustee and executive director of UK Black Pride, [11] which "promotes unity and co-operation among all Black people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American descent, as well as their friends and families, who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender". [12] [13]

Opoku-Gyimah was appointed trustee of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity, Stonewall in January 2015 but resigned three years later when the charity announced it would partner with UK Black Pride. [14] Opoku-Gyimah publicly refused an MBE in the 2016 New Year Honours. [15]

With Rikki Beadle-Blair and John R Gordon, she is the editor of Sista!, an anthology of writings by LGBT women of African/Caribbean descent with a connection to the United Kingdom, released by Team Angelica Publishing in 2018, which includes work by 31 writers, including Yrsa Daley-Ward and Babirye Bukilwa. [16]

Well known among the trade union movement, she served on the Trades Union Congress (TUC) race relations committee and was Head of Equality at the Public and Commercial Services Union until June 2019. [17] [18]

In May 2019, Opoku-Gyimah was appointed executive director human rights charity the Kaleidoscope Trust. [19] She later resigned in November 2023, to become the first Chief Executive of the charity she founded UK Black Pride. [20] [21]

Opoku-Gymiah has been a member of Sky’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council since July 2023. [22]

Political activity

Opoku-Gyimah is well known for her activism on race, gender and LGBT+ rights in the United Kingdom. She is considered one of Britain's most prominent lesbian activists. [23] [24] She has raised the issue of racism in the LGBT community and spoken about the importance of intersectionality. [25] [26] She has been critical of Pride in London stating in an interview she felt the organisation "had a long way to go". [27]

She entered the Labour Party internal contest to replace Heidi Alexander as Member of Parliament for Lewisham East when she stood down to work for the Mayor of London. She left midway through the race following an allegation of an antisemitic tweet and Janet Daby was selected as the candidate and elected to UK Parliament in the by-election on 14 June 2018. [28] [29] [30]

Opoku-Gyimah made headlines when she attended the British Academy Film Awards in 2018 with British actress Andrea Riseborough. [31] She attended the ceremony as show of solidarity with women who had experienced discrimination as part of a campaign against sexism. [32] [33] [34] [35]

Opoku-Gyimah was appointed a Grand Marshall of New York Pride in 2019, during the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots. [36]

She was named on a list of 100 Great Black Britons in October 2020, as part of the initiative by Windrush campaigner Patrick Vernon OBE and historian Angelina Osborne to celebrate Black British people during Black History Month. [37]

Awards and recognition

Books

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  4. ↑ Sanusi, Victoria (19 January 2021). "Black British activists share their hopes for the future". www.stylist.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Motune, Vic (1 June 2019). "Lady Phyll Makes History". www.voice-online.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  6. ↑ Edmonds, Lizzie; Abbianca Makoni (1 October 2020). "Black History Month Next Gen Trailblazers: The full list of people making a difference". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
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  8. ↑ Jalloh, Twiggy (9 January 2021). "'Pride Is Not Just A Celebration, It's About Change': Why Black Pride Matters". www.vogue.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
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  15. ↑ Broomfield, Matt (5 January 2016). "Black lesbian activist Phyll Opoku-Gyimah turns down MBE in protest at LGBT persecution by 'colonial regimes'" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  16. ↑ Sista!: An anthology of writings by Same Gender Loving Women of African Caribbean descent. 25 January 2018. ASIN   0995516243.
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  22. ↑ "Sky appoints two new experts to its Diversity Advisory Council to amplify diversity and inclusion expertise". Sky Group. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
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  24. ↑ Savage, Rachel (13 August 2020). "Interview: 'Change is happening': UK Black Pride founder sees hope in 2020". www.reuters.com. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
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  27. ↑ Newbold, Alice (11 June 2020). ""Queer People Of Colour Are Resilient & Resilience Is Power:" Lady Phyll On The UK Black Pride Movement". www.gaystarnews.com. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
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  30. ↑ Yorke, Harry (13 May 2018). "Labour candidate for Lewisham East by-election withdraws as it emerges she compared Israel-Palestine conflict to 'Nazi persecution'". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  31. ↑ "Race storm erupts after Andrea Riseborough's best actress Oscar nomination". The Guardian. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  32. ↑ Cartner-Morley, Jess (18 February 2018). "Blackout on the red carpet: best dressed a non-issue at Baftas". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
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  34. ↑ "Bafta Awards 2018: (Most) stars wear black to bring Time's Up to Britain". www.bbc.co.uk. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  35. ↑ "EE British Academy Film Awards - Red Carpet Arrivals". www.gettyimages.co.uk. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  36. ↑ "DIVA columnist and UK Black Pride co-founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah announced as Grand Marshal at World Pride 2019". divamag.co.uk. 9 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  37. ↑ Parsons, Vic (1 October 2020). "LGBT+ titans Munroe Bergdorf, Edward Enninful and Lady Phyll named among '100 great Black Britons'". www.pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  38. ↑ Itie, Harry (31 May 2018). "Cover Star: Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Co-Founder & Director UK Black Pride". The Rustin Times. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  39. ↑ Greenhalgh, Hugo (24 July 2021). "LGBT+ campaigners demand inclusion at first UK 'Reclaim Pride' march". Reuters. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  40. ↑ "UK Black Pride's Lady Phyll shares powerful words after 'life-changing' honour". PinkNews. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  41. ↑ CommunityNews· (9 February 2018). "Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Edward Enninful, Demi Lovato and more nominated for British LGBT Awards. See full list here". The Rustin Times. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  42. ↑ "National Inclusion Week: UK Black Pride's Phyll Opoku-Gyimah on making meaningful change for diversity in the workplace". www.newschainonline.com. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
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  44. ↑ magazine, adobo (31 May 2022). "Campaign Spotlight: Watch Dr. Martens inaugural pride campaign 'Pride Generation,' a series of short films by PRETTYBIRD Director Jess Kohl". adobo Magazine Online. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
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