Our Playground
PG centers Black lesbian, gay, trans, and queer Chicagoans in creative programming that invites grown-ups to play.
Launched in 2023, we have produced parties, game nights, movie nights, a sapphic pole show, spelling bees, workshops, community potlucks, cookouts, dinners, field days and more.
Our playdates intervene on the loneliness epidemic and safeguard collective wellbeing. PG was made for mutual aid — contributing to our creative ecosystem and local micro-fundraising.
bell hooks describes “childlike wonder” as a life force that can transform our lives.
A Black queer social resource for the loneliness epidemic.
Nationally, Black LGBTQ+ community members report higher rates of depressive symptoms than white queer counterparts.
According to the Surgeon General, half of US adults report experiencing chronic loneliness, which increases risk for depression and premature death.
Black and queer young adults, especially those with disabilities and facing financial insecurity, are at highest risk of isolation.
Conversely, research identifies LGBTQ+ community connectedness as a key protective factor improving Black queer health outcomes.
Investing in Chicago’s Black queer creative ecosystem.
Being both Black and queer in a segregated city can be isolating. Both white queer and Black, cis-heteronormative spaces can be micro-aggressive, culturally misaligned, and physically violent.
Black queer community members have created our own cultural hubs and safe havens. But several collectives serving the Black queer community have folded, citing burnout, insufficient resources, and barriers to opportunities.
PG is dedicated to changing Chicago’s landscape to nourish Black queer placemaking.
Origins
Onyi Jessica Ogwumike (she/they) is an Igbo-American, Black lesbian community cook, multi-media artist, researcher and curator raised in Chicago, Illinois (unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations).
I have a background in Black Studies and Public Health. My praxis is concerned with Black queer community health and health justice.
I belong to Crossroads Black Queer Writing Collective and Independent Curators International (ICI), recognized in 2025 as an emerging curator.
My mission is to curate exhibits and events that ameliorate the lived experience of Black queer communities and family systems rooted in Chicago.
I am inspired by the inventiveness of my inner child and teen.
Attuned to the needs of my community, I have organized resource fairs, youth summits, teach-in’s, political education workshops and arts showcases since high school.
My curatorial practice is also inspired by Black queer history.
1973 - Jewel Thais Williams, Black lesbian ancestor, opens CATCH ONE: the country’s first Black queer dancehall. She uses the historic club to fundraise for medical treatment and affordable housing at the start of the HIV/AIDs epidemic.
1986 - Stephanie Coleman & Simone Bouyer open WHOLESOME ROC Gallery: the only art space to exhibit Black queer artists and document the birth of House.
2015 - dr. nick alder and & DJ Rae Chardonnay launch PARTY NOIRE: a party centering Black queer joy, community care and innovating nightlife safety and accessibility infrastructure.