The First Black Folsom
Is in the Books!

Folsom week events that centered the Black experience

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On behalf of the Black Queer Dom Society, B Tourmaline, and The Exiles, I'd like to thank everyone who came out for the Bay Area's first ever Black Folsom!

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Black leatherdykes , Black queers, Onyx Pearls, the Men of Onyx, and our allies packed rooms, filled seats, and formed critical masses of Black Excellence in Oakland and San Francisco.  Here are just a few of the events I attended personally.

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Wednesday night's Popup Meet & Greet at The Women of the Black Panther Party Museum was full of leatherdykes meeting, greeting, socializing, and vocalizing.  Approximately 50 people packed the historic Victorian, gazed upon and bid on sexy images and historic visages, thumbed through On Our Backs and other salacious magazines while donning protective gauzy gloves, and demolished food and drink.

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The elders held court in this same room, which also included archival images of the women of the Black Panther Party Movement, meeting the new generation of kinksters who will carry on their legacy.

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Thursday night's Leather Legends panel featured Jill Carter, Queen Cougar, Goddess Lakshmi, and Lady D--four of the original eight Onyx Pearls--in a conversation moderated by BQD of the Black Queer Dom Society.  This was the first time the four had ever been in the same place at the same time, but they moved as one, staking their claim to leather history, building upon each other's stories, and forming a phalanx of support as the guardians and practitioners of Black Leather Excellence.

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Friday night's signature Hunger Play Party was everything you wanted:  a massive space, plenty of equipment, filthy beats, and reddened asses.  Out-of-town Black kinksters gathered and played and played and playyyyyyed.

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Saturday afternoon a full room convened for a Compton Cafeteria Riot matinee that was up close, personal, controversial, and effective.  Breakfast was served along with lessons instructions for the future disguised as lessons from the past.

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Sunday, of course, was the biggest day--The Folsom Street Fair.  The Men of Onyx hosted a busy-ass bootblacks & barbers tent buttressed by the BIPOC lounge, which migrated stage left of the Playground stage.  In my 29 years as a kinkster and maybe 25 of those at Folsom, I have neh-verrr seem so many beautiful Black brothas and sistas at Folsom!

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I could go on.  The last thing I wanted to say is that our small three-person team pulled off an epic five days of Black kink community connections and dirty fun.  Many of us were at the same events, which increased the feeling of solidarity.  I've always known how much I needed queer Black kinksters...but I didn't realize just how much I needed queer Black kinsters.

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THANK YOU

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RINSED

September 2026

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TL;DR

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Folsom Wednesday, Sept 23

• Meet & Greet at the Women of the Black Panthers Mural & Museum for Black leather folk and Exiles members, Oakland

Folsom Thursday, Sept 24

• Black Queer Dom will moderate this Leather Legends Panel featuring Jill Carter, Queen Cougar, Lady D, and Goddess Lakshmi, SF - Tickets still available for the meet & greet but panel registrations are SOLD OUT

• Eagle Leather Meet Up, SF

• Lake Merritt Kiki with Empress of B Tourmaline

Folsom Friday, Sept 25 

• Scarlet Room, Akoma Church, Oakland

• Hunger Play Party, SF

Folsom Saturday, Sept 26

• Morning - BIPOC Bois Mixer, Oakland

• Afternoon - Compton's Cafeteria Riot matinee, SF - SOLD OUT

• Evening - Routes Vol.11:  B. Tourmaline's All Queer Black Play Party, Oakland - SOLD OUT

FOLSOM  - Black-only zone 200-person takeover near the Playground, SF​

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The Details

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Wednesday, Sept 23rd - Private event for all self-identified Black leather folk and all Exiles members:  Meet n Greet @ Women of the Black Panthers Mural & Museum (Oakland) - Join Black Queer Dom Society and the Exiles for a casual meet & greet celebrating Bay Area Black women, queer history, leather history, storytelling, and community building at the Women of the Black Panthers Mural & Museum in Oakland.  Mix and mingle alongside historic images and banners from the Black Panther Party that center the women of this iconic organization.

• 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm pre-M&G tour led by Jilchristina Vest, curator

• 7 pm to 9 pm M&G

• 831 Center Street, Oakland 94607; two blocks from West Oakland BART

• Cohosted with Black Queer Dom Society, B. Tourmaline, and Exiles

• Self-Identifying Black Leather Folk ($0-$10 NOTAFLOF)

• Exiles Members ($10-$25)

• https://forbiddentickets.com/events/the-exiles/3d9c52c280

• https://fb.me/e/aqf1KMjFv

• https://partiful.com/e/4JtXpGoQG18McpKj1aAn?c=Y9ivz6SE

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Jilchristina Vest, founder and curator, will be offering a guided introduction to the project from 5:30 to 6:30, $20 to $40 per person. Learn the genesis of the project and the history of the community.  45 minutes of the tour will be spent outdoors during a short walk in the neighborhood that starts at the Dr. Huey P. Newton sculpture (Mandela Parkway & 9th St, Oakland) and ends at the Women of the Black Panthers Mural & Museum one block away.  

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Pizza and soft drinks will be provided, no alcohol.  Please cover or remove your shoes at the entrance.  Shoe coverings are available.  We will have chairs for elders.  There are five steps from the street to the entrance.  Once inside, the museum is located all on one floor.  There are five steps to the backyard area from inside the house.

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Thursday, Sept 24 - Kiki with Empress of B Tourmaline (Oakland) to welcome community to the Town! Bring a snack and some laughs.

• Noon to ?

• Lake Merritt, Oakland

Friday, Sept 25 - Hunger: THE Folsom Playground Preparty Collaboration with Desire Unchained! @ SVN West (SF) 

• 6 pm to 1 am

• 10 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco 94103

• "On the eve of Folsom Weekend, when leather takes the streets and desires run feral, we open the doors to HUNGER at a new venue for a night of 1000 Queers with immersive play and rooftop lounge!"

 

 

Friday, September 25 - Akoma Church, Oakland - Scarlet Room (Oakland) 

• 7 pm to midnight

• Oakland location disclosed after ticket purchase

• A MOULIN ROUGE INSPIRED MIXER FOR BLACK QUEER TRANS KANKSTAZ TO KICK OFF FOLSOM WEEKEND.  PERFORMANCES AND DJ + SPECIAL HOST (MORE DETAILS SOONI) ROPE CORNER+ SENSORY STATION ADULT HAPPY HOUR POP UP

• $5 to Akoma for new members.  Accomplices are welcome but you will be on your best behavior and donate to us directly as well. Suggested $10-20 dm us or donate in person.

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Saturday, Sept 26 Morning - Bois Mixer (Oakland)

• 10 am to noon

• FREE!

• Lake Merritt by the farmer's market; look for the leather flag

• This mixer is for queer & trans folks of color who identify as masculine submissives and bottoms

 

Saturday, Sept 26 Afternoon - Compton's Cafeteria Riot Performance (SF) - "an immersive theatrical experience directly inspired by the 1966 uprising in San Francisco’s Tenderloin that marked a seminal act of collective resistance in the ongoing fight for transgender rights."  Breakfast will be served.

• 3 pm to 5 pm

• 835 Larkin Street, San Francisco 94109

• SOLD OUT

 

 

Saturday, Sept 26 Evening - Routes:  B. Tourmaline's All Queer Trans Black Play Party (Oakland)

• 4 pm to 2 am

• Oakland location disclosed upon successful vetting

• 4-7:30 Munch (hot tub included) $10

• 5-7 Workshop $20

• 8:30-2am Play Party | $45 (Single) $80 (couple)

• Munch and workshop $25

• The Whole Shabang (Munch, workshop, and play event) | Singles $60 Couples $110

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Sunday, Sept 27 - Black-only zone near Folsom Street Fair Playground (SF)

• 11 am to 6 pm

• 10th Street between Howard & Folsom, San Francisco

• "A space for women of every kind & all trans and nonbinary folks"

• WE ARE EXPECTING ABOUT 200 BLACK KINKSTERS TO TAKE OVER THE BLOCK (schedule below)

• BIPOC lounge by Onyx at the front

• Bootblacks & Barbers next tent over

• As in 2025, the Playground will occupy the entire block.  No side streets, no cis dudes.  There will be a stage, seating with shade coverings, DJs, burlesque, water station, and our own PORTA POTTIES.

  • ​​​11 am Arrive at Folsom

  • ​11:30-12:30 Bondage stage area (11th and Howard)

  • ​1:30-3 B Tourmaline hosts the Femme Block of Onyx BIPOC Watering Hole presenting the Onyx Pearls and Demos from community (10th and Folsom)

  • ​3 pm Black Walk to the Playground (10th and Howard)

  • ​3-6 Play and be with community :)