Adodi

Adodi is one of the oldest Black gay organizations in the United States.^[1] It was founded in Philadelphia in 1986 by Clifford Rawlins to bring together same-gender-loving men of African descent.^[1] Since its founding, Adodi has become one of the oldest movements of same-gender-loving men of African descent in history.^[2] It organized retreats for Black gay men partially to grieve during the early AIDS epidemic and partially to heal together.^[1] By 2003, the group had chapters in dozens of cities and suburbs.^[3] The organization currently has chapters in Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Dallas, and Washington, DC, many of which have regular programming and annual retreats.^[2]

Adodi is often referred to as the plural of "ado", a Yoruba word to describe "a man who 'loves' another man";^[1] however, Yoruba has no form of pluralizing words by adding suffixes.^[4]