Photo by Robert Roth/Jetspace Magazine.
Summer time is traditionally the season of Pride celebrations. While many Pride celebrations draw a range of queer and queer adjacent fun seekers, there are also a host of Pride events over the summer that celebrate unique facets of the queer community, people who sit at the intersections of queerness and race, age, and gender. One such event is Emerald City Black Pride, an annual gathering organized by Seattle’s Center for MultiCultural Health meant to “foster pride and strengthen the sense of community among LGBTQ people of color with a focus on African-Americans.”
“This is important,” said Tristen Gardner, a Health Educator at Center for MultiCultural Health and ECBP organizer. “We need to take time to recognize our history, honor who has come before us, and give acknowledgment for the hard work our community is doing in Seattle.”
Emerald City Black Pride kicks off at 7pm on Saturday, July 30 with the ECBP Black Light Party at the Northwest African American History Museum. The party features music from DJ Ravish (Atlanta), performances from La Saveona Hunt, Beyoncé St James, Sheniqua Volt Montrese, a beer garden, and free food courtesy of Angel City Deli.
DJ Ravish (Atlanta). Photo courtesy of Emerald City Black Pride.
“To make it a success,” said Gardner of the Black Light Party, “we are working with local LGBTQ organizations and entertainers of color who will be showcasing the many talents of the LGBTQ activity through dance, drag, spoken word, music, and other art forms.”
The fun continues on Sunday, July 31 at Seattle’s Alvin Larkins Park with the ECBP Family Reunion BBQ at 1pm.
“The ECBP Family Reunion BBQ will be a celebration of the year that is to come,” said Gardner. “It will be a kickoff event to talk about the events that we and other LGBTQ organizations will be creating throughout the year. In addition, we are working with Groundswell Arts to have a several speakers of color who will be discussing the role LGBTQ people of color have had on the Pride movement in America.”
Speakers and performers at the BBQ include J Mase the Third, Lulu Carpenter from the Seattle LGBT Commission, Diamond St James, and Regine Dynasty. This all-ages event also includes free food courtesy of Angel City Deli.
Both events offer the Northwest’s queer Black community, and their supporters, a much needed chance to gather and celebrate the diversity, voice, and the values of their community.
[wc_spacing size=”40px”]
[wc_divider style=”solid” line=”single” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=””]
You must be logged in to post a comment.