Today marks the beginning of Pride in the City 2006, New York's Black LGBT pride and community self-and-health awareness celebration. Sponsored by People of Color in Crisis, a great Brooklyn-based community service organization that I worked with a little bit some years ago, Pride in the City will, as it has in prior years, feature events in several of New York City's boroughs.They include:
- An Opening Reception on Thursday at the Brooklyn Marriott, featuring an awards ceremony, a roast of nightlife entertainer Harmonica Sunbeam, and a special guest appearance by MTV Real World personality and activist Karamo;
- BlackOut Arts Series on Friday at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC);
- Saturday Family Day at the Park at Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn;
- Sunday Beach Event*at Jacob Riis Park in Brooklyn;
- lots of parties, for men and women, both on land and water!
At the Saturday and Sunday events, representatives from a range of organizations will be available to provide information on community-based services, and a collaborative of organizations will be offering Rapid and OraSure HIV/AIDS tests. As in previous years, STD testing and blood pressure monitoring will also be available.
Having attended and participated in New York Black prides for almost a decade, I'm glad to see that the dueling pride era is (temporarily) over. I'm also delighted that the central focus of this event is now firmly on community awareness, wellness and empowerment. What better to be proud of?
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*Keith Boykin points out in a recent post that US Park officials appear to be trying to shut down the Riis Park beach party by restricting access to the beach and placing stipulations on the event. He has since updated this to say that POCC is hopeful, but not happy with the compromise, which would move the event to a nearby ballpark, is problematic.
Random photo
Musicians jamming at an outdoor concert at the union hall on W 14th street
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