The 2011 Boston Black Pride weekend takes place Thursday, June 9th through Sunday, June 12th and features an awards ceremony to honor individuals and organizations that are impacting the LGBTQ community, a poetry slam and fashion show, after parties, a parade march, a boat cruise, and a closing brunch where attendees will convene to discuss how to strengthen kinship among Black LGBTQ Bostonians.
The re-emergence of Black Pride is even more evidence that Boston’s Black LGBTQ population is pushing in from the margins of both the gay and Black communities, asserting its presence, establishing platforms, and making the celebration of their race and culture and the education of their people a priority. Although it was originally created as an opportunity for the local Black LGBTQ community to join together in honoring and exploring what it means to be Black and gay, Multicultural AIDS Coalition (MAC) program coordinator Will Graves says he hopes that both gay and straight Black people living in Boston will take part in the weekend’s events.
“Here in Massachusetts, we don’t have anything that celebrates our Black community. There’s the Dominican festival, the Puerto Rican festival, the Caribbean festival, [all of] which we can be a part of, but… there’s nothing here that just says ‘Black’,” Graves, who’s spearheading this year’s Black Pride, points out.
“[Boston Black Pride] is for anyone who wants to celebrate who they are. It’s important for our community to feel good about itself. Hopefully, this is something that will catch on. Each year, as we get more and more backing, we can add things to it. It doesn’t have to be all gay-oriented. It can be family-oriented. That’s my goal… to someday have this be a Black Pride weekend where it celebrates everybody.”
He also hopes the celebration will foster unity within the Black community, and noted that stereotypes, fear and misinformation have made it difficult for Black people – whether gay or straight, middle class or working poor, young or old – to embrace and uplift each other. “Within Black culture… we don’t accept the variety, [and] that’s why we have these holes in our community,” Graves maintains. He says it’s crucial that Black people put aside their differences and mobilize around issues, like HIV/AIDS, that impact the entire Black community.
HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects Black people regardless of sexual orientation, and the numbers in the Commonwealth confirm that fact; according to AIDS Action Committee, though Black people comprise only 6% of Massachusetts’ population, they make up 28% of Bay State residents living with HIV/AIDS. The Black Pride Committee, which includes MAC, Boston Public Health Commission, AIDS Action Committee, Hispanic Black Gay Coalition, Queer Women of Color Boston and others, are encouraging all Black Pride participants to get tested to know their HIV status. Those interested in scheduling an appointment to be tested can call MAC at 617.238.2424.
While Black gay pride celebrations in cities like Philadelphia, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. are week-long events widely-touted and attended by those in the Black LGBTQ community, Boston’s Black Pride has had a hard time gaining the momentum it needs to be on par with its Black Pride contemporaries across the nation. Originally dubbed New England Black Pride before transforming into Unity Pride (in an effort to be more inclusive of all those who, regardless of race or ethnicity, support the Black LGBTQ community), the weekend always had both fun and educational activities, and was lead by a group of organizations and individuals interested in helping the area’s Black LGBTQ community come together to sing its own praises.
But by 2007, the annual event, which consisted mostly of a boat cruise and several parties, had fallen victim to a circumstance that occurs all too often when it comes to movements within the Black community – without a central figure to lead the efforts, things quickly fell apart. No Black Pride events took place in the two years that followed, mostly because no individual or organization took the initiative to organize the effort. But this year, Graves grabbed the bull by the horns, leveraging his connections within the local Black LGBTQ scene to bring together a group of folks who felt Black Pride was still a valuable vehicle for motivating Boston’s Black residents to rally around each other, advocate for important causes, and enjoy exciting events that commemorate their culture.
The committee’s work to organize and publicize Boston Black Pride has been met with incredible support from those within and outside of the Black LGBTQ community, including Boston Pride organizers, who’ve reached out to the committee to ask them to be a part of their organizing team during next year’s Boston Pride. Though the planning and coordination of Boston Black Pride has been mostly a one-man show, with Graves undertaking the majority of the organizing efforts, he cares little about whether he’ll be recognized for all his hard work. He’s more concerned about creating a safe space where Black Bostonians can relax, revel and revolutionize how they interact with one another.
“I’m doing it because it’s part of my community, [and] this is what I want here. If I’m going to live here, I don’t want to live here and have to go socialize somewhere else. I want to live here and socialize at the same time, and do things that are meaningful.”
To view the full schedule of this weekend’s Boston Black Pride events, visit www.mac-boston.org.