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P R ID E
NYC Black Pride Festivities to Begin August 18
NYC Black Pride returns with a slate of events that will kick-off on August 18.
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
After going almost entirely
virtual last year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, NYC
Black Pride is back with a
wide range of events to commemorate
the Black LGBTQ community.
Starting on August 18, NYC Black
Pride will host an opening mixer from
6 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Black-owned
LGBTQ bar Lambda Lounge at 2256
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard
in Harlem. The next day, organizers
are heading downtown to Brooklyn
to present a mini ball from 8 p.m. to
4 a.m. at the Sugar Hill Restaurant
and Supper Club at 217 Nostrand Avenue.
On August 20, hosts will debut
its main virtual Zoom event, “Health
as a Human Right,” where advocates
will bring attention to the barriers
and stigma facing individuals living
with HIV in the wake of the 40th anniversary
of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
That event will begin at 6 p.m. and
conclude at 8:30 p.m.
On August 21, event-goers can
also attend NYC Black Pride’s drag
brunch, which begins at noon at B2
Harlem, a seafood restaurant at 271
West 119th Street. Black Pride organizers
are capping off the festivities
of events with a “Pride at the Beach”
event on Coney Island.
NYC Black Pride organizer Lee
Soulja-Simmons said this year’s NYC
Black Pride would be smaller than
usual because of COVID-19 safety
guidelines and restrictions. While
NYC Black Pride has attracted thousands
of revelers in the past, Soulja-
Simmons said scaling down the event
will keep attendees safe.
“We are also paying close attention
to how many events are actually
live events or in person, even more
so than we normally do, so that we
could take the proper precautions
around people being able to social
distance and wear a mask to protect
themselves,” Soulja-Simmons said.
For the last 24 years, NYC Black
Pride has spotlighted the contributions
of Black LGBTQ individuals
who are often erased or given less
MATT TRACY
attention than white-led queer movements.
Soulja-Simmons said NYC
Black Pride is critical in uplifting the
voices of Black LGBTQ people, specifi
cally in the ballroom scene.
“There’s so much around LGBT
history that comes out of Black and
Brown culture,” Soulja-Simmons
said. “So many things that are now
part of popular culture was born out
of the Black gay community. Black
pride is a way for us to celebrate and
recognize those contributions.”
The NYC Black Pride festivities
come roughly two months after the
city’s main Pride festivities took place
on the fi nal Sunday of Pride Month.
The Reclaim Pride Coalition’s Queer
Liberation March served as the most
prominent in-person march on Pride
Sunday in June, while Heritage of
Pride returned with a hybrid in-person
and virtual march after going all
virtual last year due to the coronavirus
pandemic. The June festivities,
however, occurred before the emergence
of the Delta variant across the
nation.
AUGUST 12 - AUGUST 25, 2 16 021 | GayCityNews.com
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