Justin from Justin's HIV Journal & Patrick from pozlifeofpatrick find out
"What does DC Black Pride mean and why the separation between Gay Prides"
PATRICK'S WORDS
I love to blog and always jump at the opportunity to be involved with TheBody.com. At one point Justin and I had a conversation about working together on a project that was pride related. We were originally going to stick with just Pride (Capital Pride) in generally; however, after Justin dealing with some of his Caucasian friend’s complaining about Black Gay Pride I knew that we were onto something. By interviewing LGBT individuals and asking them what Black Gay Pride meant to them were able to find the driving force that keeps people coming back to DC from all over the country (and world) to attend this event. The diverse individuals we interviewed felt a sense of community; a safe place to talk about issues specifically related to the African-American LGBT community; and the ability to be around fun and festivities. Every person interviewed brought a very unique perspective. The different aspects that people had of Black Pride were interesting, but summed up why so many spend their Memorial Day Holiday in the DC Area. The many events that take place like the workshops and Health and Wellness Festival were also very popular among the attendees. At the end of the process I realized that it is indeed important to have an overall all-inclusive pride; however, it is just as important to have prides for the many sub-groups (i.e. Latino, Black, Trans-gender, Asian-Pacific, etc).
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Patrick
JUSTIN'S WORDS
Patrick and I decided to do this project to get together for Capital Pride originally. After an e-mail I received from a Caucasian friend asking, "so I only said what I said cause imagine the large uproar if people got together and decided to have a Gay White Pride". I was not too happy about his comments. After talking with him he still didn’t know what I meant at all. So Patrick and I decided to make another video trying to find people that came to Black Gay Pride and really what it means to them. Hopefully this would enlighten others and my friend to understand that this was not made to threaten but enlighten others that didn’t understand why we have a Black Gay Pride. Listening is probably the best thing. But I did forego hosting a party to go to Black Gay Pride. I realized that this was a demographic that I was born in. The issues that we face may not be the same as other community BUT WE MUST HAVE THEM AT THE TABLE WITH US TO HELP AS WELL!! WE MUST WORK TOGETHER.
This was great experience; especially working with Patrick another black gay HIV positive blogger I loved it. We asked gay black men women and transgendered people what black pride meant to them. Patrick then asked me to my surprise at the beginning of the interview what black pride mean to me. I don’t really remember what I said but I will say this. It means I'M PROUD TO BE A BLACK, GAY, MARRIED, FATHER, LEATHERMAN WHO HAPPENS TO KNOW HIS HIV STATUS!!!!
Justin B Terry-Smith
