The center will also be providing COVID-19 vaccinations and sexually transmitted infection testing, which people can make an appointment for on its website or call 51. "We want the community to be aware of all the services we have at the center," Hawkins said. Hawkins said that at the booth the center is planning on presenting information about its resources, new clinic, sexual health services, and youth services. The New Parkway Theatre is open in Oakland's Uptown neighborhood.) (The Historic Parkway Theatre on Park Boulevard is now shuttered. reported in 2005, the film festival at the now-defunct old Parkway Theater was "one of the central events" of the Bay Area Black in the Life Pride Week. "Many years ago, I was involved in Bay Area Black in the Life and the Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival, so it's really great to see someone taking up the mantle and taking Black Pride to a new level."Īs the B.A.R. "I literally saw the promotion in my feed and wanted to be a part of it," Hawkins said. that "we have a booth and are very supportive of what they're going to be doing." Joe Hawkins, a gay man who is the executive director of the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, told the B.A.R. "This is what I'm most excited about: putting people in the position to thrive economically."
"Historically, I don't know if this has ever been done - an expo full of queer vendors for our community," Austin continued. In true exposition form, we've got to have a lot of queer and LGBTQIA vendors. "We have a lot of vendors - someone who makes cannabis cream, our own LGBTQ Center is handing out HIV/AIDS information, trans caterers, food trucks, a bunch of creators and makers of earrings and jewelry, arts and crafts, things like that."Īustin said that in planning the expo, "it was important to have representation of pretty much everything. "We have a little bit of everything," Austin said. to 4 p.m., the expo takes place at Raimondi Field in West Oakland.
The first day of the expo is set for Saturday, June 26, from 11 a.m. Fast forward to now, it's Pride Month, and we have an organization with a full schedule for our community."Īlso on the schedule is a Queer Expo that will take place over two days. This organization was a survival tactic of ours. So I started working on a project based on my needs and the needs of my immediate community, and three months later I had a nonprofit. A lot of our needs - the things we struggle to get anyway - were in jeopardy. "Faced with a pandemic, a lot of the needs of myself and the Black, queer community were exhausted. "I'd been thinking about that, and then COVID hit," Austin continued. "A lot of what I saw around my immediate area didn't look how Pride started - didn't look as Black, as transgender, as riotous, as inclusive as it had started. The festival was "something as an idea I had for a while," Austin said. "In a continued effort to combat the effects of racial and gender inequality, we stand with Oakland Black Pride in honoring the unique and beautiful contributions of the Black LGBTQIA+ community." "It's with great pride that we welcome the Inside/OUT! Black Pride Celebration to the 'town' of Oakland," Mayor Libby Schaaf stated in the release. A lot of what Pride is is being able to be in community."īeing in physical community was obviously dangerous last year, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.Īustin said that the effect of the disease on the Black and LGBTQ communities spurred her on in the creation of the Oakland Black Pride nonprofit that is putting on the celebration "in partnership with the City of Oakland and the Oakland Parks, Recreation and Youth Development Department," according to a news release. There's room enough for folks to be spread out, have a good time, and be in community.
"We have music, kick-ass DJs, all from the queer community. "We are going to have a ball, both literally and figuratively," Austin said.
Sunday, June 27, to those portrayed in the FX series "Pose," which ended its run earlier this month. Austin, who is queer, spoke with the Bay Area Reporter to tout the major festivities - including the Queer Expo, Skate for Pride Party, and a grand finale Slayer's Ball at the waterfront Bridge Yard event venue between the MacArthur Maze and the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza.Īustin likened the ball, scheduled for 8 p.m. Oakland Black Pride is preparing in-person and virtual events for its inaugural Inside/OUT! Black Pride Celebration June 24-27.Įxecutive Director Olaywa K.