Bay Area
Oakland Black Pride Hosts Events Celebrating Black Queerness
At the close of Pride Month, Oakland Black Pride held their third annual Black Pride Festival from June 28 to July 2 at various places across the city as well as online.
By Daisha Williams
Post Staff
At the close of Pride Month, Oakland Black Pride held their third annual Black Pride Festival
from June 28 to July 2 at various places across the city as well as online.
Under the leadership of founder Olawya Austin, the nonprofit is dedicated to enhancing the lives
of Black people within the LGBTQ+ community by creating spaces for them to be celebrated,
providing a break from racism, homophobia, transphobia, and/or sexism that they face in the
outside world.
Austin pointed out that Black people have been involved in the Pride movement since the very
beginning. Marsha P. Johnson, a Black woman, was one of the leading figures in the
Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969. Unfortunately, Black voices have often been
overshadowed by white in LGBTQ+ spaces, which is why spaces and organizations like Oakland Black Pride are so important.
“There’s still anti-Blackness in those spaces as well, so we have to create these things for
ourselves in order for us to get the things that we need. And that’s in the spirit of how it all
started 54 years ago and it’s exactly why it started,” said Austin.
“I think that a lot of celebrations that I see, they’ve forgotten about the roots of Pride and that’s
the difference between what our organization does and a lot of the Pride events we see around
the nation.”
This year’s Oakland Black Pride Festival consisted of eight events, each of them purposely different so there really was something for everyone.
It kicked off last Thursday night with a benefit dinner highlighting chefs who don’t have many
opportunities to climb up in the restaurant industry, a reminder for them and the guests that
people from their communities are talented, even if it isn’t showcased in the larger world.
For those 21+, there was the Queer Pub Crawl that toured four Black, queer-friendly local bars. And more suitable for younger members of the community, there was the Queer Expo which had a “Kidz Korner” and more than 50 vendors.
The expo, which Alyah Baker, an Oakland Black Pride board member, says is one of
her favorite parts of the festival brought “together several dozen different businesses from the
community and it’s an opportunity for these businesses to gain support and traction … I think it
also offers something different, a lot of Pride parties are evening events so it’s nice to see more
daytime events that are accessible for all different members of the community.”
The Expo was the first Oakland Black Pride that Mini Verna attended, and she enjoyed herself. “There’s a deep desire for space that’s just joyfully queer and comfortable and I think that’s what was created,” Verna said. “I think that’s what happens when spaces are created by BIPOC or LGBTQIA people in mind … these spaces are for cultivation, connection and pollination.”
The festival closed out July 2 with an afternoon cookout open only to members of the queer
community. Everything about the cookout signified that it was a safe space, from signage
promoting love and respect to the way people were dressed.
Aasha, one of the vendors said: “I had a friend who doesn’t usually express themself in their
queer embodiment, and they came fully decked out, like a crop top and a skirt and I was just like
‘You’re so beautiful!’”
The feeling of comfort and ease was not unique to Aasha, as many attendees appeared to have
similar experiences. Showing up in your own skin is hard and uncomfortable for a lot of people,
but the fact that so many people were able to in this space shows how well-cultivated it was.
Though several of the events of the festival cost money, organizers are working very hard to
make these spaces accessible to everyone who needs them. There are often extra tickets that are
donated by those who have the means to do so.
“No one will ever be turned away,” Austin said. “We don’t ‘gatekeep’ in such a way that will
exclude the community.”
In addition to the annual festival, Oakland Black Pride organizes events during other parts
of the year such as the Springboard Program, and the QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, and
Indigenous, People of Color) Monthly Social Circle.
Oakland Black Pride collaborates with organizations with similar missions. One is
GetSomeJoy, a creative wellness agency that focuses on mental health, grief therapy, and coping with sadness, which is incredibly useful for those navigating racism, homo/transphobia in their everyday lives or simply anyone who wants to get some joy in their lives. You can find
information about them on their website getsomejoy.com
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
Alameda County
DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland
Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.
Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.
Bay Area
State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference
California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.
By Carla Thomas
California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco.
The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.
“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.
ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.
“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.
More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.
Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.
“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.
“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.
“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.
By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”
Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”
Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.
“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”
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