Oakland Black Pride Hosts Events Celebrating Black Queerness
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
