Event Spotlight: N.Y.C. Black Pride

N.Y.C. Black Pride

We are excited to host NYC Black Pride's upcoming SONGS FOR MARSHA TOO: A MUSICAL CELEBRATION at HELEN MILLS Event Space & Theater on Tuesday, August 14th, 2018.

Read our exclusive Q&A with NYC Black Pride's director, Lee Soulja, below and mark your calendars so you can come show your support!

What is NYC Black Pride?

NYC Black Pride is a five day festival of multicultural events targeting LGBT people of color. These events are executed in collaboration with other community based organization such as Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and Gay Men of African Decent (GMAD).

What prompted the creation of Black Pride in NYC?

The rise of Black Pride in NYC and other major cities around the country began in the late 1990s. It served primarily as a way to give voice to and culturally celebrate Gay Pride. In NYC, Black Pride resonates deeper than any other city across the country because the overall movement of Prides and Stonewall originated here. It was LGBT people of color that were at the forefront of that movement. In particular Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Storme Delarverie were the key figures. That true history has literally been whitewashed and/or forgotten. So the need for Black Pride became increasingly more important. On June 28, 1997, the first Black Pride event took place in NYC. 

Who are you in the community? 

Under the direction of Lee Soulja, NYC Black Pride is no longer solely just a once a year celebratory event. It has over the last decade grown to become a voice of visibility and a source of support for the LGBT community of color all year round.

 Why is it so important?

Black Pride is so vitally important because we are the only ones acknowledging, celebrating and historically archiving the contributions of LGBT people of color. In order to breakdown stigma and end discrimination against the LGBT community, we have got to tell and document those stories of our major contributions to the world. 

 What are you most proud of accomplishing so far?

NYC Black Pride was not the first Black Pride in the country, BUT we are surely the ones leading the change of the movement for the next generation. We have changed the narrative that Prides are nothing more than a bunch of parties. I am proud to say that we are advocating for the needs of the community to the Local and State government.  

“NYC Black Pride was not the first Black Pride in the country, BUT we are surely the ones leading the change of the movement for the next generation.”

— Lee Soulja, Director of NYC Black Pride

 What are you hoping to accomplish next?

We are working toward opening a Center for Black Pride. This would be a cultural and educational center that would house and archive LGBT people of color history. It would also be a safe space for the youth to gather, learn and empower themselves.  

How can we get involved and/or show our support?

If you are interested in attending one of our events or supporting the organization, please contact us through our website: http://www.nycblackpride.com or on any of our social media pages!

Check back here after August 14th for pictures of their event - or follow us on Instagram or Facebook!

HELEN MILLS Event Series: July 25th Recap

On July 25th, we had the first event in a series of events at the HELEN MILLS Event Space and Theater. The morning talk explored the state of data privacy. It was a thought-provoking discussion with delicious pastries, intriguing speakers and presentations. Thank you to everyone who attended, co-producer, Contagious, sponsor Flamingo, and all the great speakers! Below is a quick recap (with pictures!) for anyone who wasn't able to attend or who'd like more information about the speakers, their projects, and additional resources to explore. Enjoy!

HELEN MILLS Theater decorated with logos in portholes.

Arwa Mahdawi of Contagious (pictured below), moderated the discussion and panel. Arwa is the North American Strategy Director for Contagious and led the quantitative and qualitative research projects on privacy that Contagious recently undertook in conjunction with Flamingo and Opinium. Find the full report here. Arwa can also be found tweeting at ArwaM.

Kyle McDonald is an artist who works with open code. He started off the event by discussing the numerous projects he's worked on includuing one that involved an eavesdropping with a lightbulb that livetweets conversations via Mechanical Turk transcription. More of Kyle's work and thoughts can be found here and here.

Adam Harvey (pictured below, center), is an artist who spoke about his work in developing counter-surveillance designs. His Privacy Gift Shop will be premiering in the fall as part of the NEW INC, a museum led incubator located next door to the New Museum. More about Adam's projects here.

Eliza Esquivel (photo below), VP Global Brand Strategy at Mondelēz International, gave an inspiring talk about Focus: Life Gear by Trident, a project that explores the intersection between fashion, technology, a distraction-free lifestyle, and of course...gum. More about Eliza here.

Dee de Lara, associate director of Flamingo, wrapped up the presentations with her talk about work the agency has done on qualitatively studying privacy, what kind of consumers privacy want, and how brands can deliver it. Flamingo's study on data privacy can be found in its entirety here. Learn more about the New York Flamingo team here.