[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 80 (Thursday, May 15, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING THE 18TH ANNUAL DC BLACK PRIDE CELEBRATION

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 15, 2008

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, Memorial Day Week, May 21-26, is the 18TH 
Annual DC Black Pride celebration in Washington, DC.
  DC Black Pride is an exciting six-day event complete with dynamic 
workshops, receptions, cultural arts activities, small and large 
nightclub events, that culminates in the world's oldest, most inclusive 
Black Pride Festival. Many consider DC's festival one of the world's 
preeminent Black Pride celebrations. The Festival consistently draws 
more than 30,000 people to the Nation's Capital. Attendees come from 
every major urban area in the United States as well as Canada, the 
Caribbean, South Africa, Great Britain, France, Germany, and the 
Netherlands. The Black Pride Festival features activities for the 
entire family, including performances by national recording artists, 
200 exhibition booths, book signings from noted writers, participation 
from national and local health organizations, and arts and crafts.
  Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Day, Inc. (BLGPD), the celebration's 
organizing body, chose the theme ``Official 18: Empowered and Poppin' 
'' to encourage the Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
(LGBT) communities to vote, to combat homophobia, to promote health and 
wellness, to strengthen their communities, and to inspire Black LGBT 
people everywhere to live their lives with pride.
  Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Day, Inc., a non-profit organization with 
a volunteer Board of Directors, coordinates this annual event. BLGPD's 
2008 Board of Directors consists of: Courtney R. Snowden, President; 
Ray T. Daniels, Jr., Vice President; Christopher Lane, Corresponding 
Secretary; Khalid Parker, Recording Secretary; Meagan Marcano, 
Treasurer; and the following Members at Large: Lisa Washington, 
Sterling A. Washington, and Shanika Whitehurst; and these Members 
Emeritus: Earl Fowlkes, James W. Hawkins, Eric E. Richardson, Clarence 
J. Fluker, and Cheryl Dunn, who lead BLGPD in its mission to build 
knowledge of and to create greater pride in the Black LGBT community's 
diversity, while raising funds to ameliorate and prevent health 
problems in this community, especially HIV/AIDS.
  I ask this House to join me in welcoming all attending the 18th 
Annual DC Black Pride celebration in Washington, DC, and I take this 
opportunity to remind the celebrants that United States citizens who 
reside in Washington, DC are taxed without full voting representation 
in Congress.

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