[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 76 (Monday, May 18, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING THE 19TH ANNUAL DC BLACK PRIDE CELEBRATION

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 18, 2009

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, Memorial Day Weekend, May 17th-25th, is 
the 19th 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 ``Pure Love'' to encourage the Black 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community to recommit 
themselves to advocacy, continuing the work towards combating 
homophobia and heterosexism, promote health and wellness, strengthen 
their community, and inspire Black LGBT people everywhere to live their 
lives with pride and integrity.
  Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Day, Inc., a non-profit organization with 
a volunteer Board of Directors, coordinates this annual event. BLGPD's 
2009 Board of Directors consists of: Khalid Parker, President; 
Christopher Lane, Secretary; Maegan Marcano, Treasurer; and the 
following Members at Large: Jhahbriel Moore, Karim Shabazz, and Jimma 
Eliot-Stevens; and these Members Emeriti: Earl Fowlkes, James W. 
Hawkins, Eric E. Richardson, Clarence J. Fluker, Courtney Snowden, 
Sterling Washington 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 the House to join me in welcoming all attending the 19th 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.

                          ____________________