[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 78 (Thursday, May 22, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             DC BLACK PRIDE

                                  _____
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 22, 2014

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, once again, I am proud to join DC Black 
Pride, as I have since its beginnings on Banneker Field. This Memorial 
Day weekend, May 23th-25th, marks the 24th annual DC Black Pride 
celebration in Washington, D.C.
  DC Black Pride 2014 is a multi-day festival featuring: an opening 
reception; community town hall meetings; educational workshops; a 
poetry slam; a film festival; a church service; and performances by 
musicians, dancers, and other artists at the Cultural Arts/Health and 
Wellness Expo, the culminating event of DC Black Pride. DC Black Pride 
is widely considered to be one of the world's preeminent Black Pride 
celebrations, drawing more than 30,000 people to the nation's capital 
from across the United States as well as from Canada, the Caribbean, 
South Africa, Great Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
  As the very first Black Pride festival, DC Black Pride fostered the 
beginning of the Center for Black Equity (formerly known as the 
International Federation of Black Prides, Inc. and the ``Black Pride 
Movement,'' which now consists of 40 Black Prides on four continents.
  Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Day, Inc., the celebration's organizing 
body, chose ``I AM Pride'' as the theme for this year's celebration. 
This theme reflects the connectedness of the Black Lesbian, Gay, 
Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community and its commitment to 
fulfilling the mission of DC Black Pride, which is to increase 
awareness of and pride in the diversity of LGBT Blacks. Moreover, the 
theme expresses the resolve of the African-American LGBT community and 
its allies to come together to: fight for LGBT equality; celebrate its 
heritage and culture as members of both the Black and LGBT communities; 
and promote health and wellness for the community.
  DC Black Pride is a project of the Center for Black Equity and is 
coordinated by Earl D. Fowlkes, Jr. and Kenya Anthony Hutton with 
assistance from Andrea Woody-Macko, Robert ``Harold'' Dinkins and 
dozens of volunteers.
  I ask the House to join me in welcoming all attending the 24th annual 
DC Black Pride celebration in Washington, D.C., and I take this 
opportunity to remind the celebrants that United States citizens who 
reside in Washington, D.C. are taxed without full voting representation 
in Congress.

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