Harlem Pride 2016
Launch Party
We kicked off our 7th annual month-long Harlem Pride celebration at Loft 142 with banging music, food, and drinks flowing all night long.
Celebration Day
Our Harlem Pride Celebration Day featured live entertainment, community tables and food vendors.
Circle of Life Celebration
Harlem-based LGBT Organizations came together to commemorate the lives and work of African descendant-LGBTQA/SGL youth, elders, and allies.
Closing Party
RMM Productions & Harlem Pride’s Official After Party was held at MIST Harlem. The “PRIDE in Harlem ONE LOVE Festival” highlighted and celebrated the achievements of SGL/LGBTQI people.
Indentifiyin(g) & Signifyin(g): Harlem’s Queer Arts Legacy
With its almost annual presentations of the Jewel Box Revue during the 1960s and 70s, the Apollo was one of many venues in Harlem to highlight Queer culture and contributions to the arts and entertainment. From the Harlem Renaissance to the Harlem Balls, historian John Reddick (Harlem Pride Vice President) explored the rich and influential legacy of Queer culture in Harlem – the venues, artists, and purveyors.
Trans* Appreciation Reception
We gathered at Loft 142 to cater to our Trans* community, because all-to-often they are left behind. The evening was filled with complimentary food and beverage, networking, and performances. Hosted by Yunus Coldman, Harlem Pride Board Member.
Pier Kids Screening
Harlem Pride 2016 was pleased to partner with Maysles Cinema for their LGBT Film Festival, June 16 -19, 2016. We had the privilege of screening two works by one of Harlem’s own documentary filmmakers, Elegance Bratton, followed by a Q & A and post-screening reception.
Family Day Event: Studio Museum in Harlem
We partnered with The Studeio Museum in Harlem to participate in The Black Joy Takeover, a collaborative project with Harlem Stage and Artistic Director Marc Bamuthi Joseph in commemoration of this year’s Juneteenth Celebration. The endeavor initiated a series of critical programs and events over the course of two days, each designed to engage quintessential Harlem spaces and their communities through sound, art and performance. The Studio Museum in Harlem hosted guided tours of Ebony G. Patterson’s site-specific installation, …when they grow up…, and Rashaad Newsome’s solo exhibition, THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO SE. The program then transitioned into a series of informal art-making workshops in its courtyard, aimed to highlight vogue as a “performance of identity, power, beauty and acceptance.” Through embracing bodily movement inspired by the essential expressions and gestures of New York City’s vogue scene, participants had the opportunity to reframe conversations around how blackness, chaos, and joy manifest.
Beauty Brunch
Three beauty moguls, Merrell Hollis (Celebrity Make-Up Artist), Chavis Aaron (Beauty/Fashion Producer), and Dwight Allen O’Neal (Beauty Dynast), combined forces to become the Beauty Brothers. The Beauty Brunch was created to provide an environment where other industry professionals and those who adore beauty can unite, socialize, network, experience cutting edge beauty/trends, and of course dine and indulge beauty. They also honored other beauty experts as “honorary” Beauty Brothers/Sisters for accomplishments within the beauty industry. Partnering with Harlem Pride and the AIDS Health Care Foundation under ABACT- Gay Men, the Beauty Brothers presented BRTA (Business Beauty’s Response to AIDS) to bring awareness and prevention around HIV/AIDS. Board Member David Bridgeforth also received an award for his work in the community.