Racial Justice and Racial Equity for queer folk is a fundamental priority of the New Haven Pride Center. As part of this ongoing work, the Center is kicking off PRIDE New Haven 2020 with a day dedicated to racial justice work and racial equity through community conversations, workshops, elevating youth perspectives, and celebrating some of the incredible queer black and brown artists, activists, and creators of Connecticut.
We start the morning with two community conversations, followed by a series of free workshops throughout the afternoon and finally concluding the day with a youth-led conversation and a celebration of queer black artists.
Meet the Program Curator
ala ochumare (she/her)
Youth Program Officer
Questions? Contact her here
Thank You to Our Sponsors & Partners
Schedule of Events
Panel: Standing Up for Indigenous Queer Peoples
September 13 | 11:00a (EST)
Join us as we kick off PRIDE New Haven by taking a moment to recognize the colonized land that we call home. After we will sit down with Indigenous Queer activists to explore how we, as a community, can stand up and maintain space for all Queer Indigenous identities within the larger Queer community.
Discussion will include perspectives from Nolan Arkansas, McKenzie Denham, Jeffrey Fife, and Madeleine Freeman.
Panel: Racial Justice for BIPOC Queerfolk
September 13 | 12:00p (EST)
In June, during the Center’s Week of Action, we set out to address racism in the Queer community. Now we continue this commitment to conversations around racial justice and combating racism within our Queer family. How can we, the LGBTQ+ community, dismantle systems and cultures of racism within our own community?
Discussion will include perspectives from Kamora Herrington, Jesus Abraham Morales Sánchez, Roslyn Sotero, Bilal Tajildeen, and Karleigh Webb and will be moderated by Director of Case Management and Support Services Juancarlos Soto.
Taller: Compartiendo Historias de Gracia y Bienvinida
September 13 | 2:00p (EST)
En un mundo donde la equidad hace falta, la habilidad de brindar bienvenida y ser acogedores se convierte en virtud. Compartiendo historias compiladas por Proyecto Encuentros de Gracia y Bienvenida, de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo (United Church of Christ), el Rvdo. Edwin Pérez facilita el compartir de nuestras experiencias y la importancia de inclusión de nuestras identidades completas en nuestras comunidades, sean cuales sean. Tu sexualidad, identidad o expresión de género, tu religión, creencias e intereses son importantes. Si te unes al compartir, trae todo quien seas.
Este taller será dirigido por el Rev. Edwin Pérez, Jr.
Workshop: Decolonizing Our Nonprofits
September 13 | 2:00p (EST)
The nonprofit industrial complex is built on the philosophies of capitalism. These same philosophies often perpetuate racism and classism. Join us as we talk about how, as an industry, we must begin to break down many of the structures and systems and re-envision what the nonprofit sector can look like.
This workshop will be led by Adriane Jefferson, Director of Cultural Affairs for the Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism at the City of New Haven and Hope Chávez, Artistic Producer at Long Wharf Theatre.
Workshop: Anti-Bias Anti-Racism
September 13 | 3:30p (EST)
Anti-racism is a quest that directly leads to healing and co-creation. This workshop will explore a brief history of racism and anti-queer policies in America, and how the social construct of races AND gender has mutated into the world that we live in. Along with understanding how racism as well as anti-queerness plays such an integral role in our Queer community and why. Racism and anti-queerness has come to be so pervasive and insidious creeping into our every existence no matter your lived experience. Together we can and will begin to understand and thus undo the many ways we all have become cogs in the system of racism, hate and exclusion.
This workshop will be led by ala ochumare, Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter New Haven.
Workshop: Queer Youth Organizing
September 13 | 3:30p (EST)
This workshop will be led by Alyssa Marie Cajigas Rivera Ortiz, Youth Organizer at CityWide Youth Coalition.
Workshop: Building a Whole Community
September 13 | 5:00p (EST)
Description of this workshop was not submitted in advance of the week of action.
This workshop will be led by Kamora Herrington, Founder and Executive Director of Kamora’s Cultural Corner.
Workshop: Transformative Self-Care for Organizers
September 13 | 5:00p (EST)
Join for a session to discuss the unique needs of organizers and how to utilize self-care practices in times of continuous and ongoing harm rooted in systemic oppression. This session will dive into the practice of transformative self-care, how to identify the root causes of our stressors and pain, our responses to them, and how we can utilize practices that eliminate these responses instead of just bandaging them for short periods of time.
This workshop will be led by Ahmad Abojaradeh, Founder and Executive Director of Life in My Days.
Panel: How Does the Queer Community Reach Racial Equity?
September 13 | 6:30p (EST)
The Queer Community, like the broader community as a whole, has a lot of work to do to reach a place of racial justice and racial equity.
Join youth from the Black & Brown Summer Camp, a program created in partnership with CityWide Youth Coalition, as we continue exploring this idea of achieving racial justice and racial equity through the eyes of the youth fighting so hard for it.
Discussion will include perspectives from Jamila, Mellody, and Mia X. This talk will be moderated by the Center’s Youth Program Officer, Ala Ochumare.
Celebrating Queer Black Artists
September 13 | 8:00p (EST)
Join us as we close out our day of racial justice and combating anti-Blackness with a virtual celebration of queer Black artists from Connecticut. Evening will include performances by drag artists, musicians, spoken word artists, and more!
Program will be hosted by Robin Fierce, and will include performances by Bubblelicious, Ephraim Adamz, Kendra Dowsey, Anne Gogh, Kenya Mone Heart, Mychael Jay, Myles Jeh, Versatile Poetiq, Mz October May-Lay, Tiana Maxim Rose, Radio Stevie, Sev7en Taylor and Arien Wilkerson.
Meet the Speakers & Artists
Nolan Arkansas (they/them)
McKenzie Denham (she/her)
Jeffrey Fife (he/him)
Madeleine Freeman (she/they)
Kamora Herrington (she/her)
Jesus Abraham Morales Sánchez (he/him)
Roslyn Sotero (she/her/ella)
Bilal Tajildeen (he/him)
Karleigh Webb (she/her)
Rev. Edwin Pérez, Jr. (he/him/el)
Adriane Jefferson (she/her)
Hope Chávez (she/her/ella)
Alyssa Marie Cajigas Rivera Ortiz (she/her)
Ahmad Abojaradeh (they/them)
Jamila (she/her)
Mellody (she/they)
Mia X (she/her)
Robin Fierce (she/her)
Bubblicious (she/her)
Ephraim Adamz (he/they)
Kendra Dowsey (she/her)
Anne:Gogh (she/her)
Kenya Mone Heart (she/her)
Mychael Jay (he/him)
Myles Jeh (he/him)
Versatile Poetiq (she/her)
Mz October May-Lay (she/her)
Tiana Maxim (she/her)
Radio Stevie (he/him)
Sev7en Taylor (he/him)
