DENVER – For the first time, Denver will have a Black Pride celebration.
The Center on Colfax, Youth Seen and the Juneteenth Music Festival are collaborating this year for a more inclusive pride celebration in Denver.
“It is all about unity and people of color knowing that we have a place here in this community, that we are a part of this community, that we are being seen and we are being celebrated,” said Tyrell Rae, a drag performer in Denver who goes by the stage name, Miss Zarah.
Black Pride will be a three-day event starting June 18 through 20. Planning is still in the works but organizers have a grand vision.
“Friday night we have a Black drag show; Saturday, a silent disco; and Sunday is a gospel drag Brunch,” Dr. Tara Jae, the executive director of Youth Seen, told Denver7.
Organizers created the event as an opportunity to celebrate LGBTQIA history and create a space to celebrate diversity within the community.
“It started off with Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman who threw the first brick at Stonewall and stood up and said, 'something has to change,'” Rae said.
They also hope it will open up a space for people to grieve and process the recent guilty verdict in the trial of the former Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd.
“The grief that is happening for a lot of folks... to be aware of that, to have these spaces which is what we are trying to create to not only grieve, but to connect with other folks who have an understanding of that,” Dr. Jae said.
To kick off the event, they are holding a Virtual Community Mashup Saturday. They want to hear specifically how the community feels Black Pride should be celebrated.
“We are looking to have an inclusive conversation on the intersections of identity because often times there is history in that not everyone felt welcomed,” Dr. Jae said.
You can join the virtual event or learn more by following this link on the Juneteenth website.
