On a sunny afternoon in Piedmont Park, Michael Roberts is line-dancing with friends on the sidewalk. He’s wearing a blue-and-white crop top with blue jean shorts while waving a fan that has the colors of the Pride flag. It’s over 90 degrees. But that doesn’t stop him from getting lost in the Afrobeats rhythms.
After all, it’s his first time attending a Pride celebration. He traveled from Macon to attend the Atlanta Black Pride festivities.
“It’s a time where we can indulge in our unique African-American experience while being queer,” the 21-year-old said. “I do think there’s a lot to be said about how a young Black man who is also gay navigates through this world. I feel like Black Pride is about expressing yourself and not caring about certain intersectionalities. It’s very difficult to do. It can be a very hard thing to balance your masculinity and femininity, and to be truthful, you don’t have to. It’s not your responsibility to balance that for others.”
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Roberts was among the thousands who gathered in the park for the 12th annual Pure Heat Community Festival ― one of the more popular events of Atlanta Black Pride. The festival, which took place Sunday afternoon and evening, featured over a dozen food vendors and just as many booths from local organizations designed to serve the LGBTQ population.
Pure Heat also featured an LGBTQ+ youth festival and several performances throughout the day, with artists like R&B singer Tamar Braxton and rapper Saucy Santana.
This year’s Atlanta Black Pride marks the first U.S. celebration of Global Black Pride. The latter organization started in 2020 and held its first event in Toronto in 2022. Melissa Scott, co-founder of Atlanta Black Pride, said partnering with Global Black Pride magnified events they’ve already established and helped offer the community more resources. Both organizations have hosted several events throughout the area since Tuesday.
“Atlanta Black Pride is safe space for people of color,” Scott said ahead of the Pure Heat Community Festival. “People of color have different needs. We have different financial needs, different educational needs, different health needs, and this is a situation now where we’re brining advocacy and we’re bringing outreach.”
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Some of those plans were briefly disrupted on Tuesday when the organization’s main event space at the Starling Hotel was vandalized. According to police, a drunken guest at the Midtown hotel completely trashed the conference hall and defecated on the organization’s flag. Scott said the situation reminded her of why Atlanta Black Pride exists.
“That was the very first day, but all that made me think was, ‘Oh, this is why we do this.’ Initially, my very first reaction was anger, then hurt, then wow this is why we do this. All we did was clean it up, add more stuff and made it bigger and better and kept it moving.”
John Kennebrew felt the same way. Kennebrew is the CEO of the Atlanta-based mental health firm Success Brand Counseling, one of the vendors at Sunday’s Pure Heat Community Festival. He said someone busted the windows of his car and others’ while attending an Atlanta Black Pride welcoming event earlier this week.
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
But he said he wasn’t going to let that stop him helping the community on Sunday. It’s the first time that his organization has partnered with Atlanta Black Pride.
“Those are the things that make you resilient. It’s building resiliency for myself and we as our audience...people were saying it’s been hard to find another melanated clinician or a clinician that works with LGBTQ folks, so they feel judged by the clinicians who are in their network, so we’re one big hub of Black clinicians to serve every population.”
Randy Turner, another attendee of Sunday’s Pure Heat Community Festival, said she liked how organized and community-driven the event is. For her, Black Pride is about more than just a party.
“I think it’s necessary and brings the Black community together because not all of us want bottles and tables,” the 43-year-old said. “Sometimes, we just want to hang in a park with like-minded people.”
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
For Atlanta resident Elle Jaye, the Pure Heat Community Festival represents a time where Black queer people can simply be themselves.
“I think the great thing about Black Pride is that you come out here and you have so many people that you identify with and you don’t feel judged out here. It feels like we can happily and openly be who we are. It’s getting bigger and it’s getting to a place to where it’s showing that there is equality, and it’s more accepting among African-Americans.”
Atlanta Black Pride concludes tomorrow with several events that include a booze cruise at Lake Lanier and a day party at Truth Midtown. For more details visit: https://globalblackpride.org/eventsarchived/
