Schedule of Events

Thursday, May 26
6–9 p.m.		DC Black Pride Hospitality Suite Open Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, Franklin Park Room, Lobby Level
7–9 p.m.		DC Black Pride Town Hall Meeting Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel Admission: Free ’Til Death Do Us Part: A Discussion of Domestic Violence in the Black LGBT Community Moderator: June Crewshaw, Rainbow Response Coalition Panelist: Tonya J. Turner, Senior Staff Attorney, Break the Cycle; Hassan Naveed,Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV) and Metropolitan Police Department representative.
Friday, May 27
10 a.m. – 8 p.m.		DC Black Pride Hospitality Suite Open Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, Franklin Park Room, Lobby Level
7–10 p.m.		Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, Hamilton Ballroom Admission: Free 2011 Welmore Cook Community Service Awardees: Ronald R. Collins, Director, District of Columbia Office of Boards and Commissions »read bio« Khadijah Tribble, Director of Operations, UMC Center for Excellence »read bio« Hors D'oeuvres and cash bar
Saturday, May 28
10 a.m. – 10 p.m.		DC Black Pride Hospitality Suite Open Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, Franklin Park, Lobby Level
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.		Workshops Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, Hamilton Ballroom Admission: Free Click here to view workshop titles and locations.
Noon – 2 p.m.		Writer's Forum co-sponsored with Fire & Ink Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, Hamilton Ballroom Admission: Free “Why Do You Write/Read and How Do You Succeed?" Join a panel of poetry, theater, fiction and nonfiction writers as they discuss what motivates them to produce work, and how the books they read and the lives they live inform their writing in terms of subject matter, style, form, target audience and other literary choices. These authors will also tackle the complex question of what "success" means to them as individuals, artists and educators in today's literary and media marketplace and how they are striving to achieve that success. Hosted by Fire & Ink! Moderator: Lisa C. Moore »read bio« Panelists: Yolo Akili, Aaron Anson, Jade Foster, Bettina Judd, Michelle Sewell and Alan Sharpe »read bios«
1–4:30 p.m.		Film Festival co-produced by GLO TV The Sphinx Club Grand Ballroom Admission: $20 Movie Line Up "The Body of a Barbe" Written and Directed by Lena Waithe Comedy/Romance, 15 min., 2010 DJ "Shangela" Pierce (RuPaul's Drag Race) makes his screen debut in a touching and funny film that follows a lonely drag performer, unlucky in love, who has a one-night stand that doesn't exactly go as planned. "Finding Judy" Lindon Warren: Cast, Gary Riotto:  Director and Producer, Alicia Gargaro-Magna:  Producer Eduardo Magana:  Editor. 7:35, . What happens when an African American teen from Chicago looks inside himself and discovers he can sing and act just like the legendary Judy Garland? A sweet, engaging look at how one young man's quirky talent helped him disarm high school bullies, flummox telemarketers and propel himself from YouTube obscurity all the way to tinsel town. "The Slap" Written and directed by H.M. Cokely Comedy, 15 min., 2010 A hard-working single Black mother comes home after her romantic evening only to find her son having a "special evening" of his own. What is a mother to do, when faced with something she never thought she'd have to see? Starring Elise Neal (The Hughleys, All Of Us, Hustle and Flow) "My Mama Said Yo Mama's A Dyke" By Couquie Hughes Comedy/Mockumentary, 84 min., 2010 Chicago filmmaker Couquie Hughes is back again with another outrageous, in your face film. This time she presents a mockumentary about a group of tens who are fed up with their lesbian moms and decide to enlist them in a special camp that specializes in "de-lesbianism". "Marriage Equality: Byron Rushing and the Fight For Fairness" Documentary, 15 min. This documentary connects the Black Civil Rights Movement with the Lesbian and Gay Marriage Equality movement. MARRIAGE EQUALITY, a project of award-winning filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris, was commissioned by Tribeca Film Institute’s ‘All Access’ Program in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The film premiered as part of an international celebration of Nelson Mandela in the autumn of 2010. It interweaves archival footage and photos with contemporary interviews to illuminate events surrounding the pivotal Massachusetts state constitutional convention on Same Sex Marriage which gave new momentum to the national same Gay Marriage movement as a Civil Rights issue. At the center of our story is Massachusetts Representative Byron Rushing, a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement who took the campaign for Same Sex Marriage into African American communities, directly challenging many religious leaders, and defining the right to Same Sex Marriage as a Civil Rights issue on par with the liberation movements of the 1950s and 1960s. An unlikely Gay Rights hero in some respects, Rushing, a heterosexual man of strong faith, has spent a lifetime championing the causes of the underserved, overlooked and oppressed.
5:30–8 p.m.		Poetry Slam hosted by ButtaFlySoul The Sphinx Club Grand Ballroom Admission: $15 First Prize: $250 Second Prize: $100 Third Prize: $50 Those interested in participating MUST sign up in advance. Sign-ups can be done in the DC Black Pride Hospitality Suite by 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 28. Please note: All participates will be required to purchase a ticket to the event.
10 p.m. – 1 a.m.		Retro Dance Night co-sponsored with The Best of Washington featuring DJ Mandrill Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel Admission: $15
Sunday, May 29
10 a.m. – Noon		Church Service Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel Admission: Free
Monday, May 30
Noon – 6 p.m.		DC Black Pride & Us Helping Us, Inc. Health and Wellness Festival Fort Dupont Park Admission: Free