A collective celebration of queer pride and joyful resistance took over the historic National Press Club in Northwest D.C. on Saturday, as BE. A Gala for Black Equity, hosted by the Center for Black Equity (CBE), recognized the leadership and resilience shaping Black LGBTQ+ communities.
A double entendre event – with “BE.” standing for authenticity and Black equity – the inaugural gala served as a moment of invigoration for the sold-out room of allies and advocates representing faith, social justice, politics, entertainment, and more.
With guests donning high fashion in a theme of “The New Renaissance,” the vision reflected a room adamant on living boldly, fully and free of oppression.
“This gala is more than a fundraiser–it’s a celebration of our collective power…to shape culture, to demand justice and to uplift one another,” said Carmen Neely, chair of the CBE board of directors, in her opening remarks. “It is proof that when we come together, we create something unstoppable.”
Amid an ongoing federal government shutdown, and an onslaught of regressive legislation, the BE. Gala was an affirmation of power and nod to the storied strength of Black and queer culture.
The Center for Black Equity, organizers of DC Black Pride, partnered with Gilead Sciences and Gaye Magazine to deliver cuisine and live music with a taste of truth and joyful defiance, including powerful remarks from nationwide trailblazers honored in the name of driving equitable change.
Among the 200-plus attendees were: actors George Middlebrook and Eva Marcille, the latter a recipient of CBE’s Curtis L. Ether Ally Award, and advocacy organization leaders such as CBE President Kenya Hutton, Kierra Johnson, president of the National LGBTQ Task Force, and award namesake Alan Sharpe, founding artistic director of the D.C.-based African-American Collective Theater (ACT).
Additional honorees tapped for championing civil and LGBTQ rights included: performer and culture icon Big Freedia, who received the National Black Pride Image Award; MOBI (Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative), recipient of the Small Business Award; transgender activist and author Hope Giselle-Godsey, who received the Center for Black Equity Leadership Award; U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), who accepted the Eleanor Holmes Norton Civil Rights and Justice Award and delivered a candid read on “a morally bankrupt White House” and political climate.
“The government is shut down not because Congress lacks funds, but because the leadership lacks courage, they lack compassion, and they just don’t care,” said Crockett, later drawing on the Hezekiah Walker gospel song “I Need You to Survive” (2002). “That needs to be our theme so long as we are stuck with this regime…to survive our commonality and our humanity in one another. That is what it is going to take for us to actually win.”
With proceeds going towards building programs, strengthening advocacy and expanding opportunities for marginalized communities globally, the evening set the stage for a new chapter in the CBE mission – one that Hutton notes starts with universal acceptance of all that is due to Black and queer culture(s.)
“It really is our time to step up and really take ownership of our culture, of our influence, and remember that we have always been here,” the CEO told The Informer. “We’ve been influential to pop culture, community, social activism and everything. This is an opportunity for us to…recreate that and solidify our space.”
Gala Honorees, Leaders Talk A ‘Responsibility’ to Move the Needle Forward
Despite her transparency on the state of oppression in America, Crockett promised for victory that depends on truth, collective justice, and an ancestral tradition of responsibility.
The Texas politician called out the military-style ICE raids that stripped dozens of children and families from an apartment building in the South Shore of Chicago around 1 a.m. on Sept. 30, further pleading a reminder that “there are times where our fates are tied,” but DNA-built resistance offers a road map to put to use.
“Black excellence is not a hashtag–it’s policy, budgets, buses that run on time, clinics that stay open, classrooms with certified teachers and current textbooks with real history,” she continued. “It’s the everyday excellence of…the folks who don’t get a press conference but keep this country upright, who stare dead in the face of an inexplicable hatred every single day and choose to keep moving forward, to rise above and to choose joy over despair.”
As an Ally awardee, Marcille told The Informer where her responsibility lies as a self-proclaimed byproduct of the queer community.
“Allyship means…lending an opportunity for those that don’t have the voice, the space, the courage, [or] whatever it is to move the needle forward,” said the actress and entrepreneur. “It’s my job because I have the space, I have the voice, I have the platform, so I will.”
Beyond celebration, Hutton noted the inaugural event as a much needed charge for a fight that requires “a lot of good trouble,” referencing the coined phrase of the late Georgia Rep. John Lewis. In addition, the CEO urged communities to understand that “winning rights” for one group is a push to liberate them all.
In accepting her award named in honor of D.C.’s longtime delegate in Congress, Crockett moved the room with a vow upheld through generations of freedom fighting.
“We are going to make sure that the America [they] talk about is the America that we actually become,” the Texas congresswoman declared. “I want y’all to feel me when I say this: I am confident that we are going to win– we just have to stay in this fight.”