PRIDE
IN THE CITY BLACKOUT ARTS SERIES CELEBRATE THE FIFTH ELEMENT –LOVE!
Annual Affair to Showcase Themed Creative Expressions Highlighting LGBT
Community of Color!
Director Maurice Jamal to Introduce New Film Festival Highlighting Black
Gay Films!
July 11, 2004 (Brooklyn, NY) – Back by popular demand, Pride in
the City, New York’s official Black, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender (LGBT) community celebration presents its 2nd Annual BlackOut
Arts Series. The event, which takes place at 4:30 PM, Friday, August
5, at the Brooklyn Marriott, 333 Adam Street, celebrates the outstanding
artistic contributions the Black LGBT community has made and continues
to make to the performing and creative arts communities. This year affair,
which includes a wealth of work by a variety of outstanding artists,
features a variety of inventive expressions that evokes the elements
of fire in design, water in art, earth in writing, air in film and the
power of love expressed thru spoken word.
This event, which includes a pre reception, comprises an art exhibit
featuring work from a variety of creative talent including word smiths
Conscious, Stephanie Adams, Frederick Smith, O’Brien Dennis, Frank
Leon Robert, and Marin K. White. Visual exhibits includes “Intimate”
by Bernard Morisset; “Pure Light” by Armisey Smith; “Love
Letter to My Exes” by Charly; “Approaching” by Odie
Rynell Cash; “Elevation” by Sean Stefan Tonio; and Phoenix
Rising” which celebrates the artistry of legendary ball icons
Derek Prada and Bernie Jourdan Karan.
Filmmaker Maurice Jamal, director of the runaway hit “Sky Trip”
returns to head up BlackOut Arts Series’ Maurice Jamal Presents:
New Black Gay Films. This visual display of ground breaking films includes
“Jumping The Broom” by Debra Wilson; “On The Low”
by Luther Mace; “Did I Just Look at Her?”, Couquie Hughes;
“Just Between Us” by Kenneth Jackson; and Jamal’s
latest release, “”Dirty Laundry”. The evening will
end with “OFF RHYME CENTER” a spoken word, open-mic segment.
Pride in the City is New York City’s premiere event celebrating
the Black, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.
The goal of the event is to present a festive affair that brings a unique
testing service directly to the community, instead of requiring people
to travel or visit a clinic or office. People of Color in Crisis, the
hosting community-based organization, is hoping that the increased accessibility
and ease of this program will help them reach their goal of testing
300 community members for HIV during this period. Testing will take
place in the park, on the beach and at the Brooklyn Marriott
People of Color in Crisis, Inc. (POCC), was founded in 1988 by a group
of Black gay men to provide support to each other in the face of the
AIDS crisis. Since that time, the agency has developed a range of HIV
prevention and care services. Throughout its history, POCC has continually
assessed the changing needs of the community and responded with culturally
and linguistically competent services. By providing a range of opportunities
to access information and support, POCC serves approximately 4,000 individuals
each year through programs and outreach interventions in Brooklyn, Manhattan
and the Bronx.
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