Pride Center, Arts & Ideas Fest Hold Racial Justice Day Of Action

NEW HAVEN, CT —In its second annual Day of Action, the New Haven Pride Center is convening an all-day series of workshops and keynotes on issues of LGBTQ+ racial equity.

The day is curated by Black Lives Matter New Haven co-founder Ala Ochumare and Pride Center director Patrick Dunn. The New Haven Pride Center is one of the region’s only arts-focused LGBTQ+ resource centers that fosters meaningful change for the queer community.

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas is proud to partner with the Pride Center to present this all-day, all-virtual event, it was noted in a news release.

The theme of this year’s Day of Action is racial equity and its intersections with the LGBTQ+ community. Racial equity is non-negotiable in the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, according to Dunn.

“Racial Justice is an LGBTQ+ issue. Gender equity is an LGBTQ+ issue. The Center's Days of Action are meant to bring the LGBTQ+ community, and our allies, together to take a deep inward look at how we, as a community, are complicit in racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other +isms and +obias that plague society," Dunn said. "It is imperative to take a moment to understand how our movement towards equality is integrally tied to all other social justice movements. These days of programming bring us together to learn from each other, inspire each other, and grow as a community.”

Executive director Shelley Quiala said the Festival of Arts & Ideas is "honored to share this work and strengthen its relationship with the New Haven Pride Center."

“The Festival’s commitment to racial equity is core to our work – in programming, in organizational systems and in how we show up in community,” Quiala said. “Those who have been championing movements for decades have long understood the intersectionality of our work. We are fortunate to work with peer organizations who not only understand this as an idea but who embed it in their practice. The New Haven Pride Center is one of those incredible organizations and we couldn’t be more grateful for their partnership.”

As the day of action’s co-curator, Ochumare stressed the "importance of understanding that social justice and equity struggles are intertwined."

“All people are socialized into racism, not only through formal institutions, but culturally, emotionally, through our lived experiences, our families, and media,” Ochumare said. “Living in a queer body does not mean a person is immune from wielding oppression."

Ochumare added that in "order to full embody liberation and social justice we must deeply embody intersectionality."

"Black Latinx and Brown folx ARE LGBTQIA+ folx," Ochumare was quoted in a news release.

"Racism and anti-queerness were both written into the very constitution of this and every colonized country. The result of that is we are all living through a never-ending genocide. It’s time for everyone to do their part to end it."

She said the Day of Action is a "snapshot of what it means to not only do the work but to heal because of the work.”

The Day of Action will feature several panels and workshops, including:

• Combating Anti-Asian Sentiment in the Queer Community (10:30 a.m.)
• The Complexity of Black Sexuality and Identity (noon)
• Workshop: De-Stigmatizing the Body in the Racial Justice Movement (1:30 p.m.)
• Workshop: Holistic Anti-Racism for White Folks (3 p.m.)

The keynote conversation at 5 p.m. will be with acclaimed activist Blair Imani and moderated by New Haven’s own singer/songwriter/activist Salwa Abdussabur. The day will culminate in a spoken word performance by local artists.

For more information and full lineup of panels and workshops, visit the Day of Action’s website.

About the New Haven Pride Center

The purpose of New Haven Pride Center, formerly the New Haven Gay and Lesbian Community Center, is to provide educational, cultural and social enrichment for the LGBTQ+ community, its allies, and members, to make a positive contribution to the entire community of Greater New Haven.

The New Haven Pride Center dates back to 1993, when a group of activists advocated for domestic partnership recognition by the City of New Haven and the Board of Aldermen of New Haven. Similar to Hartford’s legislation, this would have allowed same-sex couples to symbolically register their relationships in a public forum as well as give them access to additional benefits. At the time the Board of Aldermen didn’t approve the legislation. Following this civil rights loss, New Haven Pride Center founder John D. Allen, Ed.D. conducted a needs assessment for the regional LGBTQ+ community as part of his graduate thesis at Southern Connecticut State University.

On May 27, 1996, the Center was officially incorporated, and on November 17, 1996 the Center opened its doors to the community.

Since its founding, the New Haven Pride Center has worked hard to create a safe space within the Greater New Haven community for support groups, LGBTQ+ programming, advocacy work, and activism. Over the past two-plus decades the Center has been a home to many community grounds and peer-led programs including our longest standing support group – the Rainbow Support Group for individuals with disabilities. This group was the first of its kind in the nation and has been used as a model across the country.

In June 2017 the Center announced its move from an all-volunteer run non-profit to a staffed institution with our first employee, Patrick Dunn who started on August 1, 2017. Since then the Center has grown tremendously adding numerous support groups and social programs, creating a rotating gallery space allowing for LGBTQ+ art installations, expanding existing programming including PRIDE New Haven, and elevating the conversation around city and state-level advocacy.

About the International Festival of Arts & Ideas

Imagine New Haven. Imagina un mundo sin fronteras. Imagine music. Imagine theater. Imagine a better world. Imagine yourself--at Festival 2021. Together, we’ll explore the world as it is and how it could be with events ranging from drag to drumming, bike tours to beekeeping, truffle-making to cocktail-tasting. With paddleboard yoga, hair art, fresh takes on Shakespeare, gospel, Grammy winners, and more. With 200+ events--95% of them free--Festival 2021 has something for everyone. Full lineup announced soon. Tickets on sale May 3. Join our mailing list to stay in the loop. Events will be primarily virtual with some in-person programming by reservation. Learn more at artidea.org.

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas is a year-round organization that culminates with an annual celebration of performing arts, lectures, and conversations each summer in New Haven, Connecticut. The Festival convenes leading artists, thought leaders, and innovators from around the world for dynamic public programs to engage, entertain, and inspire a diversity of communities. In 2021, than 95% of Festival programs will be free to the public, including events that feature some of the most influential musical, dance, and theater artists of our time.

The 2021 Festival will take place virtually and in open spaces in downtown New Haven, in the heart of the northeast corridor, two and a half hours south of Boston and 90 minutes north of New York City.

The Festival’s programs have an impact throughout the year and include additional performances, educational opportunities, and the annual Visionary Leadership Award. The Festival was established in 1996, by Anne Calabresi, Jean M. Handley, and Roslyn Meyer, who envisioned an annual celebration in New Haven—a city steeped in a rich array of cultural and educational traditions—distinguished from other arts festivals by its fusion of the arts with events centered on sharing ideas.

The Festival is presented with major support from Yale University, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Connecticut Office of the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts with additional support from The City of New Haven, the Avangrid Foundation in partnership with United Illuminating and Southern CT Gas, Connecticut Humanities, a non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and our generous community of individual supporters.