S.C. Black Pride celebrates ‘Prime’ 10-year anniversary

From Wednesday, June 24 through Sunday, June 28, South Carolina Black Pride is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the theme “Prime time for SC Black Pride: 10 years of standing in our truth.”

“A lot of times everyone goes to Atlanta or Charlotte (for Pride) and passes us, and I always ask, why?” said Black Pride president Anthony Beckett. “I’ve challenged our board to start talking about what we’re doing more.”

This year’s welcome reception will kick off at Wet Willies in the Vista, where the award-winning film “Blackbird” by Patrik-Ian Polk will be screened. Torrey Laamar, who plays Todd Waterson in the film, will host a meet-and-greet and talk about his personal connection to the movie, about a young Christian man who has to come to terms with his sexuality.

“Polk did a great job of making it a very realistic approach to what actually goes on (for gays) in the conservative black southern religious community,” said Beckett. “Just about every one of us has come from somebody’s church. It is going to really hit home.”

The organization also partnered with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and SC Equality for an educational summit. The discussion will focus on health, religion, marriage equality, spelling out “LGBTQ” and the state of the black LGBT community in South Carolina.

“One thing I’ve noticed is how disjointed we are,” said Beckett. “There are just so many dynamics and so many subsections that exist, so I wanted to bring them together and have a serious conversation.”

An expo Saturday will feature a mini-film festival featuring: “The Aggressives,” a documentary about “butch lesbians;” “Whorizm,” a YouTube series tackling gay men’s issues regarding sexual identity, promiscuity and domestic violence; and “Paris is Burning,” a documentary about the “ballroom” gay culture.

This year will also feature a kids’ room with face-painting, magic and balloon animals. Palmetto Health is providing BMI measurements and diabetes educational sessions promoting proactive health care. Field Day activities are also planned to promote physical activity and expose the community to athletics they may not have experienced.

“Basically a variety of events that we’re so so excited about. We’re trying to fit everything in,” said Beckett.

On Sunday the festivities conclude at Sesquicentennial Park with a “praise in the park” at 11 a.m. and a free “CommUNITY” picnic starting around 2 p.m.

“In the past, we’ve always had a unity service, and we noticed that that wasn’t well attended and there wasn’t much of a strong interest in that. So we’re really trying to focus on having a more nondenominational approach to worship and connection and community. Our biggest thought process with that was, why not just focus on music, because music is universal.”

If you go: S.C. Black Pride events will be held June 24-28. For information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.southcarolinablackpride.com.

Dwaun Sellers

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 12:35 PM.