CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Black Pride 2022 is in full swing with events scheduled through the rest of this week.
What You Need To Know
Charlotte Black Pride has events planned until Sunday
This year, organizers say they used a new strategy to elevate different voices and interests
Members of Charlotte Black Pride's board say the week of events is more important than ever as LGBTQ+ rights are debated nationwide
Organizers said they strategically planned this year’s event in light of nationwide debates on transgender rights, abortion access and gun safety.
“This year’s events underwent a strategic planning process to amplify and highlight the voices and interests reflective of a resilient community. With the current political climate in an uproar over the necessity of basic human rights protection, such as abortion rights, impasse on gun safety and protections for transgender youths, Charlotte Black Pride’s goal is to celebrate and unite the voices of the LGBTQ+ community and all marginalized communities,” the group said in a press release earlier this month.
Transgender community liaison Rell Lowery said the group wants to emphasize its visibility here in Charlotte.
“We want to make sure that our community continues to be uplifted. We’re still in the middle of a pandemic. We still have so many issues. We still have transgender people that are being attacked. We still have laws and — just a lot of work that still needs to be done. So, our focus this year is to continue to uplift our community and make sure they know we’re here to represent for everyone,” Lowery said at one of events Monday night.
Lowery said with national debates raging, events like Charlotte Black Pride take on even more significance.
“It takes on a lot more seriousness, but it also lets us know that we have so much more work to do. Charlotte has made a lot of progress in the last couple of months, last couple of years. But, like you said, with the Supreme Court ruling, with the focus still being on trans hate, there’s still so much work to be done. And it doesn’t just affect our community, it affects all of us,” Lowery added.
Charlotte Black Pride week started with a pageant on Sunday and then continued with Monday’s Fit and Fabulous event.
Veronica Daughety, Charlotte Black Pride’s chaplain, hosted the fit and fabulous event and said she hoped to encourage others in the Black, LGBTQ+ community to become active like she did.
“I used to weigh 350 pounds. And so I woke up June of 2014, and decided that I wanted to live and not die. So, I just started going to the gym every day, walking on the treadmill, and the weight began to fall off,” Daughety recalled about her fitness journey.
This year, her focus on physical and mental wellness takes on new meaning as the LGBTQ+ community faces increasing legal challenges, including limits on transgender rights and a potential reversal o marriage equality.
“Definitely, I cannot reiterate how important it is that we love ourselves, with the climate that you stated. And that entails moving, and coming together as a unit and doing certain fitness things like yoga,” Daughety said about the importance of exercise and good health.
In her experience, the fitness and spiritual instructor said physical activity can help fight anxiety and depression.
“I have found that walking outside does wonders, just feeling the air on my face in the morning and just collectively working out with other people in the park, it’s amazing. When you are able to commune with nature, and the wind and the trees, it makes you feel like, ‘I can go another day,'” Daughety said with a smile.
Her event was just part of Charlotte Black Pride’s stated goal to strengthen the voices, and in this case bodies, of the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities.
“Come together as one, help your brother and your sister to move. Knowing that unity is the only way we can get through the pandemic, get through all the crisis that are going on in America. And so movement is everything,” Daughety said after the group completed a yoga session.
Events continue this week, including a meet and greet, brunch, expo, and many others. Lowery said all are welcome.
“We just want you guys to know that we’re welcoming everybody and this pride season we want to include everybody,” Lowery said. “Because you don’t fit under the Charlotte Black Pride, you don’t fall under one of those three letters, that doesn’t mean you’re not welcome. It’s welcome to everybody just the same as we do all pride season. We celebrate together, because it’s all for the betterment of our community in Charlotte.”
For more details and a complete schedule, click here.