[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 6] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 8086] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]HONORING THE 20TH ANNUAL DC BLACK PRIDE CELEBRATION ______ HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON of the district of columbia in the house of representatives Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the 20th Annual DC Black Pride celebration, which will be held in Washington, DC on May 26-31. The DC Black Pride celebration is a multiple-day festival that features music, dance, fashion shows, films, poetry slams, church services, community town hall meetings, a health and wellness expo, and much more. The DC Black Pride celebration is widely considered to be one of the world's preeminent Black Pride celebrations, drawing more than 30,000 people to the nation's capital from across the United States as well as Canada, the Caribbean, South Africa, Great Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. At the very first Black Pride, the DC Black Pride celebration fostered the beginning of the International Federation of Black Prides and the ``Black Pride Movement,'' which now consist of forty Black Prides on three continents. The DC Black Pride celebration has deep roots in the DC community, dating back to 1975. It grew out of the Club House's annual Memorial Day weekend celebration, called the Children's Hour. After the Club House closed in 1990, local individuals and groups kept the tradition alive by organizing the first DC Black Pride celebration on May 25, 1991, at Banneker Field. The celebration has grown from a few hundred people who attended that first festival to the thousands expected for the 2010 celebration. Fittingly, the celebration's organizing body, Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Day, Inc., chose ``20 Years Later, The Legacy Lives!'' as the theme for this year's celebration. This theme reflects the 20 years of DC Black Pride of fulfilling the mission, which is to increase awareness of and pride in the diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender in the African American community, as well as support for organizations that focus on health disparities, education, youth and families. DC Black Pride is led by a volunteer Board of Directors, which coordinates this annual event and smaller events throughout the year. The 2010 Board consists of: Patricia Corbett; Jimma Elliott-Stevens; Earl Fowlkes, Jr.; and Jhahbriel Moore, Sr. I ask the House to join me in welcoming all who are attending the 20th Annual DC Black Pride celebration. ____________________