Juneteenth Fire Island 2021
Photo courtesy of Jory Stiefel
The Black and Brown Equity Coalition (BaBEC) is enormously proud of the success of our inaugural Juneteenth Fire Island weekend. After the months of work that our organization has put into pulling off such a herculean effort, it is so rewarding to see the way it manifested within the community.
We first want to thank all of our BIPOC / transgender and nonbinary friends and family who joined us, many of whom came to Fire Island for the first time because we actively carved out and created a safer space for them to be in. This means the world to us and is only the beginning of the work that we are doing.
Photo courtesy of Eldalieee
We are thankful for all of the volunteers who kept things running like a well-oiled machine. We had fourteen events throughout the course of the weekend and would not have been able to make them happen without your help. We also want to thank all of the Cherry Grove community members who showed up, as well as the businesses and their staff who made this possible. Seeing the synergy in the community for what we are pursuing is beautiful. Hearing the impact that it made on people is validating. Knowing that many of our events connected with people on a deeply emotional level shows how many people have been longing for something like this, and also how hearts can be open to change. Lastly, we appreciate all of the organizations, on and off island, that stand in solidarity with the critical work of the Black and Brown Equity Coalition.
The work that we are doing requires amplifying BIPOC voices, but to make progress, we also need white accomplices. Accomplices are a level above allies. They are willing to go outside of their comfort zones, take bigger risks, and make greater sacrifices because that is what they’ve been asked to do by the people most impacted by racism, transphobia, xenophobia, colonialism, white supremacy culture, and hyper-capitalism. Thank you to our white accomplices!
Because of the money we raised, we were able to cover operational costs and commit to community redistribution. Our fundraising efforts were tremendously successful, and we are proud to announce that we will be donating $1000 to Gays Against Guns, $1000 to Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, and $1000 to the Northstar Fund.
Photo courtesy of Eldialeee
In an effort to provide transparency, BaBEC would also like to address why we launched our own Cherry Grove Progress Pride Parade and why we will not be marching in this weekend’s long-standing Cherry Grove Parade.
The Black and Brown Equity Coalition was formed one year ago with the commitment to pursue racial equity in Cherry Grove. We stand as a reminder to the community that Black Lives Matter (BLM) is greater than the moment last summer when everyone’s eyes were open to the disproportionate amounts of violence and death that Black people and transgender people experience at the hands of the police. It is a movement with an ongoing pursuit to right the wrongs of four hundred years of white supremacy culture and the continued systemic oppression of Black and Brown people.
On May 19, 2021, it was brought to the attention of BaBEC that The Arts Project of Cherry Grove (APCG) and the Cherry Grove Community Association, Inc. (CGCAI), extended an invitation to the Suffolk County Police to march in the Cherry Grove Pride Parade originally planned for June 19, 2021, Juneteenth.
Given the history of violence that has been inflicted upon the Black and LGBTQ+ communities by the police, we vehemently opposed this decision and requested that CGCAI and APCG rescind their invitation to the gay officers of the Suffolk County Police. To date, the invitation has not been rescinded.
This was very disconcerting to us for a number of reasons:
Because we were not consulted. Given the attention that the world has given to the discordant relationship between Black people, transgender people, and the police, it seems myopic for two Cherry Grove organizations to not consult with the first organization to ever advocate for racial equity in the community. Especially considering how they both have a relationship with us. CGCAI and APCG told us that they invited the police to march because people in the community were upset that Heritage of Pride announced that they would not be allowing the Gay Officers Action League (GOAL) to march in the NYC Pride Parade. They also said that not consulting us was not intentional, they just didn’t think about it. Also a problem.
The History of Pride. Pride began with Black and transgender women such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Pride began as resistance to the police. A member of APCG informed us that they marched in the early years of the resistance and somewhat sympathized with the aversion to the police because they got pushback for marching in drag. The difference is that they had the option of being able to take that drag off and be afforded all the privileges that being a cisgender white person brings. Black and brown people can’t take their skin off, nor do we want to. Simply existing as people of color has brought centuries of abuse and injustice, often at the hands of the police.
The present. Our problem is not with individual police officers. Your family members and friends who serve, LGBTQ+ or otherwise, can, of course, be good people. Our problem is with the system of policing. At our salon-style conversation that took place on Juneteenth, Jay W. Walker of Gays Against Guns and the Queer Liberation March explained how GOAL, since their inception in 1982, has never spoken publicly about the work they are doing to change the system of policing and the harm it inflicts upon communities of color until last year. Last year at the Queer Liberation March in NYC, the NYPD attacked protesters with pepper spray and batons and placed protesters under arrest. An attack on the LGBTQ+ community by cops that occurs 51 years after Pride began as a protest against cops attacking the LGBTQ+ community does not feel like progress. Not to mention that Black and brown people often do not feel safe in the presence of the police, myself included. You can literally just turn on the news to find out why. Feeling safe in the presence of the police is a privilege! Asking the most marginalized members of your community to come to a compromise when it comes to feeling safe is not acceptable. We’ve been compromising for centuries.
The precedent. In the 40’ish year history of the Cherry Grove Pride Parade, the police have never been invited to march. Read that last sentence again. In the first year that BaBEC was set to be marching, after we invited hundreds of people of color to the island to celebrate Black Liberation on the actual holiday of Juneteenth, CGCAI, and APCG decided to invite the police to march. Our organization has been having conversations with CGCAI for a year about unconscious bias in the community. This act felt conscious.
Our fundraiser. BaBEC launched a Juneteenth fundraiser to cover operational costs and to raise money for organizations that are in alignment with our mission. Those organizations include:
Gays Against Guns (GAG), an organization made up of members that support defunding the police, as well as some members who advocate for the abolition of the police.
Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, a collective that provides resources for Black trans femme artists to survive and thrive. Asking Black trans people to come and march with BaBEC in a parade that is showing solidarity with police is antithetical to what both of our organizations stand for.
Northstar Fund, a social justice fund that supports grassroots organizing led by communities of color. They provide community redistribution to communities that are most harmed by the police.
Progress Pride Flag flying over the Cherry Grove dock
BaBEC is organizing Unconscious Bias/Diversity & Inclusion trainers to come out to Cherry Grove at the end of this summer, and we’re inviting all community associations and businesses to attend. Moving these conversations forward requires professionals and the development of a shared language, just as we have helped foster with our salon-style conversations. Our hope is that we have a great community turnout.
With the upcoming CGCAI board seats opening up this season, we encourage more diverse candidates to run. We also encourage the community to ask pressing questions of prospective candidates, like what their plans are to promote racial equity in Cherry Grove.
Juneteenth Fire Island was a success. The raising of the Progress Pride flag, which in itself represents forward motion with more work to do, is a perfect symbol of where we are and what is to come. We invite you, the community, to show everyone what inclusivity really is and to join us on our mission to continue to promote the equality of the Cherry Grove experience and a sense of belonging among Black people and all people of color.
We will be opening up for membership soon. Please join our newsletter to stay updated at babeccherrygrove.org.
Please continue to support our grassroots fundraising efforts by donating on our website.
In solidarity,
Tomik Dash
Black and Brown Equity Coalition
President
