By Emily Sachs, African American Department
Each year in June, Baltimore and other cities across the U.S. host Gay Pride parades and festivals. These events celebrate LGBTQ+ lives and commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, a protest against police brutality that catalyzed the modern Gay Rights Movement.
This year the 50th anniversary of the first Pride march is different, with many large, in-person Pride events cancelled. The country is reeling under a historic pandemic that has disproportionately affected Black people and communities of color. The health crisis is also occurring amidst a backdrop of ongoing protests focused on ending the killing of Black people by police, confronting systemic racism, and dismantling white supremacy.
Pride month has brought increased public discussion around the intersection of the LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter movements. We see it acknowledged, at least aesthetically, by organizations who this year have opted to display Pride flags that include black and brown stripes, an acknowledgement of the unique inequities experienced by Black and Brown LGBTQ+ people. We see it on the cover of Time Magazine, where Baltimore photographer Devin Allen captured a scene from a recent march against police brutality organized by the Black transgender community in Baltimore. We see it in interviews with The Pride Center of Maryland (the host of Baltimore Pride) that discuss this year’s realignment of Baltimore Pride with Black Lives Matter.
With Baltimore Pride cancelled this year, Pratt Library staff will miss seeing you in the streets and talking to you in Druid Hill Park. Instead we invite you to check out our books and movies to learn more about the intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation, and other social identities.
In addition to our books, eBooks and Audio books, below you’ll find a few film titles from the Kanopy catalog, but we have many more. Write to us on Facebook or Twitter to share your own recommendations we’d love to hear from you.
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Watch film
Watch film
Watch film