POSTPONED: First Annual Zami Pride Beach Day @ Riis Beach

Dear Community, 

We are unfortunately writing to inform you that – following direct correspondence with various offices connected to Bay Area 1– Zami Pride has been postponed. 

Permits for special events have been made unavailable from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Despite this being the most utilized season for Jacob A. Riis Park, this is a decision made by The National Park Service at Jamaica Bay. As we are a non-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that aims to create safer spaces for our community members, which makes our hands tied. But as community organizers fighting for social equity, we know that building with our people where they are at- is critical. The urgency for preserving the historical and cultural self-determination of The People’s Beach grows with each day. On the horizon is a swell of misinformation constructed for the purpose of dividing and misleading the community. It is part of our work to keep our community correctly informed. The state of our shores is this: Our beach is shrinking due to poor infrastructure. Our beach is becoming targeted with covert policing methods, and private interests are prioritized for development in the local area over the needs of ALL people that frequent Riis Beach.

With that being said on Saturday, the ALP program team and coalition allies will be at Bay Area 1. The intention of this day will now be focused around consciousness-raising with our people on the ground about the current Riis Beach struggle. 

We will continue to be in coordination and strategize with organizations that are leading preservation movements around Riis Beach. We will continue to amplify information about Riis Beach as we get it - especially as those developments affect the safety and wellness of LGBTSTGNC communities of color. See everyone THIS SATURDAY, 12Noon for our outreach session and resources give out at Bay Area 1. And after you talk to us, don't forget to join the Miss Colombia Memorial Walk event at 3PM. We can't wait to see everyone!

In Solidarity,

The Staff of the Audre Lorde Project

Audre Lorde Project Presents: First Annual Zami Pride Beach Day @ Riis Beach! 

Audre Lorde said "Without community, there is no liberation!" 

While we enter another year and Pride season in this pandemic, we are taking elder Audre Lorde’s words to heart and safely bringing community together- in our radical legacy of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color, our wellness, and most importantly our JOY- at our first annual Zami Pride Beach Day at Riis Beach! 

 

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