Oakland Black Pride launches 'Queer Expo'
OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland Black Pride is a relatively new organization in the East Bay; it only became an established non-profit in November 2020, during a peak of the pandemic.
From flags to clothing to all sorts of food, the Black Queer Expo is Oakland launched offered it all Saturday morning.
"That was our hope," said Olaywa Austin, executive director of Oakland Black Pride. "To have a little bit of everything represented here today."
Pride parties are taking over the Castro district in San Francisco. People in Oakland say there's pride on the other side of the Bay too, especially within the black community; it's something they say isn't talked about enough.
"Myself, I'm bi-sexual," said Memi Willis, a local food vendor. "It's hard to be who we are within the community."
She was one of about 50 vendors on site representing black or queer owned businesses, expecting to serve a registered 400 customers. The expo also offered on site HIV testing provided by East Bay Advanced Care. According to the Centers for Disease Control, black Americans made up about 42% of new HIV cases in 2018.
"There's no shame wanting to know your status," said Julian Delacruz, a medical associate administering the tests. "I think it's super important, in fact very responsible
The expo is part of the group's inaugural ‘Inside-Out’ celebration. It's a 4-day series of events ending with a party Sunday night. Their goal for the events is to show complete unity between the Black and Queer communities.
"When you look at what pride is today, it doesn't represent that," said Austin. "So we just uncovered the roots of pride and brought it back to the people as it started."