Carolinas Black Pride honors two
Youth, transgender performer receive MLK Day honors
by Will Billings . Contributing Writer . Q-Notes
CHARLOTTE — Scores crowded into the Afro-American Cultural Center (AACC) the Saturday after the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday to celebrate the visionary leader’s life and legacy, and to honor two members of the LGBT/Same-gender loving (SGL) African-American community.
Bishop-elect Tonyia Rawls of the Unity Fellowship Church waited in the wings and happily greeted those who came to participate in the Carolinas Black Pride Movement’s (CBPM) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Leadership Honors and Gala Reception.
In her opening invocation, Rawls stressed diversity, unity and strength. She praised her fellow LGBT/SGL brothers and sisters for all their organizing and work in the community. “There were people who said the Charlotte black gay community would never organize because we’d never come out of the closet. Seven years later, here we stand.”
