Fire Island’s first Juneteenth celebration continued, thanks to the Black and Brown Equity Coalition (BaBEK), founded by Tomik Dash, with a Beach Solidarity March, on the Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines beaches, and the raising of the Progress Pride flag at the Cherry Grove dock on June 19.
Contingents started out from the western end of the Grove and eastern end of the Pines and met at the western end of the Pines. Marchers carried banners and flags reading “No Pride for Some of Us without Liberation for All of Us,” “Racism Is a Pandemic,” “White Silence = Black Death,” and “Protect Trans Lives” and, with the participation of Gays Against Guns (GAG), signs bearing the photos of black and brown people killed by police, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Daunte Wright. When the contingents connected, we took a knee for nine-and-a-half minutes, remembering the length of time then-police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck, killing him.
We marched back to the Grove dock, where Tomik spoke about the weekend, its purpose, and the Progress Pride flag created by Daniel Qasar. Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR)’s new Executive Director April Freely filled us in on the Native American history of Cherry Grove and the Long Island communities just across the Great South Bay. The new flag was hoisted onto one of the flag poles. And GAG members unfurled their banner.
Simultaneous JuneTEA tea dances, at the Ice Palace and the Blue Whale, were the late-afternoon fare.
photo captions & credit:
1. "No Pride for Some of Us without Liberation for All of Us" sign
2. Joe with Janaria Muhammad sign
3. Breonna Taylor sign
4. Kay & Sondra
5. memorial signs
6. "Racism Is a Pandemic" & "White Silence = Black Death" signs
7. Daunte Wright sign
8. Pines contingent
9, 10 & 11. taking a knee
12. George Floyd
13. "Protect Trans Lives" sign
14. Andi, Toni & Parker
15. BaBEC founder Tomik Dash
16. at the dock
17. FIAR's April Freely & BaBEC's Tomik Dash
18. Cherry Grove Homecoming Queen Davida
19. Progress Pride flag & American flag
20. Gays Against Guns
21. Sheila, Sue, Angela, Keith & Dawn at JuneTEA
22. diva at tea
photos by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
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