WASHINGTON PARK — South Side residents kept Pride celebrations going this weekend during the Pride South Side Festival, spotlighting Black queer performers and bringing music, food, resources, local small businesses and more to local LGBTQ+ community members and allies. 

Part of the larger 2023 Chicago Black Pride Weekend, Pride South Side is intentionally scheduled after Pride Month. This year’s celebration was Saturday at the DuSable Black History and Museum and Education Center, 740 E. 56th Place.

Neighbors danced to performances from local queer artists including BellaTheeStallion, Yng Romance, Jade The Ivy and others. Ameer the Dj, DJ Mealhouse and DJ Dapper, who acted as MC for part of the event, also performed sets.

DJ Dapper highlighted the importance of queer events on the South Side and bringing together the large number of Black and Brown LGBTQ+ people living there. 

“There’s more queer people on the South Side than anywhere else in the city,” he said, prompting cheers from the crowd.

Local leaders including Mayor Brandon Johnson and Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton also attended.

The event featured an exhibit on the history of Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley, who’s home in nearby Woodlawn was designated a Chicago landmark in 2021. There were photos and interactive audio and video displays.

There was also a bounce house, mechanical bull, food truck and vendor fair with several local Black-owned businesses selling clothes, jewelry, housewares, skincare, beauty items, art work and more.

Several community organizations also were on hand offering information on health care and social services, including Sisters Working It Out, a local breast cancer awareness organization.

Sisters Working It Out founder Beulah Brent wanted to be at Pride South Side because the LGBTQ+ community was one she felt the organization hadn’t fully reached yet, she said.

“We basically really needed to make sure that we included everyone into what it is that we were doing,” Brent said.

‘Here, You Feel Welcome.’

Rashaud Bell, the 2023 Pride South Side Organizing Fellow, said the event was a wonderful experience for him.

Events catering to Black and Brown queer people are important, especially on the heels of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow businesses to refuse service to LGBTQ+ people, Bell said. 

“I’m also in awe at the same time, because our community is under attack right now from all ends, and the fact that you could come out and celebrate together and live in our truth and be proud of who we are and live out loud is a necessity at this point,” Bell said.

Siejae Taylor, who attended Pride South Side last year, returned for this year’s event.

“I’m Black, I’m a lesbian, and it’s a perfect event to celebrate Black queerness, period,” Taylor said.

Stephanie Gold came to the festival from nearby Chatham with her wife of seven years, Stenovia. Gold said the couple regularly attend queer-themed events, but this was their first time attending Pride South Side.

“Here, you feel welcome. Sometimes we didn’t feel welcome on the North Side so coming here with other people that look like us — they have products that they’re talking about and selling that are for us. Some of their lectures and stuff is geared towards people of color. So that’s why we came,” Gold said.