Melissa Harris-Perry

PFLAG National is launching a new broadcast called What Makes Pride, beginning June 1 and continuing each Tuesday in June. The new limited series is hosted by Melissa Harris-Perry, and episodes will premiere at 10:30 a.m. central every Tuesday in June on PFLAG National’s YouTube and Facebook channels, and at PFLAG.org/WhatMakesPride, with additional content on PFLAG National’s Instagram feed.

“In a year marked by social upheaval, growing white supremacist movements and a global pandemic, organizations led by and for people who are queer, transgender, Black, Indigenous, and people of color are creating transformational change in communities,” according to a press release announcing the series. “What Makes Pride focuses the lens on their stories, their work and the QTBIPOC leaders who embody Pride in 2021.

PFLAG National Executive Director Brian K. Bond said, “As the nation’s largest organization for families and allies of LGBTQ+ people, it’s our role to signal boost. What Makes Pride builds on this action, and elevates the ‘who’ behind transformational work.

“I’m excited that so many more people will learn about these incredible organizations and leaders,” Bond continued. “We’re grateful to host Melissa Harris-Perry, the production teams with the Anna Julia Cooper Center and Bellflower Media, Tomu DJ, and especially our wonderful agency, Wear Your Voice, for their work to bring these important conversations to light.”

Harris-Perry added, “I am looking forward to sharing the What Makes Pride series with a broad audience. These are conversations with critical voices, extraordinary artists, and effective organizers. I am so honored to have had the opportunity to host these episodes.”

EPISODE LIST

  • Episode 1, June 1: BIPOC Pride Organizations, featuring Earl Fowlkes, president of Center for Black Equity; Jay Walker, cofounder of Reclaim Pride Coalition, and Taylor Alxndr, executive director of Southern Fried Queer Pride.
  • Episode 2, June 8: Housing Justice, featuring Mariah Moore, co-director of House of Tulip, and Jesse Pratt-Lopez, founder and co-director of Trans Housing Coalition.
  • Episode 3, June 15: Incarceration, featuring Dominique Morgan, executive director of Black and Pink; Janetta Johnson, executive director of Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP).
  • Episode 4, June 22: Community, featuring Asanni Armon, founder and head doll of For the Gworls; Kerbie Joseph, coordinator of Safe Outside the System with the Audre Lorde Project.
  • Episode 5, June 29: Family, featuring: Aruna Rao, a PFLAG national board member and executive director of Desi Rainbow Parents and Allies; Gizella Czene, president of PFLAG en Español; Sung Tse, president of PFLAG SGV API, and Robert A. Marchman, Esq., secretary of the PFLAG National Board of Directors.

— Tammye Nash