Middle-Pause Pump-Priming Prompt
Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Jackie “Moms” Mabley During Pride Month
Whose life would you lift up and celebrate?
June is Pride Month.
Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pride is a huge celebration. Harvey Milk is a local hero and led the huge, colorful parades from the Castro district down Market Street to City Hall at Civic Center. That is until he was murdered along with then-mayor George Moscone.
The Gay Pride Movement blossomed when patrons of Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Club resisted harassment, beatings, and arrest by police. At that time, cross-dressing was still on the books as a crime. The harassment of and violence against LGBTQIA+ people was even worse than it is today.
Many of those laws have since changed or been eradicated. Even though gay marriage is now legal, there’s still a ways to go. Violence and murder rage against transgender people of color in particular, but against this community more broadly as well.
So whether or not we participate in public events next weekend, let’s take a moment to remember those whose lives have been cut short by this virulent form of hate.
