CHICAGO, IL, November 3, 2022 — E. Patrick Johnson, Dean of the School of Communication and Annenberg University Professor of Performance Studies and African American Studies at Northwestern University is to be recognized for distinguished service and leadership for the LGBTQ+ community with the Community Visibility Award at the 2022 Human Rights Campaign Chicago Dinner. As a pioneer in the formation and codification of Black sexuality studies as a field of study, he is a 2020 American Academy of Arts and Sciences inductee. Johnson's work exploring the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality has brought forward the unique ability to blur the lines between traditional modes of scholarly and artistic production.
Johnson is a prolific performer and scholar and an inspiring teacher whose research and artistry has greatly impacted African American studies, Performance studies, and Gender and Sexuality studies. Groundbreaking in his contributions to the integration of queer theory into the field of Black studies, he has authored several books, including Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity (2003); Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South—An Oral History (2008); Black. Queer. Southern. Women. —An Oral History (2018); Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women (2019), in addition to several edited and co-edited collections, essays, and plays.
This year's HRC Chicago Dinner will also spotlight local community engagement partners: Brave Space Alliance, Chicago Therapy Collective, From Our Hearts Chicago, Life is Work, and Pinta Pride Project (Buffalo Grove Pride).
Brave Space Alliance - is the first Black-led, Trans-led LGBTQ+ Center located on Chicago's south side, formed to produce, and deliver affirming and culturally competent services for the entire LGBTQ+ community of Chicago.
Chicago Therapy Collective (CTC) - promotes city-wide accountability and action to alleviate LGBTQIA health disparities and advance our collective health and wellbeing through education, therapy, advocacy, and the arts.
From Our Hearts Chicago - dedicated to providing food, warm items & personal hygiene supplies to the homeless community of Chicago.
Life Is Work - the first Black and Brown Trans-led social services and advocacy organization in the Midwest, Life Is Work has a mission to support and uplift trans people of color through direct services, activism and advocacy.
Pinta Pride (Buffalo Pride Club) — their mission is to highlight, celebrate and normalize the LGBTQIA+ community in the northwest suburbs
The 2022 HRC Chicago Dinner & Auction will take place November 12, 2022 at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park hotel. The evening will begin with a welcome reception and silent auction followed our main dinner program featuring HRC Interim President Joni Madison, singer and transgender activist Shea Diamond, comedian Dana Goldberg and other local and national speakers.
Tickets are on sale now at www.hrcchicago.org/gala .
About The Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.
