FROM A MEDIA RELEASE FROM MARYLAND BLACK FAMILY ALLIANCE
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African American Allies of Gay and lesbian Community Premiere Film: "Maryland Voices of Equality"
BALTIMORE, MD — Today, Maryland and the nation have the opportunity to see a film like no other yet created in the country, now that the Maryland Black Family Alliance ( MBFA ) is formally premiering the visionary new documentary project, "Maryland Voices of Equality" ( "MVE" ) . "MVE" is directed by noted filmmaker and African American lesbian activist Kalima Young, president of the award-winning Kubla Khan Productions.
Through the film, the MBFA will help build on the momentum towards fairness and justice created by the 2009 National Equality March, held this month in Washington, DC.
"GLBT rights are civil rights; there are no 'special rights' in America," said Julian Bond, Chairman of the national NAACP and honorary member of MBFA. "Everyone has rights — or should have — and I am happy to join the Maryland Black Family Alliance in this battle for justice and fairness."
MBFA is an alliance of straight African American leaders who are dedicated to educating the black community about the importance of fairness, justice, and equality for all families, including for gays and lesbians, and to advocating for the rights of the African American LGBT community.
"It is time for the country to understand that African Americans who are committed to equality and justice for all recognize the despair and harm inflicted upon our fellow Americans solely because they are gay and lesbian," said Elbridge James, Director of the MBFA. "Liberty and justice for all means just that — not for some but for all."
For the film project, seventeen MBFA leaders stand up for equality by telling their compelling personal stories and their history as supporters of justice, including state Delegates Jolene Ivey ( D-Prince George's ) , Craig Rice ( D-Montgomery ) , and Joseline Pena-Melnyk ( D-Prince George's; Carl O. Snowden, Director, Maryland Attorney General Office of Civil Rights; Rev. Larry L. Brumfield, Chair, Pride and Faith; Bonnita Spikes, anti-death penalty activist and mother of a transgendered son; and Fred Mason Jr., Director of the MD/DC/VA chapter of the AFL-CIO.
Together with the Phi Alpha National Social Work Honor Society at Coppin State University, the MBFA will host a premiere for "MVE" at the historically black university today at 7 PM. The premiere is cosponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, Equality Maryland Foundation, GLCCB, Marylanders of Color Collective, and Pride in Faith.
