PrideIndex held its ninth annual Esteem Awards—which honors the contributions of African-Americans and members of the LGBTQ community in the arts, business, civil rights, entertainment and the media—at Boystown spot Sidetrack on July 4.
The Esteem Awards is among a number of events held during Chicago's annual Black Gay Pride holiday weekend. Approximately 60 people attended the awards ceremony.
Emcee Langstan Smith introduced and presented the awards following introductory remarks by Phil Esteem, editor and founder of PrideIndex.com and The Esteem Awards.
Recipients included: Outstanding Service ( Female )—Mona Noriega ( Chicago Human Rights Commission chairman and commissioner ); Future Leaders Award—Pastor Jamie Frazier ( The Lighthouse Church of Chicago founder and senior pastor ); and Outstanding Service ( Female )—Mandy Carter ( owner of Mandy Carter Consulting in Durham, North Carolina ). Co-founder and former Ruth Ellis Center board member Dr. Kofi Adoma accepted on Carter's behalf.
Some of the other honorees included Artistic Expression Based on Another Medium—Youth Empowerment Performance Project ( YEPP ) ( with Executive/Artistic Director Bonsai Bermudez accepting ); Outstanding Social Services/CBO—Care2Prevent at the University of Chicago Medicine ( Care2Prevent Prevention and Outreach Coordinator Evany Turk accepted the award ); Special Recognition Award—Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus; and Artistic Expression—Dykes Delicious Film Series presented by Chicago Filmmakers and Black Kat Productions ( with Sharon Zurek, curator, accepting ).
The event featured trailers from a number of Black Alphabet Film Festival entries, raffle drawings, and performances by YEPP and The Brian-Alwyn.
See www.prideindex.com/wpcms and www.theesteemawards.com for more information .
