BOSTON, MA – The Annual Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast, now in its 33rd year, will return to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on April 8, 2023. The Breakfast is an event of Fenway Health – the state’s leading provider of prevention and wellness services for people living with and at-risk of HIV/AIDS – for LGBTQ+ people from communities of color to inform, affirm, and empower all in the continuing HIV/AIDS crisis.
The Breakfast theme for this year is: “The Many Faces and Races of HIV/AIDS: The Collective Strength of Survival.”
The door will open at 9:00 am and Breakfast will be served, and the official stage presentation will begin at 9:30 AM. Dress code is Semi Formal.
This will be a hybrid event. Tickets are available now for both virtual and in-person attendance on Eventbrite here.
Cecilia Chung, Senior Director of Strategic Projects/Director of Evaluation & Strategic Initiatives of Transgender Law Center, is this year’s Keynote Speaker and the recipient of the 2023 Bayard Rustin Award for Courage. Chung is a nationally recognized advocate for human rights, social justice, health equity, and LGBTQ+ equality. She works tirelessly to improve access to treatment for transgender people and people living with HIV, and to erase stigma and discrimination through education, policy, advocacy, and visibility.
During the event, the Belynda A. Dunn Award for Activism will be presented to Sheryl Lee Ralph, renowned actress of stage and screen and dedicated HIV activist. Ralph has become a staple in the entertainment industry, with an acclaimed career spanning over three decades. A passionate AIDS activist, she is the founding director of the DIVA (Divinely Inspired Victoriously Anointed) Foundation 501(C)3, which she created in memory of the many friends she had lost to HIV/AIDS.
A special Image Award will be presented to actor Colman Domingo who will play Bayard Rustin in Netflix’s upcoming self-titled film. The film will explore Rustin’s origins, his instrumental role in changing the course of the civil rights movement, and how he brought the HIV/AIDS crisis to the attention of the NAACP.
This annual celebration is named in honor of Bayard Rustin, an openly gay, African-American civil rights leader. Rustin was the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. In 2013, he received the presidential Medal of Honor presented to him posthumously by President Obama for his work of social justice and change.
The Breakfast is planned by a dedicated committee of volunteers, including Co-Chairs: Kimberly Wilson and Nigel Griffith, and Committee Members: Joty Allison, Harold du Four-Anderson, Robert Martin, and Philip Robinson.
For any questions, please contact the Committee directly at [email protected] or 617.270.3327.