Approximately 80 people attended the second annual Ebby Awards at The Center on Saturday, June 12. The Ebbys honor the outstanding achievements of San Diego African American GLBTs and their allies.

“We feel it is really important, because just like our small and very dispersed community, sometimes people that have done things for our community aren’t recognized,” said Ken Riley, co-chair of Ebony Pride. “So it is important that we recognize those people who have done things that are of importance to us.”

This year’s awards were narrowed down to eight, giving presenters adequate time to highlight the achievements of each award recipient. “That’s part of the reason we cut it down, because it takes way too long and goes so far over,” Riley said. “So we decided to spruce it up, have some entertainment and give the awardees time to say a few words. … We know how awards can be. They can just go on and on, and after awhile you kind of start to tune out.”

Awards were given to Pat Washington, president of the San Diego chapter of the National Organization for Women; Marie S. Munoz, better known locally as “Mama Wheels”, a member of the Imperial Court; Emily Foster, one of the main organizers of the Dyke March and VaginaFest; Lorenzo Herman, prevention case manager for Project Rafiki, an HIV prevention program for African American men who have sex with men; Cassandra Stahl of the Imperial Court and Ebony Pride; Jeffrey Evans, “Mr. Gay Teen San Diego 2002” and “Mr. Black Teen Universe 2003”; and longtime activists Donna White and Rae Brown.

Attendees included representatives from the Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego, Comprehensive Health Center, The Center, Bienestar, BiPOL, VaginaFest, the Imperial Court and the NAACP.

Entertainment included drumming, dancing and singing, and dinner and dessert were provided.

A wide-screen television was raffled off to raise additional funds. All proceeds raised benefit Ebony Pride, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of African American GLBTs through education and outreach. Other events the organization has put on include a Martin Luther King celebration and a film festival at the WorldBeat Center.

“Unlike San Diego Pride, we feel that we need to be more than simply about putting on a festival,” Riley said. “I’m not putting that down in any way, that’s a great thing to do. It’s just that [at] Ebony Pride, we’ve decided we want to be so much more than that. We want to make sure that we… have other events throughout the year, including events where we really educate ourselves about health and social issues that are of importance to us, to make sure that we really encourage African American people in general and African American GLBT people to vote, for example – that we really focus in on the real concerns that we have and to make sure that our voices are definitely heard, which is often not there.”

Along with Riley, the 2004 Ebony Pride board of directors is comprised of Secretary Robert Carter, Treasurer Cheryl Robinson, Ronnie Green, Debbie Hunt and Lovel Waiters. Members of Ebony Pride include Sybil Jones, Janis Chavis, Rommie Wilford, Ronnie Miranda and Brian Tercynski.

The Ebony Pride festival takes place Saturday, Aug. 21, in Balboa Park. Visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the Ebony Pride website.