31st annual Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast
Leadership, Partnership, and Getting to Zero” Fenway Health & AIDS Action to Honor the Legacy of Bayard Rustin with 31st Annual Virtual Community Breakfast
Bayard Rustin
Please join Fenway Health and AIDS Action for the 31st annual Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast (BRCB) virtually on Saturday, April 10, 2021 starting at 9:30 a.m. The Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast maintains a tradition of commemorating and celebrating the life and work of Bayard Rustin, one of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. Rustin, an openly gay, Black leader embodied the principles of social justice and change that Fenway Health and AIDS Action are guided by.
“I began participating in the Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast because I wanted to be a part of something where I can make a difference in the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS,” said Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast Co-chair Nigel Griffith. “This event recognizes the people who work to better the lives of the less fortunate in our communities and to sustain the social justice work and legacy of Mr. Bayard Rustin. Bayard was a remarkable man who fought for equal rights, justice, job opportunities, dignity, and respect for all—at a time when not many others were fighting for the Black and LGBTQIA+ communities. Bayard Rustin’s legacy of love has left a lasting impression on myself and so many others.”
Created by AIDS Action Committee over 30 years ago, the Breakfast is an annual HIV/AIDS awareness event for LGBTQIA+ people from communities of color to inform, affirm, and empower community members in the continuing HIV/AIDS crisis. This event features music, art, and lively discussion to affect a positive attitude while fostering self-esteem. During the event, the BRCB committee will present the Bayard Rustin Award to Oriol Gutierrez for Courage, and the Belynda A. Dunn Award to Athena Vaughn for Activism and the keynote speaker address will be given by Darnell Williams, a community leader. The latter award is named in honor of Belynda Dunn, who was an activist and former AIDS Action staff member who contributed greatly to the fight against AIDS and related illnesses here in Boston.
The Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast is an inspiring event, drawing on the spirit of Bayard Rustin’s work in human rights, civil rights, and social activism. It is the longest-running event honoring Bayard Rustin’s legacy in the country. This year’s Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast is dedicated to longtime Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast committee member and colleague, Jack Casey, who passed away on December 1, 2020.
Please join Fenway Health and AIDS Action to celebrate the life and work of Bayard Rustin and to honor all of those in our communities who tirelessly continue in Rustin’s tradition of activism. Check out the Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast website to learn more and to register: https://bit.ly/brcb2021.
About Fenway Health & AIDS Action
Since 1971, Fenway Health has been working to make life healthier for the people in our neighborhoods, the LGBTQIA+ community, people living with HIV/AIDS and the broader population. AIDS Action Committee, a division of Fenway Health, works to make life healthier for the people in our neighborhoods, the LGBTQIA+ community, people living with HIV/AIDS, and the broader population.
