The first DC Black Pride drew 800 people to Banneker Field, and centered around a theme of “Let’s All Come Together”. The effort they initiated to educate the community 30 years ago, has led to a movement that has impacted the lives of millions of Black LGBTQ+ individuals around the world. In 1991, Welmore Cook, Theodore Kirkland and Ernest Hopkins saw a need to rally the Washington, DC community around what was happening with the HIV/AIDS epidemic.