Pacific Northwest Black Pride’s “Haunted Nights Masquerade Ball” Set For Saturday, October 30th

There’s been a vague promise of a Pacific Northwest Black Pride event happening for several months but no firm information other than a date of Halloween weekend but finally some specific info emerged on Monday, October 18th on the PNW Black Pride Facebook page that a “Haunted Night’s Masquerade Ball” will happen on Saturday, October 30th at the Embassy Suites Hotel at 15920 West Valley Highway which is just east of Southcenter Mall out in Tukwila (though I guess technically, this is a Seattle address…) The event is produced by Pacific Northwest Black Pride & POCAAN.

From the poster, it looks like the event is FREE to attend with a costume party happening from 7pm to 9 pm followed by a Ball from 9 pm to Midnight. Commentators will be Pharoah Khaos and Amina 007 with DJ Papi.Wav.

There’s no information about there being any age limit for the event though in small print it is noted “no glitter or paint is allowed in this space”. For more information, you can “call or text Julian at 443-208-7132”. And, since we’re still in Covid times, you’ll need a mask and proof of a Covid Vaccine or a recent negative Covid test.

The costume categories:

Categories: Virgin Runway • Virgin Performance • OTA Runway – Wicked Witches • OTA Realness – Mischievous Trick or Treater • OTA Sex Siren – Playing Doctor • Mini Grandprize – OTA Face – Sinister Beauty • Grandprize – OTA Performance – Superhero R Us

More info about those categories is on the poster image.

Now, to address the elephant in the room…who should be going to this event? There was a big to do this summer over the “Taking B(L)ack Pride” event during Pride Weekend at the end of June when organizers of that event (who are not the same people planning the Pacific NW Black Pride event happening October 30th), made it clear it was an event for Black LGBTQ people and if white people wished to attend, they would have to pay a fee which subsequently caused quite a brouhaha (see story HERE!)

And, the answer is: it’s a Pacific Northwest BLACK Pride event. Unless the producers of this event release information stating this event is open to everyone, you should assume the event is for….Black people. For non-Black people: unless you’re specifically invited as a guest/date/spouse of a Black person, please don’t go! We’re posting information/news about this event for Black readers to have that information AND for non-Black readers to pass this information along to their Black friends. It’s not an open invite for EVERYone to show up at the Embassy Suites in Tukwila on Saturday, October 30th.

And, that’s a general rule of thumb for any event that seems to be an event produced by and for any community you’re not a member of. Most event producers either will state it specifically that an event is open to everyone and sometimes it’s not so specific but obvious (any kind of large public festival event like the Festal events at Seattle Center or any public street festival) that it’s open to everyone. But, if an event is under publicized or seems quite intimate or in a space that is not inherently public like a park or street, then it’s best for people not of that community to either ask if it’s ok that they attend or just assume they probably shouldn’t attend unless specifically invited as a guest.

It’s kinda like if someone in your building or down the street in someone’s backyard has a big party and you weren’t specifically invited and even though the party LOOKS and SOUNDS really fun, you don’t (or shouldn’t) just assume it’s ok to show up with a grin and a bag of store brand chips and a six pack of Rainier and expect to be welcomed with open arms.

Common sense…it’s our FRIEND!