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PERNESSA SEELE EXPLAINS AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH INAUGURAL BALL: Event's producer and 'Balm' founder promises extraordinary show.
Church leaders will put that theory to the test on the Sunday before the big day when they host The African American Church Inaugural Ball.
The event will celebrate the current President-Elect Barack Obama, as well as honor civil rights stalwarts that led the way to the historic election. This collective membership of black churches will also take the opportunity to support AIDS activism in the church.
Event Executive Producer Pernessa Seele is also the Founder/CEO of The Balm in Gilead, an international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization established to mobilize communities to address HIV and AIDS. She told EUR’s Lee Bailey that he upcoming African American Church Inaugural Ball will be an extraordinary affair.
“It’s a ball with a purpose,” she said. “The first purpose is to bring and allow the collective community of the African American Church to come together and join in the festivities and to congratulate the nation and to live it as a moment to express our gratitude for the moment; acknowledge our history and struggles and our future. We’re honoring 25 extraordinary leaders that evening.”
The African American Church Inaugural Ball, held at the Grand Hyatt in the nation’s capitol, will honor General Colin Powell, Dr. Dorothy Height, Rev. Al Sharpton, Dr. Johnetta B. Cole, Earl Graves, Sr., and Rev. Jesse Jackson, just to name a few. Celebrity performers include Jessye Norman, Regina Belle, Shari Addison, and more.
“The second purpose is, as we commemorate this historical moment in Black history and American history, we are also supporting an organization that is addressing HIV/AIDS through the African American church,” Seele continued. “So it’s two-fold: to celebrate this historical moment in Black America and also to mobilize the church to address the number one killer of black folks in America.”
Seele has high hopes that Obama will be in attendance as the Black Church has been an important part of political progress in the US.
“We hope that he will attend,” she said. “Of course, we put the invitation out, and we hope that he will be there. The African American Church has been the foundation for voter rights and civil rights in this country. It’s a time for us to honor all of those people whose shoulders the President-Elect stands on. We want to honor this moment because it is their leadership, their blood, sweat and tears that have brought us to this moment.”
Though the event will celebrate God’s House and the White House, it is a party and Seele promises will not be a stuffy affair.
“This will not be a dull affair,” she promised. “This will be an exciting evening full of joy, full of honor, full of laughter, full of excitement. This will be a fabulous evening.”
In the merriment, there is also a message. Seele and coordinators of the event hope that the ball will also serve to bring the subject of HIV/AIDS to the forefront of African American congregations.
“Certainly, the African American Church is not where it needs to be,” she said in reference to some resistance to dealing with the subject of AIDS at church, “but we could not have had a ball five or ten years ago. The leadership is coming together to say in this historical moment we have to also make a commitment to fight the number one killer in our community. We have come a long way. We have church congregations all over this country that are doing extraordinary work on HIV and AIDS.”
Seele said that the AIDS epidemic in Black America is now greater than that of the epidemic in Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Haiti.
“When you look at those numbers and what’s really happening in our community, we need every, every, every church talking about HIV prevention and doing something about care and supporting those that are living with HIV and AIDS,” she said.
“So I am honored and grateful that the leadership of our churches has chosen this moment to highlight their commitment in fighting for our future and stopping the spread of HIV and AIDS. We have got to make noise. We’ve got to communicate. That these leaders are putting HIV/AIDS on the agenda – that in itself is a hallelujah moment!”
Visit www.africanamericanchurchinauguralball.com to purchase tickets to the event and find out more about The Balm in Gilead, www.balmingilead.org.
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