By Dawn Wolfe
DETROIT – Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and City Council person Alberta Tinsley-Talabi will be guests at the annual Karibu House Kwanzaa brunch Dec. 18. The event is a fundraiser for Karibu House, which is a proposed community center for LGBTs of color in the city of Detroit. The organization sponsors a kid's fair at the annual Hotter Than July gathering, and holds a monthly discussion series, called a "Co-gender Rap," on the first Wednesday of each month.
Kofi Adoma, President of the Karibu House board of directors, is pleased that both the Mayor and Tinsley-Talabi will be at the event.
"This is the first time Mayor Kilpatrick responded to our invitation to our brunch since he's been in office, so naturally I'm pleasantly surprised about it," she said. "Even if he stops by for a few moments it sends a message that our attempt to create a community center in Detroit is taken seriously."
As for Tinsley-Talabi, her appearance at the brunch is a natural outgrowth of her already strong support for Detroit's LGBT community, according to Adoma.
"She's consistently shown support for our LGBT community, and was the Grand Marshal for the first Black Gay/Lesbian Pride march during Hotter Than July," Adoma said. "I think her heart is in the right place, and by graciously accepting our invitation to the brunch, she is conveying how much she appreciates what Karibu House is doing to make the city more inclusive and more in line with the social justice principles that she espouses."
The brunch will be held from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Le CafŽthe restaurant, 2445 W. Grand Blvd. Tickets are $40 for adults and $30 for 12 and under. Brunch will served promptly at 10:45 a.m. The event will feature a Southern-style meal, a Kwanzaa presentation, and entertainment by local performing artists including Agape Ensemble. Organizers ask that guests wear African attire if possible. In addition to raising funds for Karibu House activities, brunch organizers are also soliciting donations of toiletries to be given to Simon House, a residential and social service agency serving women and children living with AIDS/HIV in Detroit.
Call 313-865-2170, ext. 3, for tickets or more information.
Errata: The Karibu House Kwanzaa brunch will take place on Saturday, Dec. 18 – not Sunday, Dec. 18, as reported in last week's issue. In addition, due to a typographical error, the Zami award won by one of Karibu House's new board members was misspelled as "Vami." BTL apologizes for these errors.
