March 7th, 2022

Fenway Health Honors the Legacy of Civil Rights Leader Bayard Rustin

with 32nd Annual Community Breakfast

Please join Fenway Health and the Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast Committee for this historic 32nd annual Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast (BRCB). The Breakfast will take place at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, MA on Saturday, April 2, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. The BRCB maintains a tradition of commemorating and celebrating the life and work of Bayard Rustin, one of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. Mr. Rustin, an openly gay, Black leader embodied the principles of social justice and change that Fenway Health is guided by. The theme of this year’s BRCB is “The Quest Continues to Eradicate HIV/AIDS.”

This year marks a renewed commitment by the BRCB to advance its partnership with local churches and Gilead to promote HIV/AIDS programming within our communities. This new Faith-Based Religious Outreach initiative will share resources and information about HIV/AIDS, health and self-care strategies, stigma reduction, and will work collectively to get to zero new infections.

“The Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast Committee is making great strides in collaboration with some local faith-based ministries and organizations,” said Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast Co-chair Nigel Griffith. “With its bold new initiative and commitment on our part to continue the quest for an HIV/AIDS cure, and the legacy of Belynda A. Dunn in which she created and established the ‘Who Touched Me Ministry’ in the late 1990s. Belynda braved the elements of stigma to bring knowledge and a better understanding of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention to the religious leaders and faith-based organizations in our local communities.”

The BRCB is the longest running event in the country bearing Bayard Rustin’s name. This inspiring event was founded in 1990 by members of the community and created by AIDS Action, which is now a division of Fenway Health. This is an annual HIV/AIDS awareness event for LGBTQIA+ people from communities of color to inform, affirm and, empower us all in the continuing response to HIV/AIDS. Belynda Dunn was an activist and former AIDS Action staff member who contributed greatly to the fight against HIV/AIDS and related illnesses here in Boston.

The Breakfast features music, art, and a keynote address to educate, sustain hope, mobilize and energize the community in the fight against HIV/AIDS. During the event, the BRCB Committee will present the Bayard Rustin Award to Spencer Collins IV for Courage, and the Belynda A. Dunn Award to Healing Our Community Collaborative, Inc. (HOCC) for Activism.

This year’s Keynote Speaker will be Sen. Craig Hickman of the Maine Senate. Sen. Hickman is the first Black lawmaker to serve in both chambers of the Maine legislature. Prior to being elected to office, Sen, Hickman was an AIDS Educator at Fenway Health from 1993–1994 and a participant in the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention’s first Gay Men of Color Summit.

Join Fenway Health and the BRCB Committee in celebrating Bayard Rustin and to honor all of those in our communities who tirelessly continue in Rustin’s tradition to advance human rights, civil rights, and social justice. Check out the Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast website to learn more and to register: https://bit.ly/brcb2022. Please note: This will be a hybrid event. The in-person portion at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has a capacity of 200 tickets. We will stream an online presentation for those who are unable to attend in person.

This year’s Breakfast is dedicated to the unsung heroes in our local communities who continue to work towards getting to zero infections.

About Fenway Health

Founded in 1971, Fenway Health advocates for and delivers innovative, equitable, accessible health care, supportive services, and transformative research and education. We center LGBTQIA+ people, BIPOC individuals, and other underserved communities to enable our local, national, and global neighbors to flourish. More at www.fenwayhealth.org.