Ericka Hart to give inaugural University Pride Lecture

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ericka Hart, a Black queer femme activist, will give the inaugural University Pride Lecture to kick off the University at Buffalo’s 2022 Pride Week celebration.

Hart will speak at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 11 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall on UB’s North Campus. The talk is presented by UB’s Intercultural and Diversity Center and Office of Inclusive Excellence.

Hart’s lecture is free and open to the public, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Media who would like to attend should RSVP in advance by emailing Cory Nealon at cmnealon@buffalo.edu.

Hart (pronouns: she/they) is an activist, writer, highly acclaimed speaker, and award-winning sexuality educator with a Master of Education in human sexuality from Widener University.

Hart’s work broke ground when she went topless showing her double mastectomy scars in public in 2016. Hart’s voice is rooted in leading-edge thought around human sexual expression as inextricable to overall human health and its intersections with race, gender, chronic illness and disability. Both radical and relatable, she continues to push well beyond the threshold of sex-positivity.

Around the country, many pride parades and festivals take place beginning around June, including Buffalo Pride Week. But with many students and faculty away for the summer break after May, the April timing of UB’s Pride Week gives members of the university community a chance to celebrate together on campus.

“Pride Week provides us the opportunity to celebrate queer joy, educate the university community on ways to make our campus community inclusive for all LGBTQ+ people, and advocate for social justice within and beyond UB,” says A. C. Williams, program coordinator for the Intercultural and Diversity Center.

In addition to Hart’s lecture, UB’s Pride Week includes a variety of events for members of the university community, ranging from a march and mixer to a Queer Prom with the theme, “A Night in Enchancia.”

The Intercultural and Diversity Center organized Pride Week activities in collaboration with UB partners including the LGBTQ Faculty and Staff Association; UB Prism; the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance; and Office of Inclusive Excellence.