Sonoma County BIPOC Nonprofit Claims Exclusion From June 'Pride' Festival

While June is African American Music Appreciation Month, the Santa Rosa NAACP Branch claims exclusion from 'Pride' in the epicenter of eugenics with a 2% black population

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans.

In today’s political climate, the NAACP Santa Rosa-Sonoma County Branch fights for Latinos and transgenders encompassed under the umbrella of social justice for the black community. Because the NAACP is now primarily run by liberal Caucasians, and ‘BIPOC’ individuals willing to succumb to their political agendas, Sonoma County black residents ultimately have zero legitimate representation.

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As of July 1, 2024, the United States Census data indicated that Sonoma County is home to a whopping 2.2% of black residents.

On May 28, 2025, The NAACP Santa Rosa-Sonoma County Branch issued the following press release:

The NAACP Santa Rosa-Sonoma County Branch has made the decision not to participate in the 2025 Sonoma County Pride parade or festival.

This was not an easy decision. We understand the deep significance Pride holds for many in the LGBTQIA+ community—especially for Black queer and trans people who have long been at the forefront of this movement, often without recognition or protection. Our Branch has spent the past year in dialogue with community members and local organizational partners regarding accessibility, safety, and representation at Sonoma County Pride. We have listened deeply, reflected carefully, and assessed how our participation aligns—or does not—with our values and obligations to community care.

What we know is this: the current structure of Sonoma County Pride does not reflect a shared commitment to equity and inclusion. We have observed a repeated lack of prioritization of historically excluded voices—particularly those of Black and Brown LGBTQIA+ community members and organizations. Our Branch has not been invited to participate in Sonoma County Pride in past years. The limited presence we have had has only come after community partners advocated for our inclusion. That dynamic, in and of itself, reveals a troubling disconnect between the event’s stated values and its practices.

Additionally, the prominent and celebrated presence of law enforcement at Pride continues to be a source of real harm and exclusion for many in our community, especially those who live at the intersection of racial, gender, and immigration-based oppression.

June is one of the most active and demanding months for our Branch, as it is for many organizations rooted in justice work. We must direct our limited capacity toward efforts that offer meaningful impact, build power, and reflect our principles. In a time of increased legislative violence, rising white supremacy, and intensified targeting of queer and trans youth, we are choosing to invest in work that directly supports the safety, healing, and freedom of our community.

Our decision is not made in isolation. We remain in deep relationship with local partners who share our concerns and values, and we are committed to continuing dialogue about what a more inclusive and accountable Pride could look like in the future.

We hold both the grief and the clarity that this decision brings. As always, we remain steadfast in our mission: to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all persons, and to eliminate race-based discrimination.

If you have questions about this decision, we welcome the opportunity for conversation.

In solidarity,
Santa Rosa-Sonoma County NAACP Branch Executive Committee

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Black Music Appreciation Month is an annual celebration of African-American music in the United States. It was initiated as Black Music Month by President Jimmy Carter, who, on June 7, 1979, decreed that June would be the month of Black music. After the announcement by Carter, the bill finally passed in 2000 when activist Dyana Williams' 10 years of effort persuaded Congress. Williams played an essential role in the creation and solidification of Black Music Month, along with Kenneth Gamble and Ed Wright.

Since the beginning of colonization, music and song formation has been a preservation technique for African culture. Slavery is a significant part of Black music's origin and historical evolution. While colonization tried to dilute and erase African culture, Africans maintained their stories of culture through the language of songs. Black Music Month recognizes their development into genres such as rap, jazz, soul music, funk, hip hop, and more.

After utilizing various Boolean searches and commands, I found no mention from recent years of African-American Appreciation Month by the Santa Rosa-Sonoma NAACP.

I searched the Santa Rosa-Sonoma NAACP Branch’s Facebook page for any mention of the term ‘music’. Oddly, nothing could be found.

Apparently, the NAACP is obsessed with gay rights, as their page was bombarded with posts advocating for black ‘Pride’.

I have repeatedly asked the City of Santa Rosa through the Community Advisory Board and other channels to honor African-American Music Appreciation month by adding it to the annual events calendar. There was no interest in doing so by Community Engagement Manager Ana Horta, nor the Board.

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As referenced from a 2021 article in The Press Democrat, Sonoma County became the dark center of America’s forced sterilization movement. More forced sterilization surgeries were conducted that any other facility in America.

Oddly, the NAACP continually advocates for 'reproductive rights’ in partnership with Planned Parenthood.

Per the Planned Parenthood website:

Planned Parenthood traces its roots back to a nurse named Margaret Sanger. Sanger grew up in an Irish family of 11 children in Corning, New York. Her mother, in fragile health from many pregnancies, including seven miscarriages, died at age 50 of tuberculosis. Her mother’s story — along with her work as a nurse on the Lower East Side of New York — inspired Sanger to travel to Europe and study birth control methods at a time when educating people about birth control was illegal in the United States.

Sanger believed in eugenics — an inherently racist and ableist ideology that labeled certain people unfit to have children. Eugenics is the theory that society can be improved through planned breeding for “desirable traits” like intelligence and industriousness. In the early 20th century, eugenic ideas were popular among highly educated, privileged, and mostly white Americans. Margaret Sanger pronounced her belief in and alignment with the eugenics movement many times in her writings, especially in the scientific journal Birth Control Review.

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The NAACP is co-owner of Hello Alice’s Black Business Center founded by Ms. Elizabeth Gore, spouse of Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore.

The Gores, a Caucasian couple, reside in the City of Healdsburg. The City is home to approximately 0% black residents. I truly hope that the Gores have not misappropriated funding to themselves that was intended for the black community.

Sonoma County’s Caucasian liberals have discovered that BIPOC individuals are outnumbering whites in the State of California. These individuals have utilized democratic political propaganda to influence reproduction rates. God designed man and woman to pro-create. By encouraging gender reassignment, homosexuality, and abortion, the BIPOC population will continue to decline.

If the NAACP President Kirstyne Lange actually cares about the Sonoma County black community, why does she fight for every group but them?

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