(CHICAGO – May 19, 2009) Today, Windy City Black Pride™ and PrideIndex.com announced the 24 recipients of the 2009 Esteem Awards. The Esteem Awards honors local and national organizations and individuals for their continued efforts in supporting the African-American LGBT community in the areas of entertainment, media, civil rights, business and art.

The 2009 Esteem Award honorees will be recognized at a special ceremony on Wednesday, July 1st at Sidetrack Nightclub, 3349 North Halsted, from 6p – 10p in Chicago. The reception will be the official opening celebration for the Windy City Black Pride Weekend which takes place July 1-5, 2009 across various venues in Chicago.

“PrideIndex.com is pleased to partner with Windy City Black Pride in congratulating the extraordinary individuals and organizations that have been named to receive this year’s Esteem Award,” said Phillip Fleming of PrideIndex.com. “These organizations and individuals are outstanding examples of activism and service. They serve as role models and industry trailblazers for all,” he continued.

The 2009 Esteem Award recipients are:

Outstanding Newspaper Reporter:
Andrew Davis of the Windy City Times (Chicago)

Outstanding Newspaper:
The Washington Blade (Washington, DC)

Outstanding Magazine:
N'DIGO (Chicago)
Go Guide by Chicago Free Press (Chicago)

Institutional Award:
NAACP (Baltimore)
Lambda Legal (New York)

Outstanding Social Services Org/CBO:
South Side Health Association’s Luck Care Center (Chicago),
National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS - NBLCA (New York)

Outstanding Website or Blog:
Ray Cunningham for Raysbleujuice.blogspot.com (Los Angeles),
GBMNews.com (San Diego)

Podcast of the year:
Amy Matheny of Windy City Queercast (Chicago)
DJ Baker of Da Doo Dirty Show (New York)

Promoter of the year – Male:
Craig Loftis of Loftwerk Productions (Chicago)
Traxx Atlanta (Atlanta)

Promoter of the year – Female:
Performers or Writers for Women on Women – POWWOW (Chicago)
Traxx Girls (Atlanta)

Outstanding Service - Male:
Chris Brown of Chicago Department of Public Health (Chicago)
Writer/Producer Maurice Jamal (New York)

Outstanding Service - Female:
Alicia Ozier of Task Force Prevention & Community Services (Chicago)
Actress/ Comedienne Wanda Sykes (Los Angeles)

Outstanding Service - Transgender:
Gay City Health Project’s Gender Odyssey (Seattle)
For Ourselves Reworking Gender Expression – FORGE (Milwaukee, Chicago)

Special Recognition:
Chicago History Museum for “Out at CHM” (Chicago)
Until There’s A Cure (Redwood City, CA)

Artistic Expression:
Jerry Boles Photography (Atlanta)
Monica Haslip of Little Black Pearl Art & Design Center (Chicago)

Sponsors for the event are Sidetrack and Remy Cointreau. For more information about the 2009 annual Esteem Awards, contact Philip Esteem at 773-577-3260 or by email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

About Windy City Black Pride
For ten years, Windy City Black Pride™ (WCBP), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has progressively established and created programs to promote and celebrate pride in the African-American LGBT community. WCBP has worked to develop resources for LGBT people of African descent in other communities across the country and around the world. For more information, visit www.windycityblackpride.org.

About Pride Index.com
Established in 2005, www.prideIndex.com is an online news resource for African American LGBT and gay-friendly companies.