4th Annual PRIDE SERIES FILM FESTIVAL
Special Poetry and Spoken Word Event. Admission is FREE!!!!
WEDNESDAY 6/9
This event will take place at 6:00 pm prior to the free screening of PARIAH.
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Main Theatre
Featured Poets and Storytellers include:
For more than 20 years, Shamaill Ross has been a dedicated advocate and community leader committed to uplifting marginalized communities through service, visibility, and intentional action. As LGBTQ+ Chair of the NAACP Roanoke Branch, Ross works to bridge conversations around equity, inclusion, and justice while creating spaces where authenticity and advocacy can coexist.
Ross also serves as Governance Co Chair for the Council of Community Services, helping strengthen collaborative leadership and community impact across the region. Beyond advocacy, Ross is an entrepreneur, storyteller, and co host of the podcast Unmuted with Z & Ross Da Boss, a platform centered on honest dialogue, culture, healing, and unapologetic truth telling.
Grounded in purpose and fueled by passion, Ross continues to lead with intention, building community, amplifying unheard voices, and creating meaningful change both locally and beyond.
Angelina D. Jones is an inclusive creative advocate whose work spans poetry, spoken word, acting, and the creation of powerful written bodies of work. She is deeply committed to cultivating spaces that nurture healing through the communion of art and meaningful conversation. A twice-published author, Angelina’s self-published poetry collection Yellow stands as a testament to her vulnerability and strength. She remains an active force in the creative community, regularly hosting events that champion inclusivity and invite others to both create and experience art as a pathway to connection, growth, and collective healing.
Christopher Brown was born and raised in Roanoke, Virginia– a city he considers integral to his life and creativity. A voracious reader from early childhood, he first started writing at the age of seven and has devoted over two decades to advancing in and pursuing his chosen craft. Also an amateur painter and songwriter, Christopher can be found supporting the arts in regional creative venues.
Garland Gravely is the Founding Father of the House of Expression and the Founder of Roanoke Fashion Week. Garland studied Fashion Merchandising at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is President & Co-Founder of Fashionista Roanoke. He is an advocate, a community figure and mentor.
Toya Jones, - Verses Listening Lounge & Collaborative Center - "I highly recommended Pariah because it’s one of the few coming-of-age stories that centers a queer person. This movie is effortlessly realistic with no pretension or over-exaggeration. More now than ever, representation is so important. I don’t think it’s enough to simply have Black or queer characters. They have to be fleshed-out, real people, with real stories to tell that empower the communities they are representing."
This series is sponsored by:
