Pride Rocks! returns to Dayton to raise awareness about suicide among LGBTQ+ people

By Basim Blunt,

Published May 10, 2023 at 10:47 PM EDT

Behind the Groove host Basim Blunt spoke with Adrian Miller, executive director of the National Conference for Community and Justice for Greater Dayton (NCCJ), about the upcoming Pride Rocks event hosted by the group. As Adrian explained, Pride Rocks is intended to raise awareness of increased suicide rates among LGBTQ+ people. Participants can join in painting rocks with suicide prevention messaging, while enjoying food from local food trucks and goods from vendors. Pride Rocks will also feature music from LGBTQ+ musicians, including Mariah J, who also joined the conversation. In the interview, Adrian and Mariah talk about what makes this event important now, including recent controversy in local school districts regarding protections for LGBTQ+ people. In addition, Mariah J gives a taste of the upcoming event by performing a song live on air.

Pride Rocks will take place on May 13, 2023 from 11:00am – 3:00am at the Levitt Pavilion in Dayton. The event is free and open to the public. More information about the event and about NCCJ is available on the NCCJ website.

Tags

Basim Blunt

Basim has worked in the media for over twenty years, as an A&R rep with Capitol Records and as a morning drive show producer. He is a filmmaker, media arts adjunct, and also a digital editing teacher in the Dayton Metro area. In 2012 he joined WYSO as a Community Voices Producer, and his work has earned him a “New Voices” Scholar award by (AIR) Association of Independents in Radio. Basim has produced the award-winning documentary Boogie Nights: A History of Funk Music in Dayton. He also served as Project Manager for ReInvention Stories, a multimedia docu-series produced by Oscar-winning filmmakers Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert. In 2020, Blunt received a PMJA (Public Media Journalists Association) award for his WYSO series Dayton Youth Radio, for which he is the founding producer and instructor. Basim spins an eclectic mix of funk, soul, and classic R&B every Thursday night from 8 p.m to 10 p.m., as host of the 91.3 FM music show Behind the Groove.

See stories by Basim Blunt

Peter Day

Peter Day began working in public radio in the summer of 2019, when he first interned at WYSO. He returned to the position the following summer, and served as the program director for Yale University’s student radio station for the 2020-21 school year. Now he works as an assistant to WYSO music director Juliet Fromholt and provides additional production assistance to senior producer Basim Blunt. Peter is a life-long Yellow Springs resident. In his free time, he likes to play music and walk in the woods.

See stories by Peter Day