Bookmans Flag received an invitation to attend the 28th Annual Capi Conference. Northern AZ Pride in partnership with LA Pride hosted the Annual General Meeting in Flag on March 19 through the 22. Pride organizations from all over the Southwest gathered at the High Country Conference Center to gain knowledge and inspiration from their peers. We couldn’t have been more excited about Capi 2015. Due to scheduling conflicts, we could only attend attend a couple of the workshops but, boy, were they rewarding.

Capi 2015

Our first stop was “A Family Feud” where having fun was the game and teamwork was the prize. In a twist on the musical chairs, players got their team to chairs by answering Golden Girls trivia and lip-syncing for their life in a gender swapped version of Grease. Win or lose, everyone enjoyed this hilarious team building workshop hosted by Miss 2015 Prickly Pear, Doug Nava of Santa Fe Pride.

Capi 2015

With only a short amount of time left in the day Bookmans decided on the “Exploring Privileged Identity” workshop as our final stop. Facilitated by NAU’s Risa Lynn Garelick, this workshop explored the concept of diversity and why it is important that we celebrate what makes each of us unique. We are all about celebrating diversity, but what made this workshop so eye opening was the Privilege Walk exercise and the conversation that followed. Through compassion and understanding, participants listened to each individual’s experience in an effort to empower one another. Being a melting pot is great and all, but wouldn’t you rather be a mosaic where each individual piece complements its neighbor and creates one beautiful work of art?

Capi 2015 also included workshops such as “Leveling with and Empowering Youth” and “Trans Community Support and Inclusion”. We are grateful to have experienced this conference and would like to thank Northern Arizona Pride and everyone involved with Capi 2015 for making us feel welcome as we crashed your party. Pride in the Pines takes place on June 27 this year at Thorpe Park. Check out the Pride in the Pines website for more details and learn about awesome volunteer opportunities.