Collections by Michelle Brown

Carter Brown is the founder and director of Black Trans Men Inc. and the BTAC – The Black Trans Advocacy Coalition.

On April 2nd he testified before the 116th Congressional House Judiciary Committee advocating for the Equality Act.

Despite significant steps forward, LGBTQ people lack basic legal protections in all 50 states across the country. If approved by Congress, the Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections for members of the LGBTQ community.

Carter was living the American dream. He not only excelled in his career but bought a home and settled down with his wife and newborn daughter in Texas. All of that changed in an instant when Carter was outed by his colleagues as transgender. What followed was months of discrimination and harassment by his peers, managerial staff and even human resources. Brown was ultimately fired simply because of who he is.

Along with several other individuals from the LGBTQ community, He told his story at the hearings explaining how not only his life but the lives of LGBTQ Americans in 30 states are affected by discrimination because they lack protection from discrimination simply because of who they love.

Ironically these hearings opened on the same day that three lesbians were elected Mayor of their respective cities, including Lori Lightfoot the first African American woman and openly lesbian mayor of Chicago and a ban on Transgender persons serving in the military goes is enacted affecting the lives of Trans men. women and their famiies.

While advocating for the Equality Act, Carter and BTAC are in the midst of planning for the 8th Annual BTAC Conference taking place in Dallas, Texas April 23 – 28th. The theme of this 8th annual conference is Level Up: Elevate the Revolution. This year's conference is on track to be attended by the greatest number of participants to date.

Activist, advocate, leading salesperson, councilwoman, she's been called many things in her lifetime but "Your Honor" is something Beth Bashert is still getting used to.

In 1993 she and her wife Lisa were the first lesbian couple to have an engagement announcement in The Ann Arbor News. At the ceremony later that year, they legally took the name Bashert (meaning “destined, meant to be”) a new family name for both. When the window opened up five years ago for same-gender loving couples in Michigan to be legally married the Basherts joined the 300 couples who took advantage of that window.

Already a member of Ypsilanti’s City Council, in 2018 Bashert ran for and won the mayoral race with 63 percent of the vote. She ran on a platform that advocated for changing the city’s budget, bringing back services and increasing development.

She is the recipient of many awards including Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign, Living Pride Award from Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project, Political Action Award from PFLAG and the Gay & Lesbian Pride Award.

Being both the Mayor of a small city and a leading salesperson at a local family owned car dealership is hectic and exciting nut Beth Bashert manages to do both working and talking with people about their needs at both. It turns out serving people does not change much even in different environments.

She has focused on serving people long before taking on either of these roles. 

In 1999, she was selected as the founding President of Michigan Equality an organization designed to identify, educate and mobilize voters to help further equality for LGBT people in Michigan. She was the first Director of Fund Development for the Ruth Ellis Center serving LGBTQ youth including many who were homeless.

Each year the National Friendship Movement hosts a Friendship Reunion at a different city, This year the 38Th Friendship Reunion will be held in Detroit, MI April 19-21st.

Joining Collections by Michelle Bown on Thursday, April 4th is Jamila Kafi Sudduth, Secretary of The National Friendship Movement and member of the Detroit Friendship Network.

The Friendship Movement started at a cocktail party on Easter Sunday, in 1981. From this party, the National Friendship Movement developed focusing on friendship, social responsibility, and committed individuals.

In recent years, The National Friendship Movement has expanded its influence by selecting and supporting a local LGBT-friendly organization in the city where the reunion is being held. It also holds workshops on topics of interest.

Jamila grew up in the movement. One of her two mothers was president of the Detroit chapter. After attending a reunion, she decided to become actively involved with the organization. and now holds executive positions locally and nationally in the National Friendship Movement.

"Doin the D" this year' reunion will take place at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Downtown Detroit. Besides workshops and programs for attendees, the Reunion will have evening events open to the public. Tickets for these events can be purchased separately and include on Friday night "Nuttin Butta House Partay," Saturday night " POSE with the House of Friendship" and the closing night gala Sunday featuring the legendary songstress Melba Moore.

Underneath her quiet demeanor, Jamila has a thunderous passion for the Arts, Culture, and Design. She and the NFM family are looking forward to sharing a love of Detroit with members of The National Friendship Movement.

Adrienne Maree Brown's writing style has been said to belong to the Afro-Futurism genre. In 2010, she published the Octavia Butler Strategic Reader with Alexis Pauline Gumbs. She is the author of Emergent Strategy and the recently released Pleasure Activism, and she’s the Co-editor of Octavia's Brood. Adrienne's also the co-host of How to Survive the End of the World podcast, a lifelong facilitator, doula and auntie living in Detroit.

She has worked extensively with numerous organizations on social justice. Following college, she worked with the Harm Reduction Coalition in Brooklyn and started working as a social justice facilitator. She would go on to facilitate the World Social Forum, an annual meeting of civil society organizations, and work with social justice organizations in Detroit. In 2006, she served as a consultant with Detroit Summer  "a multicultural, intergenerational collective" that "worked to transform communities through youth leadership, creativity, and collective action from the ground up" where she developed a strong relationship with the late activist Grace Lee Boggs.

Adrienne has worked with the Allied Media Conference as a host and facilitator. In 2018 she Founded, the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute   a hub to experiment, think, facilitate, learn, and share emergent strategy. ESII exists to help groups, organizations, and movements bring these principles into their work through facilitation and training.

Perle Noire, the Queen Mother of Burlesque was born to perform. Named one of the top performers in the world, she is truly a goddess. To watch her is an experience!

She began singing, dancing and acting as a child when she landed a McDonald’s commercial and a role on the Cosby Show.

In 2008, she burst onto the burlesque scene winning the Best Debut category during the annual Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend in Las Vegas. She has been named one of the world’s top five burlesque performers by 21st Century Burlesque Magazine three years in a row. After spending several years as a cast member in Dita Von Teese’s popular “Strip, Strip Hooray,” Perle went on to complete a stint in Velvet – a musical starring Australian disco diva and superstar Marcia Hines. 

Perle has performed her signature blend of sultry, athletic and captivating dance in numerous venues throughout the world including the Crowne Casino in Melbourne, The Waltz in Tokyo, Teatro Circo in Madrid and the Koko in London. She has also graced stages in the Bahamas, Milan, Helsinki, Auckland, Sydney, New York, and Los Angeles.

Drawing inspiration from the great Josephine Baker, Perle is also a multi-talented businesswoman who constantly challenges herself with new ventures including an upcoming line of cosmetics and a series of performance/dance classes known as Perlesque. 

She is also a gifted instructor and her workshops sell out in a matter of hours. She encourages her followers and those attending her classes to lose the weight of self-doubt, distorted views of your power, and memories that no longer serve you. She encourages everyone to believe that glamour, opulence, and opportunities belong to you and to Stop downplaying your light, talent, and desires.

She says she is paying respect to all the black women who went through the back door so she may sashay through the front.

Karen Williams is a trailblazer in the world of LGBTQ comedy. 

graduated summa cum laude from Cleveland State University with a personally-designed major in “Humor and Healing” and also received a Master of Education degree from the University’s Adult Learning & Development program.

As a single lesbian mother living in Berkeley in the 1980’s she started doing stand-up comedy because it was something, she could do that didn’t cost her anything. She was featured in the award-winning comedy/documentary “We’re Funny That Way” and was a 1999 Glama Award nominee for her comedy CD “Human Beings: What a Concept”

She’s worked as a comedy writer, has performed at venues around the country and is a regularly featured artist on Olivia Cruise Lines. Karen has taught Stand-Up Comedy in the Dramatic Arts department of Cleveland State University. She is the creator of the Humor-At-Large workshop series and founder of the National Women’s Comedy Conference.

She founded HaHA Institute in the late 1980s. 

The mission of the International Institute of Humor and Healing Arts aka HaHA Institute e is to encourage the fullest and highest activation of human potential for compassion, wisdom, and life force through the daily use of humor and healing arts, which includes stress management, nutrition, exercise, massage and healing touch, aromatherapy, and spiritual practices.

 The institute has been run virtually but now Karen is ready to bring HaHA Institute from its virtual home to a brick and motor location in Cleveland's new LGBTQ Community Center this summer.

He's a self-described left-leaning independent, a diehard Cubs fan, Activist, Community Organizer, and Madonna Fan.  Smart, funny, insightful and outspoken, Ken Mejia-Beal returns to talk about current events.

From the midterms to the Oscars and all things politically Chicago, Ken brings is unique insight not just "sipping but spilling" the tea!

Ken Mejia-Beal is first and foremost an activist and a supporter of the underdog. He is a concerned citizen, who cares deeply for his country and wants to make the world a better place for all people. 

Ken is a member of the Democratic National Committee a Political Strategist and Organizer for several candidates over the last 5 years 

He is a contributing editor at Dem Write Press which was created to shine a spotlight on corruption and buttress American democracy. His “Chronicles of an Outsider” series explores his journey as an everyday American who happens to be African American and a member of the LGBTQ community.

This Chicago native is a capitalist with a heart who believes in free thinking and human rights. Ken wants to use his words in order to shine a light on political ventures in order to allow those without knowledge to form strong positions.

Steven G. Fullwood was the archivist who founded the “In The Life Archive” at the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, a part of the New York Public library.

Originally from Toledo, Ohio, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in English and Communications from the University of Toledo and his master’s in library science from Clark University in Atlanta.

As a writer, His published works include Black Gay Genius: Answering Joseph Beam's Call (co-edited by Charles Stephens), To Be Left with the Body, (co-edited by Cheryl Clarke), and Carry the Word: A Bibliography of Black LGBTQ Books (co-edited by Lisa C. Moore).

His Nomadic Archivist Project documents and preserves the African Diasporic experience.  This initiative partners with organizations, institutions, and individuals to establish, preserve, and enhance collections. Fullwood lives to document the history of people of African descent. He believes it is a privilege to do so for many good reasons: primarily, doing so allows him to pay the appropriate respect to people of African descent in Africa, as well as in the African diaspora.

Fullwood is also the Vice President of Fire & Ink. Fire & Ink is recognized as the most influential supporter and advocate for GLBT writers of African descent. He is currently at work on his first film short, Timothy, or Timothy to the Future. This vérité-styled documentary follows Timothy DuWhite, a 27-year-old black, gay, HIV + poet as he rehearses his first one-man show, Neptune, a story about where the unloved go to find love.

Kylar W. Broadus is an attorney, activist, public speaker, and former professor.

He is the founder of the Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC). Trans People of Color Coalition exists to advance justice for all trans people of color by amplifying trans stories, supporting leadership, and challenging issues of racism, transphobia, and transmisogyny,

After he announced his gender transition while working at a major financial institution, he was “constructively discharged.” When he lost his job, he thought that there MUST be laws that protect individuals when they are discriminated against. After filing a lawsuit in federal court, though, he learned quickly that transgender people weren’t covered under any discrimination laws. This propelled him to want to make sure that there were laws that protected others in the transgender community as well as gender non-conforming people of color.

In 2012 Kylar made history by becoming the first openly transgender person to testify before the U.S. Senate. He was speaking on behalf of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

He was awarded the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Sue J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement and the Pioneer Award at the Transfaith of Color Conference presented by the Freedom Center of Social Justice.

He has served on the boards of the National Black Justice Coalition, the National Stonewall Democrats, is a founding board member of a national think tank, The Transgender Law and Policy Institute.

Karren Kendra Holmes is a Transgender Activist. Community Service has been a big part of her life before and after her transition to living her authentic life as a woman.

She’s a member of The Maryland Defense Force, a volunteer military organization supporting the Maryland National Guard. 

In 2012 she received "Soldier of the Year" from the Maryland State Guard Association and The Maryland Defense Force.  In 2013, out of 24 states and 23 thousand soldiers, she was named "Soldier of the Year" by the State Guard Association of the United.

Since 2010 she has received multiple awards for her community service including the Willis Greene community service award in 2014. The Award is named after a man who gave back tirelessly to his community This award is presented to individuals who personify this commitment by making significant contributions to community service. Before her transition, she had received several awards for community service including her first the Willis Greene award in 2003. 

She has given a TED Talk on her transition from Tony to Karen. In 2017 she was selected in the LGBTQ Nation Bilerico Report as one of The Top 50 Successful Transgender Americans You Should Know, and in 2018 was selected by Capital Pride for Heroes Gala Awards for "Engendered Spirit Award.”

Karen has much to share with the transgender and LGBTQ communities.  She believes together we can help quiet the turmoil within that suggest we're different. We are not different, and we need to continuously express how we are more alike than not.