Collections by Michelle Brown

A credited freelance writer, editor, contributor, and essayist, Sara E. Teller is also a novelist and poet with over seventeen years of experience. She has an MBA degree with a concentration in Marketing and is currently pursuing an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, concentrating in Substance Abuse and Addictions.

Her latest book, Narcissistic Abuse: A Survival Guide was published by Mad Hatter Publishing released in December 2017.

Narcissism, as a positive personality trait, is something many people may have. This can be healthy for people but it is very different from full-blown narcissistic behavior and disorders. In her book "Narcissistic Abuse: A Survival Guide", Teller highlights and sheds light on Narcissism as an inherent humanistic trait versus pathological narcissism, Victimization, and the healing process and Therapeutic intervention and relief. Abuse can take many forms with or without a narcissist.

Narcissistic Abuse is real and potentially life-threatening. Physical, mental, and emotional abuse are all part of the Narcissist's bag of abusive tricks and can have a lifelong impact on you and everyone in your household.  If you or someone you know is caught in this situation, this survival guide can help you break free and survive.  For therapist, counselors, or others involved in the recovery process, this book brings insight into the inner workings of the abusive narcissistic relationship.

Sara brings to bear her life experience combined with her intellectual and academic studies and presents a thorough reference book addressing the real need to identify Narcissistic Abuse, create a survival strategy and find therapeutic relief from the aftereffect.

Born in Buffalo NY, singer/songwriter Sandy Mulligan took the scenic route to the metro -Detroit area – raised in Iowa, living in Alabama, New Jersey and as an artist in the mountains of West Virginia.

Although she’s been an artist and singer/songwriter she’s also always been an activist involved in organizing Latino Farmworkers and active in the Catholic church at a time when women were not supposed to be involved in church activities. 

Sandy began her art career at an LGBTQ artist colony in West Virginia making melted glass art, stained glass, fresco paintings, mobiles, plaques, and walking sticks. She sold her work throughout West Virginia and eventually in the Washington DC area.

Sandy fell in love with Michigan and moved here 10 years ago. Her daughter, who is also a musician, encouraged her to resume her music career in earnest. Her solo career eventually led to her founding a group called The Gypsies. The group performed over 100 gigs in 5 years. They were a finalist in the Detroit Blues Society competition.

Sandy continues to perform as a solo artist and with her daughter. She was chosen as one of a dozen women to sing the blues at the “Blues Girls of Summer.” Sandy was nominated for an outstanding woman’s award and won an award with her daughter for their contributions to the Detroit music scene.

Brayden Asher Misiolek is of co-founder/ Executive Director of Transcend the Binary, an organization that seeks to empower the transgender and gender non-conforming community through access to affirming care, resources, research, and education.

Recently Brayden joined other members of the TLGBQ community and allies to speak out against continued efforts against T/GNC individuals.Brayden dedicates his service to Transcend the Binary in honor of the organization's co-Founder Darnell Jones saying “I made a promise to Darnell, and my community, to make sure that Transcend continues to grow – from our resources, program quality, research and understanding of our community

The current administration has rescinded antidiscrimination protections for transgender students, reversed a Bureau of Prisons policy that would take gender identity into account in housing assignments, attempted to ban transgender service members from the military and argued that transgender workers are not covered by Title VII protections against discrimination in the workplace. A leaked HHS memo proposes defining an individual’s sex as “a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth,” and that “the sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”

Transcend the Binary staff are available for those seeking services such as hormone counseling, medical referrals, youth and family support, fitness and nutrition counseling, and more – all of which are provided free of charge.

Originally from Sri Lanka, Rashika grew up with her mother and three sisters in Texas.  She grew up learning how to balance her Sri Lankan heritage and cultural expectations with her American sensibilities and upbringing and proudly own both of identities 

She attended The University of Texas at Austin, where she studied anthropology and pre-medical studies. Rashika believes proudly embracing both identities has contributed to the way she goes about trying to make a positive difference in the world.

She did her first tour of duty at the Human Rights Campaign as the Development Coordinator. She worked on fundraising and community outreach projects. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) represents a grassroots force of more than 1.5 million members and supporters nationwide. It is the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.

 In 2016, she joined the Peace Corps. Established in 1961 the Peace Corps was established to promote world peace and friendship. Rashika served as a Community Health Volunteer in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. During service with the Peace Corp, her work focused on maternal and child health, HIV prevention education, girls’ empowerment, and youth development.

 After leaving the Peace Corp, Rashika rejoined the Human Rights Campaign. This time as a Volunteer Leadership Organizer with the HRC Rising program—their largest grassroots expansion that focuses on accelerating progress and supporting pro-equality candidates and initiatives. 

Rashika believes working at HRC, she is part of a community that celebrates her intersectional perspective as a woman of color and an immigrant and empowers her to be a change agent to challenge stigmas, support other LGBTQ Asian Americans, and push the fight for equality forward

A 30-year civil servant with more than a decade of hands-on experience in the risk management field, she has authored four books. 

Her book “Enterprise Risk Management: A Guide for Government Professionals” was on the Amazon Top 100 List. 

She received a Best-Selling Author award for her book "Mastering the Art of Success" which she co-authored with Jack Canfield (co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul).

This native Washingtonian earned her Doctor of Education degree from Nova Southeastern University. She is a graduate of Strayer University where she earned her master’s in business administration. She studied Media Arts and Journalism and earned her bachelor’s degree from Hampton University. 

Her latest endeavor is co-producing the documentary "A New Leash On Life: The K9s for Warriors Story." The film focuses on Veterans with PTSD and the K9s that support them. The film has premiered in New York earlier this year, screens in Washington DC on October 26th and opens nationally on Veterans Day.

Dr. Hardy has a strong belief in servant leadership and believes the lessons she learned gave her the inspiration to be her best in whatever she sets her sights on.

Naomi Washington-Leapheart is the Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, the country’s oldest national LGBTQ justice and equality group. Before joining the Task Force, she was the suburban community organizer for POWER, a multi-faith, multi-racial network of congregations in Metro Philadelphia. She also served as Co-Pastor and Minister of Music at the Wisdom’s Table at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ.

Rev. Washington-Leapheart's work is included in the volume,” From Generation to Generation: A Commemorative Collection of African American Millennial Sermons from the Festival of Preachers 2010-2015, a rare and unique compilation of what the nation’s most promising young African-American ministers are thinking and proclaiming about the Christian faith.

An adjunct faculty member in the Theology and Religious Studies department at Villanova University, her class discussions have included zombie sci-fi, 2 biblical accounts of the walking 'undead,' Lazarus and Jesus, and the theological and practical assumptions we hold about life, death, and the space in-between.

She is affiliated with the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries and the United Church of Christ, and earned the Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary in 2016.

In an article in Philadelphia Magazine Gregory T. Walke. Founder and Creative Director of The Brothers Network, explained “It seems that many Americans, white, black and in between, view black men through a certain frame of reference that fails to acknowledge the totality of the black male experience. At the museum, the black man is the security guard rather than the person who created the works on the walls; at the theater, he is the usher rather than part of the action on the stage or the person behind that action.

And in the everyday world, the black men who do create works of art, who do write plays, and who love to talk about the ideas they advance, get confused for those guards and ushers.

Walker believes the hardest part is getting people to believe that MacArthur Genius Award winners, Tony Award winners, and winners of most every single honor have been held by a black man who is at the top of the game.

The Brother’s Network dismantles these assumptions. The organization specializes in bringing brainy black men together around arts and culture.The people who attend The Brothers’ Network programs form a new community, one in which they no longer feel isolated.

On October 12th The Brothers Network will celebrate its anniversary with a five-course dinner, awards ceremony and an opening night performance of “Sweat.” A play written by Lynn Nottage and directed by Justin Emeka.

The Brother’s Network is just one of the many ways Walker manifests his life goal to foster a sense of equanimity in our society and have all of us recognize the value in each of us.

Betty Couvertier returns to share her thoughts on the current political climate. A relentless, outspoken, authentic voice and alternative perspective for the LGBTQ community, she will share her observations from her travels as we move towards the all-important 2018 midterm elections.

Originally from Brooklyn, NY where she was a city corrections officer Betty Couvertier was a part of Atlanta, Georgia’s LGBTQ scene since the mid-1990s until her recent retirement. Betty volunteered at WRFG 89.3 FM, a non-profit community radio station, since 2002. She was the founder, producer and host of “Alternative Perspectives,” an LGBT radio show that airs on the community-owned and operated station from 2006 until 2017. She has served in various capacities on many non-profit organizations over the years including the Atlanta Pride Outreach Chair, Atlanta HRC Steering Committee, Co-chair of Georgians Against Discrimination Steering Committee and the Atlanta LGBT Police Advisory Board.

Her energy, compassion, insightfulness, and hard work has been an incredible asset in the fight for LGBTQ equality. Since retiring Betty keeps her eye on local and national political shenanigans, the LGBTQ community discovering more alternative perspectives as. she travels about the country in her RV with her dogs living out and proud on the road.

Yes, She’s back!!

John Collins began writing at the age of 15, keeping a small journal that held many questions surrounding his sexuality versus religious doctrine. 

He was motivated by an English teacher who encouraged him to use his talent as a storyteller to capture a glimpse of the world through his own personal life experiences as a queer man of color.

The idea of writing a novel came about after he wrote a three-page essay illustrating the outcome of his parents discovering he was Same Gender Loving (SGL). He began the manuscript “Virgin to the Life” in early 2007. He self-published this work in 2013. His follow-up novel, “Sounds of Burned Silence”, was released in 2014. The third installment, “Poetic Violence”, added more depth to the series.

“God Ain’t Call Me Fag”, is his fourth book and a departure from the series. For many in the LGBTQ community, the relationship with religion has been at best complicated but often contentious. In  “God Ain’t Call Me Fag”, Collins challenges the reader to look at this relationship by asking What do you look like to God? Free from what you’ve been called. Free from what you’ve been told to be. Free from the contradictory words of man versus God.

His literary work and activism seeks to promote self-love, by being honest, open and connected.

Originally from Detroit, MI John Collins now calls Atlanta, GA home. He is an author, activist, freelance writer, actor, playwright, and award-winning LGBTQ slam poet. He is a decorated Navy Combat Veteran who served 8 years Active duty and 6 years Active Reserve duty, before accepting an Honorable Discharge in September 2012.

Robt Seda-Schreiber is Chief Activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice in New Jersey.  

Named for the civil rights leader who was the primary architect of the 1963 March on Washington, this community activist center is an educational enclave and a safe-space for all people. Robt established the Center with the explicit consent of Bayard Rustin’s partner, Walter Naegle, with a strong desire to ensure every individual- whether it be in a school, in a workplace, or in everyday life- feels safe, protected, & loved. 

 In June 2017 he was recognized as the National Education Association’s Social Justice Activist of the Year. In 2014 he received the New Jersey Education Association Equality Champion Award which honors members who have been champions in defense of human and civil rights. As an art teacher in the Kreps Middle School in East Windsor, New Jersey, Robt ran that school’s Gay-Straight Alliance.  He believes it is important for students to have allies in the classroom if they are LGBTQ because the very existence of Gay-Straight Alliances saves lives every day, both literally and figuratively.

As Chief Activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, Robt has moved forward with his experience, knowledge, & passion, to bring his service to a greater platform—to serve & defend the LGBTQ community. His passion is in part driven by memories of a beloved uncle who was gay but couldn’t come out because his father wouldn’t have understood and as an adolescent, seeing these issues of identity, especially for youth, being shrouded in secrecy and instilling a sense of shame and wrongness on his peers.