Collections by Michelle Brown

Sherley Accime is one of the co-founding members of Black Women’s Blueprint and is the program director of the Office of Violence Against Women. Ericka Ayodele Dixon. has worked and led activist initiatives, nationally and internationally. Currently, she serves as the Public Policy Programs Director at Black Women’s BluePrint.

The Black Women’s Blue Print began in 2008 grappling with the state of Black women in the U.S. across the issues of ethnicity/nationality, class, sexual orientation, identity. Meeting in sister circles in living rooms, backyards and around kitchen tables, they developed a blueprint taking full stock of the particular problems Black women were facing within their communities and in greater society.

Black Women’s Blueprint envisions a world where women and girls of African descent are fully empowered and where gender, race and other disparities are erased.

Dr. Eric Darnell Pritchard is an assistant professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He writes and teaches about literacy, rhetoric and their intersections with fashion, beauty, popular culture, identity, and power. He was born and raised in Queens, New York.

He is the creator and editor of Glamourtunist.com - a Fashion editorial blog focused on fashion, beauty and pop culture. He is also the editor of "Sartorial Politics, Intersectionality, and Queer Worldmaking" a special issue of QED.: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking.

His article “For Colored Kids Who Committed Suicide, Our Outrage Isn’t Enough: Queer Youth of Color, Bullying and the Discursive Limits of Identity and Safety” in Harvard Educational Review won the 2014 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Lavender Rhetoric Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship.

He is the author of the award-winning Fashioning Lives: Black Queers and the Politics of Literacy. This book analyzes the life stories of sixty Black LGBTQ people along with archival documents, literature, and film.

He is currently at work on two new book projects including a biography of 1980s fashion superstar Patrick Kelly.

Waddie Grant started blogging in 2005 under different aliases about urban pop culture. He was born in Sacramento, raised in Kansas City, bred in Chicago, developed in Atlanta and is currently living in New York City.

He started The G-Listed (formerly The G-List Society) in 2012. The G-Listed is an online media networking and entertainment group that caters to the style of life in the social scene of LGBT/Queer/Same-Gender-Loving people of color. The G-Listed is an appreciation of Black pop and queer cultures that publishes its annual The Black LGBTQ Power 100 list to celebrate Black LGBTQ-SGL achievers around the world and the 100 Outstanding Personalities of Color a similar feature. The Power 100 list has an average readership of more than 100,000 audience impressions yearly.

He has also hosted and produced dozens of social, professional networking and live music events in Chicago and New York City and been featured, quoted and/or published widely. Waddie & The G-Listed media has been featured, quoted and/or published in “Positively Black” on WNBC, Gawker, Gothamist, “Oprah’s Life Class,” Chicago Red Eye, Windy City Times, Ebony, Sandra Rose, Bossip, Necole Bitchie, The YBF, MediaTakeOut, SGL Weekly, Rod 2.0, TMZ, Joe.My.God, NY Eater, Moguldum Media, CBS-2 Chicago News and other media outlets.

Waddie will share his passions for music, urban pop culture, TV, arts, city life, gay lifestyle and Black gay milestones and achievements.

Her path has taken many twists and turns. She had an amazing career in human services. She's currently Deputy Director at the Ruth Ellis Center. She's also a community activist and the matriarch of a gold star family.

She's always moving forward. For the next chapter in her life, Pamela is moving out of the “helping” profession and becoming a Detroit entrepreneur. Her business “Café Ruby” will open in 2019 as “the ultimate urban global coffee house and wine bar!”

Why coffee? Drinking coffee is something billions of people do around the world every day! Coffee is more than popular: it's ubiquitous. No other beverage is as revered or respected. It can be seen in offices, during commutes, and on kitchen countertops worldwide. Coffee is worth over $100 billion worldwide. That puts it ahead of natural gas, gold, sugar, and corn. Worldwide, we drink over 500 billion cups of coffee every year.

Arabica is the more common type of bean grown (70 percent of coffee is Arabica), and it's considered more flavorful.

Join Pamela as she shares her love and knowledge of coffee as well as how she plans to bring a unique coffee experience with her coffeehouse and wine bar to the metro-Detroit area.

Bridie Mae Johnson grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. With a lineage from several cultures, Johnson brings a unique perspective to all she does drawing upon her roots to build spaces where diversity and inclusion can flourish.

A licensed social worker, Johnson worked as Director of Programs at the Ruth Ellis Center from 2007 to 2009. She moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Johnson was employed at Saginaw County Youth Protection Council, as the Division Director of Innerlink Services Division. She recently returned to the metro-Detroit area joining the staff of the American Indian Health & Family Services.She's back in Detroit working with the community and using the knowledge she's learned along the way to educate attendees at the Creating Change Conference in Washington DC.

Through her work in Michigan and Georgia, Bridie has become aware of and researched the problem of human trafficking especially of youth and members of the LGBTQ community. Based on her work in this area she submitted a proposal and will be presenting at the Creating Change Conference in Washington, DC January 24-28. 

Bridie will talk about her work in the LGBTQ community and presentation at Creating Change. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the Creating Change Conference. It will be held in Washington, DC at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, January 24-28, 2018.

Victoria Proctor is a holistic health counselor, massage therapist, a registered nurse (RN), with a Masters as a prepared Exercise Physiologist.How can you live better and healthier in general and especially if you have type 2 diabetes? Through education, her years in the nursing profession and personal practice, Victoria Proctor has developed strategies and tips to build wellness into your future.

She is a holistic health counselor, massage therapist, a registered nurse (RN), with a Masters as a prepared Exercise Physiologist. She says, “We have to just learn to make better choices and certainly better choices for the children.”

Changing our diet can be the first step and even an intervention to prevent the onset of or damage caused by type 2 diabetes. 

Diabetes is one of the most serious health problems that the African American community faces today. Compared to the general population, African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes. Proctor knows first-hand the devastating effects of type 2 diabetes. It runs in her family.

Besides participating in the Iron Girl Triathlon, Proctor bicycles in the “Tour de CURE for Diabetes” in honor of her mother Gladys Proctor. 

She has personally raised over $4000.00 for the American Diabetes Association and If you count the efforts of her Team VITAL it's over $7000.00

It is estimated that over 60 million families are caring for an aging or disabled person at home. More than 39 million people in the U.S. are age 65 years or older including 2.4 million people who identify as LGBTQ. 

The Care Plan is the country's first healthcare management company devoted to LGBTQ individuals and communities. It helps clients develop a personal health and aging guide working with individuals and families to restore clarity, comfort, and control.

Chicago based, Jackie Boyd founder and owner of "The Care Plan" has spent much of her professional career providing care management services. She will share tips on developing a comprehensive approach to avoid common crisis along the path to aging and ways to support Caregivers as a family and community.

Whether it’s your parents, partner or yourself, at some point each of us may be called upon to provide care for a loved one or be in need of extended care personally. Ms. Boyd has spent much of her professional career providing care management services. She will share tips on developing a comprehensive approach to avoid common crisis along the path to aging and ways to support Caregivers as a family and community.

Start off your new year with a resolution, a Care Plan, and our special guest Jackie Boyd

What is Kwanzaa, how is it celebrated in the community at large and especially in the African American LGBTQ community?

Joining Collections by Michelle Brown is Dr. Kofi Adoma who for many years has organized and led Kwanzaa celebrations in Detroit’s African American LGBTQ community to give us a “Kwanzaa 101” introduction and talk about this year’s celebration.

An African American cultural holiday initiated by Dr. Maulana Karenga Kwanzaa celebrates the work and dedication African Americans put forth throughout the year. 

It is patterned on the African celebration of harvest during which tribute is paid to the ancestors and to God, while at the same time praying for another benevolent year. The word “Kwanzaa” refers to the first fruits of the harvest. It indicates the firm determination of a community to begin a new year of commitment, hard work, and fulfillment that requires collective effort. 

It centers around the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles) Umoja (Unity); Kujichagulia (Self-Determination); Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility); Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics); Nia (Purpose); Kuumba (Creativity); and Imani (Faith).

"Dr. Kofi", as she is affectionately called, has been a community activist/organizer since high school when she was a member of the Highland Park High School Black Awareness Club. She is a founding member of numerous grassroots organizations including Unity Fellowship Church Detroit, The A.L.O.R.D.E. Collective, Karibu House Community Center, Race Matters, and The Ruth Ellis Center.

It's December and communities everywhere are celebrating the holidays in a plethora of ways. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa or just great times with friends and family – “Tis the season to be jolly” - Right?

Unfortunately for the Transgender community, amidst the holiday festivities, is the glaring reality that for transphobic hate, bigotry and violence it’s just another day. There was an attack on December 12 in Washington DC and two days later 26-year-old Brandi Seals was found dead in front of a house under construction in Houston,TX. For Transgender women and men, especially those of color, peace on earth and good will toward them remains elusive.

Filling the gap between political activism/advocacy and the day-to-day realities of living as Trans, especially as a trans woman of color is,.  Bre Anne Campbell is one of the founders and Executive Director of TSOCP which was founded in 2015 by a group of concerned Detroit community activists in direct response to the growing number of murders of trans women and gender non-conforming people.  The Trans Sistas of Color Project (TSOCP) works to uplift, influence and impact the lives and wellbeing of trans women of color in Metro Detroit.

Campbell shares her story and talks about the work of TSOCP to help Transwomen navigate the hazads of being trans in the metro Detroit area and across the country,

Detroit Health Link for Equity in Cancer Care is a region-wide coalition to address cancer-related needs in metropolitan Detroit. Funded in 2016 by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Detroit Health Link brings together community members, community-based organizations, and cancer researchers to develop research ideas as well as educational and service-based programs.

At the heart of Detroit Health Link are the Cancer Action Councils (CACs): groups of community members and leaders who use their local knowledge to improve the lives of cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers in their communities. Cancer affects more people in the city of Detroit and Wayne County than most other parts of Michigan. This not only means that more people are diagnosed with cancer, but more people die from cancer

There are currently has 6 active Cancer Action Councils: The most recent being at LGBT Detroit. LGBTQ communities are disproportionately affected by cancer. If community members and researchers work together, targeted research and programming can be developed to improve a wide range of cancer outcomes in our area. The new LGBTQ Cancer Action Council is currently seeking members

Hayley S. Thompson, PhD and Knoll Larkin, MPH from Detroit Health Link for Equity in Cancer Care will share information about their research and how cancer survivors, caretakers and advocates, especially in the LGBTQ community can get involved in the Detroit Health Link’s Cancer Action Councils