Collections by Michelle Brown

Thirty years ago, a group of friends came together to network, have fellowship and enjoy life. They didn’t intend to break barriers but they did by doing community work through entertaining. They called themselves THE BILLIONAIRE BOYS’ CLUB (BBC)

The BBC primarily wanted to make sure that everyone had a good time and meet new people. According to Robert Tate, “We never knew we were doing anything special. All we wanted to do was entertain the community. I now realize that we are activists in a different kind of way. Our way was to bring people together and network with community organizations.”

In 1996 the BBC in collaboration with numerous LGBT organizations — including the Men of Color Motivation Group, Karibu House and Ladies of a Current Affair started HOTTER THAN JULY metro-Detroit’s annual celebration of Gay Pride for the African American LGBTQ community. HOTTER THAN JULY is one of the oldest Black Gay Pride celebrations in the Midwest and takes place the last weekend of each July every year.

This year as the BBC is celebrates its 30th anniversary they will host the official 30th anniversary party on Friday, July 28th. Then take over hosting duties for the Hotter Than July brunch on Sunday, July 30th.

 

Tate says “I now realize that I am an activist in a different kind of way. My way is to bring people together and network with community organizations. Entertainment and community are different now, but they can be brought back together with the same flavor but for a different era. “

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Danielle Woods is a Detroit native and 16-year veteran with the Detroit Police Department. She is currently assigned to the Chief's Neighborhood Liaison unit where she coordinates and oversees the operations of the Citizen Radio Patrol. She recalls responding to a domestic violence disturbance in 2006 that was between two females who were romantically involved. Her male partner at the time made an offensive remark about the couple's sexual orientation. Woods was so upset that she approached her boss about the need for a community liaison officer for the LGBT community.

Woods was appointed the Detroit Police Department's first LGBT liaison officer in 2013. She formulated the first LGBT Advisory Board Committee under the appointment of Chief James E. Craig and is a driving force in the LGBT community in her efforts of "Bridging the Gap" between law enforcement and the LGBT community.

Woods says her role as LGBT liaison is to "serve as a bridge between the LGBT community and the police department," helping to build mutual trust, respect, and understanding between the two groups. She works closely with LGBT organizations within Detroit and surrounding areas, including Equality Michigan, the Ruth Ellis Center, Affirmations, and LGBT Detroit, and serves on an LGBT advisory board whose goal is to advocate for the LGBT community and make sure their concerns are heard.

Rev. Stringfellow is the Senior Pastor and Teacher at Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit. A Native of Fort Wayne, IN he now calls Detroit home.

Rev. Stringfellow works to create dialogs on the topic of LGBTQ equality with congregations as the Director of Ministerial Outreach with the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Sexuality on the campus of Pacific School of Religion. He has conducted multiple workshops on the topics of race, religion, class and sexuality.

In 2011, he became licensed with the United Church of Christ and the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM) churches, a predominantly African-American denomination with an outreach to LGBTQ individuals.

In addition to all of his work within church contexts, Rev. Stringfellow has also worked in the field of education in a variety of capacities including teacher, guidance counselor, college adviser and vice-principal.

In 2010, he directed a national African-American faith community outreach (the Umoja Project) working with pastors and lay leaders in the Black church to provide pastoral care for gay and lesbian members of their congregation. He asks pastors, lay leaders and congregations “if this (the Bible) is the last will and testament of a God that is dead or a living breathing document of a God who is alive.”

Dr. Stringfellow has been consulted by media outlets regarding his work on marriage equality and the role of people of color and communities of faith in local, statewide and national debates. Stringfellow has conducted multiple workshops on the topics of race, religion, class, sexuality and gender identity. He has had several articles published in the Huffington Post.

Author and journalist Jason A. Michael will forever be a native Detroiter. He earned his journalism degree from Wayne State University. He received the Spirit of Detroit Award from the Detroit City Council in 2005 for his contributions to the community through journalism. After graduating from Wayne State University, he joined the staff of “Between the Lines”, a Detroit-based news and arts weekly serving Michigan’s LGBTQ community. 

Jason has a passion for urban music and spent many years working with Grammy-award-winning songwriter and soul diva Betty Wright. Wright rose to fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight is the Night”.He has interviewed everyone from Motown legends Martha Reeves and Mary Wilson to Dionne Warwick and Patti LaBelle. 

In 2007, Jason released his first entertainment biography, “Strength Of A Woman: The Phyllis Hyman Story”. The book received much critical acclaim and went on to become an Essence magazine bestseller. After 18 years Jason continues to write for “Between the Lines” and publishes under his own imprint JAM Books, LLC.

On Saturday July 1st Chicago will again host the ESTEEM Awards recognizing a cross section of leadership in the LGBTQ community. Today we are talking with the founder and force behind these annual awards Philip Esteem.

Phil is proud African American Gay Male. Although he was never formally trained as a writer or journalist Phil believes he was led to share other people’s experiences.

In 1998, he started a ZINE called Legends Statements and Stars.  Legends Statements and Stars focused primarily on the ball scenewhere people, especially youth "walk" or compete for trophies and prizes at events known as balls..

In 2000, he started ESTEEM newsletter, a ZINE for the greater gay community. In 2004 Phil was approached by JC Cole about joining forces with her for a website she created called PrideIndex.com.  PrideIndex is a lifestyles and entertainment site for gay communities of color.

In 2006, he joined the Windy City Black Pride Gay Pride Awards Committee where he successfully created interest for the Pride Awards for 2 years. He decided to step out on my own in 2007 and the Esteem Awards were born.

The ESTEEM awards honor some of the best and brightest LGBTQ citizens, organizations and supporters from across the country. The honorees represent a who’s who among people whose activism, service and creativity have made significant contributions to our community.  Past honorees include GLAAD, The Lambda Literary Foundation, Mandy Carter, The NAACP, HRC, Keith Boykin, Mandy Carter,  Monica Roberts, The Schomberg Museum,  Sampson McCormick, The Ruth Ellis Center and other LGBTQ activists

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Felix and Paula Sirls, have been married over twenty years and found each other at the most unlikely time.  They are parents, grandparents, great grand-parents and both are HIV positive.

Felix was a recovering addict when he was diagnosed. His doctor gave him one year to live. He moved to Detroit to be closer to his family and became a substance abuse counselor and was a facilitator for  the Detroit Health Department. Recently retired he worked as an HIV and substance abuse counselors for over 30 years in three states. He not only continues to thrive but outlived the doctor who gave him that diagnosis of one year to live.

Paula was infected by a long-term partner. After his death, she found herself not only HIV positive but also depressed and contemplating suicide. As fate would have it, while going through his belongings she found a card for a HIV support group. The facilitator happened to be Felix Sirls.  In the program, she learned to love herself again and regain her self-esteem.

When the program lost its funding, Felix found a new home to continue the support group. Paula followed him to Full Truth Fellowship of Christ Church and volunteered with the program.  No longer counselor and client, a relationship developed and a deep love grew that continues to this day.

Not only did they marry and blend families but they blended their passions for music, poetry and advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS. They now work with “Gospel Against AIDS” whose mission is to equip houses of worship with HIV education, dispel myths and to eliminate the stigma associated with people living HIV. They also provide testing at various sites, teach prevention and share their story of love and thriving with HIV.

They say “HIV is a get in you not a get on you virus. If a person doesn’t have HIV they don’t need to get it. Persons who do have it, can live with it.”

We continue the celebration of LGBTQ Pride with an introduction of an amazing activist couple. Hannah Hartley and Diane Schulz are planning their June wedding. Both also serve on the board of the Gender-Identity Network Alliance (GNA). The purpose GNA is to create positive social change supporting all forms of gender identity and expression through charitable, educational, and service works. who identify as trans, transgender, gender non-conforming, gender-variant, or those in the process of reassigning their gender. GNA hosts, Annual Spring and Winter Potlucks , a weekly support group, the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance each November, and on June 24, 2017 the Transgender Day Of Empowerment   at Affirmations Center in Ferndale, MI.

Hannah is an accomplished musician and composer. Before moving to Michigan, she lived in Cleveland, OH and Los Angeles, CA where she owned a creative agency and recording studio. Upon moving to Michigan, she continued her marketing wizardry by joining Green Path Financial Wellness as Digital Marketing Manager and webmaster. Her fiance Diane Schulz serves on the board of GNA as Secretary. She studied criminal justice at Michigan State University which led to a 30-year career in law enforcement. During her career, she was a police officer, a sergeant, a lieutenant and participated in union leadership for her fellow officers. Since her retirement she has been in private practice as an investigator.

Hannah and Diane join Collections by Michelle Brown to share their individual stories, their journey as a couple and how in the midst of all of this they remain committed to the vision and mission of GNA and its work for Michigan’s transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender-variant community

Raised on Detroit’s west side, Marseille always saw community service as a part of life, an example set by her parents who were both youth missionaries. So, it was no surprise to friends and family when she selected Wellesley College in Massachusetts after graduating with its belief that every woman can—and should—make a meaningful contribution to her world.

After graduating she served as the assistant to the Majority Counsel for the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee under the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. After September 11th, she followed her supervisor to the Center for Community Change, and then later relocated to Korea to teach English. Upon her return to the United States, she served as a truancy officer until joining the Michigan Department of Corrections.

In 2013 while supervising US military Veterans on Felony probation, she co-founded the Oakland County Combat Veterans Treatment Court, one of two combat-only courts in the country. Later she founded the Warriors Trust Fund a nonprofit agency developed to provide support, guidance and financial assistance for participants in the Oakland County Combat Veterans Treatment Court.Marseille moved to Flint, Michigan at what some might consider the worst possible time, shortly before the news of the Flint water crisis broke. She did not cut and run instead she started delivering water to help residents, she also entered and won $10,000 in a GoFundMe contest for her cause. Beyond the headlines, Marseille not only continues to serve the people of Flint but is committed to being there for the long haul as the effects of lead poising will go on long after the pipes are replaced and the water is flowing. It will affect families for generations.

Besides talking about Flint, Marseille will share how attending an all-women’s college, Wellesley, its philosophy and continued support has shaped her life and work

For many the LGBT community in Metro Detroit is centered in Ferndale, Michigan. It has been the home of Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center since 1989. For many years, the city was the home of Motor City Pride before it moved to Detroit in 2011, and continues to host Ferndale Pride each June. The city, located just north of Detroit, is recognized for its diversity and inclusion, cozy neighborhoods and burgeoning business district. At the helm of “Fabulous Ferndale” is our guest Mayor Dave Coulter. Raised on the east side of Detroit, he broke with tradition moving west & settling in Ferndale. He was elected to the Oakland County Commission and served four terms on the Commission. Coulter was appointed Mayor of Ferndale in January 2011 after his predecessor resigned. He was then elected to the two-year position in November 2011. He was re-elected in 2013 and 2015. He is Ferndale’s second openly gay Mayor. He has worked as a civil engineering draftsman and school teacher. He served as the executive director of the Michigan AIDS Fund and a program officer for the Children's Hospital of Michigan Foundation. Ferndale’s mayor only works Part-time and shares executive roles with the city manager. Besides being mayor, a politician, an openly gay man, Coulter is an activist concerned with the rights and issues affecting all. In 2013, Coulter, along with Congressman Sander Levin, undertook a challenge in which they spent less than $4.50 a day on food. They did so to protest cuts to food stamps. In 2014, he became the first mayor in Michigan to perform same-sex marriages.Coulter believes “You can be a progressive city  that’s also focused on the bottom line.” That’s Ferndale normal! Learn more about “Ferndale Normal” as envisioned by its Mayor, Dave Coulter, on Thursday June 1, 2017 at 7PM

IMAM DAAYIEE ABDULLAH is said to be one of three openly gay Imams in the world. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he credits his parents with encouraging him and giving him the freedom to find his own spiritual path. His parents supported him and his to find religion despite their personal Southern Baptist beliefs. When he was 8 years old, he visited a Synagogue, a Hindu temple, and an assortment of Christian denominations. He continued to search for a religion he could put his faith into and converted to Islam at age 30.He lectures nationally and internationally on progressive Muslim concepts, intra-faith and interfaith networking, and the development of inclusive and progressive revisions of Islamic theological thought and Islamic law. He actively promotes understanding and awareness of issues of racial, gender and sexual equality as understood in the UN Declaration of Human Rights within and beyond Muslim communities.

He is Executive Director of MECCA Institute (Muslim Education Center for Creative Academics), a Muslim think tank and online Islamic theological school, teaching an inclusive liberation theology and interpretation of Quran. At Light of Reform Mosque, Imam Daayiee provides pastoral counseling for Muslim youth, adults, their families and friends. As former Director of LGBTQ Outreach for MPV, he produced a 14-part module on LGBTQ Muslim youth, their friends, family and community, funded by Carpenter, which was released in May 2014. On his 45 years of activism for LGBTQ rights and as a member of the faith community, he says “What I continuously hold on to is the ever-changing experience of the human story. We are still in process – the process of becoming more fully human with dignity, acceptance and respect – and we must remember that when good people do nothing the worst of atrocities can occur.”