Collections by Michelle Brown

Joining Collections byMichelle S. Johnson. Michelle S. Johnson is a public scholar in the fields of African American history, literature and cultural production and has taught in Liberal Studies and African American Studies at Grand Valley State University, American Thought and Culture and History at Michigan State University and English at Saginaw Valley State University and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Johnson holds a B.A. in Humanities from Michigan State University and a PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan.

She was one of the co-founders and Executive Directors of Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative.  Under her leadership, this Kalamazoo arts and cultural non-profit came to serve as the go-to organization for emerging artists and cultural producers.  As a professor, Johnson developed her identity as a public scholar in cultural studies and created programs and classroom environments that provided significant academic skills while retaining and encouraging students to think critically and creatively.  During her work as the Freedom Trail coordinator for the State of Michigan, Johnson solidified her public scholarship and leadership and expanded her contribution to assist professional and lay-historians in the preservation, documentation and promotion of Underground Railroad histories.  

As DJ Disobedience She has been a popular DJ on Kalamazoo’s WIDR 89.1 FM Radio since 2006.

Too much of trans-history has gone unrecorded and untold but our guest Andrea Jenkins is capturing this precious treasure. Andrea Jenkins is the Trans Oral Historian for the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota. The Project will empower individuals to tell their story, while providing students, historians, and the public with a more rich foundation of primary source material about the transgender community. Jenkins has already interviewed over 125 members of the Transgender community ranging in age from 18 to 85.

She is also and most notably a playwright, curator, visual artist, poet, writer, spoken word artist, performer, and trans-activist.  Her work is concerned with the interplay of words, mediums and genres that can be mashed together to create a new narrative. She views her work as collage, working primarily with paper and mixed media as a visual form of curation. Taking various images that have been artfully produced for the purpose of consumerism and mixing them with social justice messages and images brings attention to the issues of inequality.

ANDREA JENKINS has more than 25 years of public service experience as a Minneapolis City Council policy aide, nonprofit executive director and consultant, and Hennepin County employment specialist and is currently a candidate for City Council in Minneapolis Ward 8.

In 2016, the murders of 27 transgender people were reported, making it the deadliest year on record for Transgender people. By February 27, 2017 five deaths had been reported two in New Orleans within days of each other. Statistics show the average life expectancy for Black transgender women is 35 years. Trans-genius, talent, lives and stories gone too soon.

Join us for this intimate conversation with Mama Activist Danielle Atkinson. Atkinson is the founding director of Mothering Justice, a statewide organization working to improve the lives of families in Michigan by equipping the next generation of mother activists. She received her Bachelor Degrees in Political Science and Sociology from Pfeiffer University where she helped organizer students for peace in the early days for Iraq War. She worked as a field director for the campaign to increase the minimum wage in Florida successfully winning a raise for one half a million Floridians. In 2005 Danielle relocated to Lansing, Michigan to become the executive director of GLADE a multi congregational coalition. From 2006-2012 Danielle worked throughout Michigan forming coalitions that included representation from labor unions,  youth, women’ and civil rights organization to increase voter participation among underrepresented voters with both America Votes and Michigan Voice. In 2012 she combined her experience as an organizer and mother to create Mothering Justice. To date  the organizations has trained over 200 women, reached over 12,000 likely mothers in a direct contact voter engagement plan, led several mama conversations  around Michigan and formed the Mamas’ agenda, a policy priority plan addressing financial stability issues of mothers in Michigan. Ms. Atkinson’s work on organizing mothers won her the 2013 Michigan organization of the year award

Join us for this intimate conversation with Mama Activist Danielle Atkinson. Atkinson is the founding director of Mothering Justice, a statewide organization working to improve the lives of families in Michigan by equipping the next generation of mother activists. She received her Bachelor Degrees in Political Science and Sociology from Pfeiffer University where she helped organizer students for peace in the early days for Iraq War. She worked as a field director for the campaign to increase the minimum wage in Florida successfully winning a raise for one half a million Floridians. In 2005 Danielle relocated to Lansing, Michigan to become the executive director of GLADE a multi congregational coalition. From 2006-2012 Danielle worked throughout Michigan forming coalitions that included representation from labor unions,  youth, women’ and civil rights organization to increase voter participation among underrepresented voters with both America Votes and Michigan Voice. In 2012 she combined her experience as an organizer and mother to create Mothering Justice. To date  the organizations has trained over 200 women, reached over 12,000 likely mothers in a direct contact voter engagement plan, led several mama conversations  around Michigan and formed the Mamas’ agenda, a policy priority plan addressing financial stability issues of mothers in Michigan. Ms. Atkinson’s work on organizing mothers won her the 2013 Michigan organization of the year award

Collections By Michelle Brown sits down with Chicago Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame Inductee  Kim L. Hunt. She has a 30-year career that spans the public, private, and nonprofit sectors with a focus on advocacy and nonprofit management. She is currently the executive director of Pride Action Tank (PAT), a social justice lab devoted to improving outcomes for LGBTQ communities through a collaborative process of inquiry, advocacy, and action. PAT is a project of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, where Ms. Hunt also serves as an advocacy advisor. She is a co-host of a monthly LGBTQ storytelling event, the political columnist for FOP Magazine and has taught numerous workshops and mini-courses over her career. Ms. Hunt is also a recent inductee into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.

An intimate conversation with LaWayne Childrey Author, Journalist, HIV Advocate, Inspirational Speaker.  A native of Birmingham, Alabama. His autobiography, Peeling Back the Layers: A Story of Trauma, Grace and Triumph, was selected as one of the top six autobiographies of 2015 by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. Childrey is also a recipient of the national Edward R. Murrow Award for Journalistic Excellence. In addition, Childrey has won numerous Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters awards for his reporting with Mississippi Public Broadcasting, a statewide affiliate of National Public Radio. In 2014 the Alabama Community College System selected Childrey as its most outstanding alumnus in the institution’s 50-year history. The ACCS awarded a $5,000 scholarship in Childrey’s name to a deserving Alabama high school senior. . "This book is therapy for anyone who needs it, and a re-affirmation for all that hope is never lost." - Joel Eisenberg "This memoir is one of the most candid that I've read" - Writer's Digest

Beginning with the Women's March January 21, activist have taken to the streets on a weekly and sometimes daily basis standing in solidarity for rights, liberties and values the hold dear. Joining Collections by Michelle Brown host are organizers, speakers and participants in these marches. They will share their motivation, experiences and hopes for the future as a result of these actions and for the future of democracy.

Scheduled  guests took place in activities nationally and at statewide levels and cross all boundaries of age, race, religion, ethnicity, class,  and sexual orientation. Phone lines will also be opened for other marchers to call in and share their experiences.