Collections by Michelle Brown

Tarik Daniels is founder and executive director of Austin-based What’s in the Mirror - a social movement committed to bringing suicide and mental health awareness and prevention through art and advocacy in minority communities. As a member of the House of Xclusive Lanvin ballroom family he is Tarik Lanvin, Overall Father Lepore, .

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, he has for the past 9 years called Austin, Texas home. He is the author of “No Bonds So Strong”  a coming of age drama about four black queer friends growing up in Detroit.

Tarik Daniels was the recipient of this year’s National Future Leader Award.

Scott Ellis began as volunteer just wanting to help organize the great lakes bay area LGBTQIA+ community’s pride events.

Today he is the executive director of the Great Lakes Bay Pride.

Great Lakes Bay Pride (formerly known as Perceptions) is the LGBTQIA+ education, advocacy, networking, and resource organization in Michigan's Great Lakes Bay Region of Bay, Isabella, Midland, and Saginaw counties.

Ellis brings his background in business and communications to the organization to develop its programming including the Harmony Diversity Choir, Tobacco Cessation, and a Transgender group. He also produces the Great Lakes Region Pride Festival celebration.

After two years of Celebrating Pride at Home, this year’s Great Lakes Bay Pride festival, takes place Saturday June 25th. It is the festival’s 20th anniversary. The Great Lakes Bay Pride Festival is FREE to attend and open to all.

You don't have to go into the old record vault and listen to Margaret Whiting's song to have those "Those far away places with the strange-sounding names " call you. Just tune in here and listen to our latest conversation with The Black & Gay (BAG) Collective​ founder/CEO Mike Henderson​ and you will hear the call. From national parks to places "Far away over the sea" the road will be calling you!!

Are you ready to recover from winter’s cabin fever, to get out of the house and hit the road? Are you trying to decide how to use those accumulated vacation days and dreaming of faraway places, hanging out with friends, or meeting new friends?

Our friend, adventurer, traveler, and founder/CEO of BAG travel Mike Henderson has some great ideas for your consideration.

From Memorial Day through New Year’s Eve, it’s one adventure after another not just at some National Parks but trips to Mexico, Europe, and beyond.

Whether you’re traveling with BAG travel or on your own, Henderson offers tips to traveling drama free, safely, and making the best of your getaway.

Like the song says "They call me a dreamer. Well maybe I am. But I know that I'm burning to see those Far away places with the strange sounding names. Calling, calling me

We first met at a past Esteem Award in Chicago. Ken Mejia Beal was a guest that year. This year he is receiving the award for Chicago’s Outstanding Service - Male.

Ken is a community organizer and Chair of the DuPage County Democratic Party. As a long-time resident, community activist, and a leader in the financial sector, Ken Mejia-Beal has spent the better part of his life helping others.

A part of the greater Chicago area’s LGBTQ+ community, he was elected chair of the Democratic Party of DuPage County in 2021. DuPage County is the second-largest voting sector in Illinois.

He is also an award-winning writer that has written for such publications as “Patriot Not Partisan” and “DemCast”. He has been a guest speaker and cohost on various radio shows. Ken has worked as a community organizer and served on several boards to usher in an era of social equality and healthcare equality for all.

May is Lupus Awareness Month and we are honored to celebrate another Lupus Warrior.

Diagnosed at age 19, Christina Hayes has more than survived her diagnosis but thrived becoming an advocate not only for other Lupus Warriors but for other social justice issues as well.

Now in her 30's this mother advocates for paid sick leave with the Mothering Justice organization which has allowed her to tell her story of navigating employment while dealing with Lupus.

She founded "The Christina Project" to provide inspiration, comfort and care to patients with Lupus and Lupus related conditions that are hospitalized and their families. Love and support during hospital stays are imperative for healing and recovery which brighten the lives of the Lupus Warriors and their family. 

She is also active in and a big supporter of Lupus Detroit - A nonprofit dedicated to eliminating lupus as a health problem through advocacy & service - attending monthly support groups, the annual gala, and annual Lupus Walk. She is another amazing LUPUS WARRIOR

It should come as no surprise that young people given life without the possibility of parole sentences have been disproportionately Black and Brown.

James Windell, the author of Sentencing Youth to Life in Prison: Justice Denied is an adjunct faculty member in Criminal Justice, a court clinical psychologist, and has more than 25 years of conducting group therapy with delinquent adolescents.

The Supreme Court decisions in Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana clearly demonstrated that the Court’s view of juveniles evolved over decades to reflect advances in our understanding of the unique characteristics of youth and their involvement in juvenile crimes.

This book, co-written with Kathy Miliken Boyd, analyzes the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court rulings deeming juvenile life without parole sentences to be cruel and unusual punishment. These Court decisions brought about controversy and resistance in the criminal justice field, while at the same time providing hope for those 2,300 people who never thought they had a chance to experience life as an adult outside prison.

By looking in depth at the lives of some of the individuals serving life terms and understanding both the prosecutors who oppose review and resentencing of juvenile lifers and those who are sincerely following the Supreme Court’s guidelines, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of the issues.

Born and raised in New Orleans, LA Dr, Enchante Franklin is a Forensic Social Work Consultant, Community Advocate, and Author. She is dedicated to the art of prose, storytelling, and poetry through the lens of resilience. ´She served five years as a New Orleans Police Officer during and after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

She earned a Bachelor in Social Work from Southern University at New Orleans and received her two Master’s degrees at Southern University in New Orleans. She received her Doctoral degree in Philosophy at the Whitney M. Young Jr., School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University. She did all of this while caring for her mother and grandmother.

She is the author of The Blue Lotus Flower which tells her story of resilience-pushing through the traumas of an impoverished, flooded city, facing childhood pain and community violence in the central city of New Orleans. She is dedicated to the art of prose, storytelling, and poetry through the lens of resilience.

She currently is Assistant Professor of Social Work College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the University of the Virgin Islands and CEO of EnchantedLinks Consulting Firm LLC., a multi-social services consulting firm.

After the deaths of her Mother and Grandmother, she began thinking about caregiving and life beyond grief. She shares information and tips from her workshops “Giving the Self Love Energy While Caregiving – The Resilient Women of Color”

At the tender age of ten, Mike Henderson first felt the urge to explore. Charting excursions on a city map each weekend got on the bus and explored another section of Los Angeles. On family vacations, he would hike and camp while dreaming of faraway places.

Henderson has traveled to many places nationally and internationally but considers Yosemite National Park not only his most memorable adventure but one of his favorite places. With 20 years as a travel consultant, Henderson is passionate about cultural immersion, outdoor adventures, and historical tours.

As founder of the Black & Gay (BAG) Collective, and CEO of BAG Travel, Henderson curates travel adventures for groups of varying sizes for members of the Black LGBTQ+ community.

With a background in urban planning, he also desires to share how places function - beyond glamourous travel ads.

Attending the annual Creating Change Conference has been a rite of passage for LGBTQ activists for over 30 years,  We would come together, share ideas, make new friends, catch up with old friends and even find love. What’s happened to Creating Change in the time of COVID???

Pivoting to a virtual format in 2021, activists, organizers, and newbies were looking forward to coming together in 2022 once again in New Orleans when the omicron variant of the coronavirus begin showing up in communities around the world.

After dealing with the momentary disappointment of having to cancel the in-person conference, the staff went to work reimagining Creating Change and looking forward to 2023 when the conference also include a celebration of The Task Force’s 50th anniversary.

Communications Director Cathy Renna is a veteran of Creating Change.  She’s watched the conference grow not just by the number of participants but in the programming, diversity, and inclusion of varying and new voices in the LGBTQ community. Conference Director Danny Linden is the new kid on the block. He joined the staff in 2021 but is not new to conference organizing and planning.  He has spent much of the past 31 years as a conference and events specialist.

Cathy and Danny are here to talk about Creating Change 2022, the shift to Creating Change 365 and the big celebration planned for 2023.

“Alabama Grandson began as a series of letters Rev, Cedrick Bridgeforth wrote to his maternal grandmother. Although she died in 1989, Bridgeforth has fond and profound memories of her presence, the aromas in her kitchen, and the life lessons that rolled effortlessly from her tongue.

This story intersperses the lessons taught by his grandmother but learned through the living of his life in search of meaning and purpose through the service of others.

A native of Decatur, Alabama Rev. Cedrick Bridgeforth is an ordained minister, author, educator, executive coach, consultant, public speaker, and the founder of 20/20 Leadership Lessons.

As a child of the South, a Gay African American, an Air Force Veteran, and Ordained Methodist Minister, Bridgeforth had been a master of hiding in plain sight. In 2015 when he nonchalantly acknowledged his life partner during a public Methodist gathering all kinds of drama broke out.

His hope is that by telling his story, others will make connections with their motivations for living and take inventory of spaces and places where they are not being honest about who they are out of fear of rejection, ridicule, or ruin.