Collections By Michelle Brown

Lupus is more pervasive and severe than people think, and has a devastating impact that the public doesn't realize. In fact, research shows that a staggering two-thirds of the public knows little or nothing about lupus. You can help change that. May is Lupus Awareness Month. Joining Collections by Michelle Brown is the founder of Lupus Detroit, Sharon Harris. Ms. Harris not only lives with Lupus but thrives and provides support an encouragement for others living with this chronic autoimmune disease, living with both systemic and discoid lupus, Harris founded Lupus Detroit to not only provide emotional support but to also assist Lupus Warriors with daily challenges including paying for medicine, rent and other financial expenses. Lupus Detroit is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a gala celebration on May 20, 2017. Despite suffering, two strokes in 2016, Sharon Harris continues to work to help others not just survive bit to thrive and celebrate their lives.

Roz Gould Keith is a marketing professional, an educator and an activist. She is an amazing friend, a life-long learner and  believer in community. But first and foremost, she is about family. She is a dedicated wife, mother, sister and aunt. As the mother of a transgender son, Roz has embraced the opportunity to be an ally and supporter of the LGBTQ community. Utilizing her 30+ year background in marketing and a fierce love for her son, Roz has gone above and beyond in serving transgender youth and their families.Gould Keith is the founder and board president of "Stand WIth Trans;" the creator of "Ally MOms;" co-fecilitator of a parent support group; planner of numerous community education events; and a speaker always ready and willing to share her knowledge and experience. As Roz and her son, along with the rest of their loving family and friends navigate this journey, they are dedicated to continuing to spread awareness and ultimately, gain acceptance regarding what it means to be trans.

Due to technical ifficulties we are rebroadcasting today's earlier broadcast with our special guest Harriet Hancock. At 80 years young, Harriet Hancock, affectionately known as the mother of South Carolina Pride, is as passionate about standing for LGBTQ rights today as she was when her son came out to her in 1980. Mrs. Hancock is a retired attorney in Columbia, South Carolina. She is the proud mother of three. She started the Columbia, SC chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays) in 1982 - the first in the state. She is co-founder of Palmetto Aids Life Support ervices of SouthCarolina in 1985 and a co-founder of the South Carolina Gay & Lesbian Pride Movement (SCGLPM) in 1990. She was instrumental in acquiring the Harriet Hancock Center in 1994 and currently serves as vice president of the Harriet Hancock Center Foundation. The Harriet Hancock LGBT Center was originally founded by the Board of the South Carolina Gay & Lesbian Pride Movement (now known as the SC Pride

Harriet Hancock is a 1984 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of South Carolina and received her law degree in 1988. She retired from the practice of law in 2013. She is the mother of two daughters and one son. For three decades, this octogenarian has been a force for social and cultural change in South Carolina. She is a tireless advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in South Carolina and their families. LGBT people in the south have often faced an indifferent if not hostile climate. Harriet is a steadfast advocate and volunteer, working to change that climate. Upon learning that her son was gay in 1980, she started the first chapter of Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays in South Carolina (PFLAG) in 1982. She is a co-founder of the Palmetto Aids Life Support Services of South Carolina (PALSS), the first grass roots organization in SC to provide services for those with HIV/AIDS and their families. She was instrumental in organizing the first pride march i

Cheryl Gilliam has more than 35 years of professional experience in the medical and food industries working for companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Heinz USA, Sara Lee Bakery, Kraft Foods and currently, for “Tony the Tiger” at Kellogg’s in the Legal and Compliance department. She currently serves as Board Secretary on the West Michigan LGBT & Allies Chamber of Commerce and is a founding Board Member of the organization.    She also serves on the Board of Directors as Vice President for OutFront Kalamazoo and is a member of the Michigan State University Athletics Council and MSU Varsity S Club Board of Directors as immediate Past President. While at MSU, she won a total of 13 individual Big Ten Championships and also earned All American honors.  In 1980, she finished 7th in the 200m finals at U.S. Olympic Trials and competed in Europe as a member of the Muhammad Ali Track Club.In 2014, she was awarded the top award at W. K. Kellogg K Values Award for Kellogg North America for Diversity and Inclusion a

The 6th Annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference and Awards Gala will take place in Dallas, TX from April 24-30, 2017.   BTMI Founder and Director, Carter Brown, will be talking about the theme and conference activities on “Collections by Michelle Brown” on Thursday April 20th. Co-convened by Black Transmen, Inc., Black Transwomen, Inc. and the Black Trans International Pageantry System organizations, the conference addresses key ssues faced by the black trans community as a result of discrimination including, but not limited to, inequities in income, education, employment, housing, health, legal justice and interfaith support.  The theme for this year’s conference is L.O.T.U.S. “Loving Ourselves Through Ultimate Service.” All are welcome at BTAC. There is NO FEE FOR THE CONFERENCE however tickets must be purchased for the GALA. Visit www.blacktrans.org for all the details, to register for the conference and. get event tickets

“The Feminist Wire” called her a “Feminist we Love!  But the world knows J. Bob Alotta as the Executive Director at the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, a global foundation based in NYC that provides critical resources to LGBTQI organizations and individuals around the world. Bob is a lifelong activist and an accomplished filmmaker with a track record of leading exponential organizational growth and capacity building through visionary management and fundraising. She builds strong partnerships with diverse communities, grantee partners, donors, institutional funders, and corporate stakeholders. For two decades Bob has worked diligently to bring the margins to the center. She is a friend and comrade to many across the globe. She is also one of the many radical-feminist-queer individuals who walks the talk of intersectionality as an artist, activist, and philanthropist.  Alotta was one of 50 speakers in January, 2017 at the Women's March on Washington rally in Washington, D.C. In a nutshell she’s a globet

Natasha “T” Miller is a three-time Women of the World Poetry Slam finalist. She has been part of four national slam teams. In 2010, she starred in a national Sprite commercial, and started her publishing company “All I Wanna Say Publishing.” Since then, she has published two books: “Dreams of a Beginner,” and “Coming Out of Nowhere,” a social networking memoir about homosexuality, religion and cyber bullying. Natasha has been on three national tours, and performed at renowned venues all across the country. Natasha believes her purpose is to create change and peace like so many great leaders before her. Miller is also the force behind The Artists Inn, a Bed & Breakfast, and farm to table restaurant, located in the east village neighborhood of Detroit, catering to community, and artists T. Miller is also marketing, communications, ad personality for SHINOLA, a detroit based business commited to  building a modern and quintessentially American consumer products brand through the reintroduction of domestic

March 31-April 2, 2017 Chicago’s Coalition for Justice & Respect will host the 5th Annaul Bolder Than Out Conference. The theme of this year’s conference is “No Regrets!” Joining Collections by Michelle Brown is the conference convener Marc Loveless. Marc Loveless is an appointed Commissioner of the Cook County Commission of Social Innovation. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Chicago Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA) -- the national association of enterprising nonprofits and social-purpose businesses. Currently a Student of Social Enterprise at Roosevelt University and member of the grassroots leadership team that passed the Quality of Life Scratch-off Lottery Ticket. This act created in Illinois a new stream of funding for HIV/AIDS. This is the first of funding stream of its kind in the country.  He is the Founding Executive Director of the Coalition for Justice and Respect, a African-American Same Gender Loving Black Lesbian and Gay social justice and civil rights organization in Chicago. A S

Janice Fialka, LMSW, ACSW is a nationally-recognized lecturer, author, and advocate on issues related to disability, parent-professional partnerships, inclusion, raising a child with disabilities, sibling issues, and post-secondary education. She is the Special Projects Trainer with Michigan’s Early On® Training and Technical Assistance (Part C of IDEA). Janice is also a parent, poet, a compelling storyteller, and an award-winning advocate for families and persons with disabilities. In 2009, Janice and her family were honored with the "Life Time Achievement Award" by Family Voices for their advocacy in disability. She was named Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) – Michigan Chapter in 2007. Janice conducts workshops for schools, human service organizations, and parent and advocacy groups. In her primary keynote address and trainings, The Dance of Partnership: Why do my feet hurt? Strengthening the Parent-Professional Partnership she reflects with sensitivity, humo

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 t

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

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

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

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 r

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.