Local activist pens children's book

DETROIT – Move over Louis Carroll, and make way for Michelle Brown. The longtime and well-respected community activist has added a new line item to her resume with the release of her children's story, "Jack with the Curly Tail: A Home For Jack – Episode One."
Shocked? Well, you're not alone.
"Even I was surprised," said Brown. "It's like, 'I'm writing a children's book?' But I did."
Best known for her work on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign – she's entering her second term as a member of the national board of governors and she just finished hosting the fourth installment of HRC's Gospel & Soul Detroit event – Brown is the proverbial jack of all trades. A freelance finance and human rights consultant, Brown juggles that work with a healthy dose of volunteerism for various causes.
"I could go get a real job, but I wouldn't have time to be creative," Brown said. "Artists, back in the day they had patrons. Where are those patrons now? It's hard to be creative and make a living."
Yet Brown somehow manages to make it happen – with a little imagination and some help from her friends. Best of all, she didn't need to look far to find the inspiration for her new book. Brown does some bookkeeping for Ann Perrault and Jackie Victor of Avalon Breads, and their lovely daughter Rafaella proved to be the perfect test audience.
"Rafaella and I are best friends," said Brown. "She says I'm the world's best story teller."
Shea Howell, with whom Brown volunteers at Detroit Summer, provided the main character, or at least her dog Jack did.
"Jack actually showed up on her doorstep one day," Brown explained. "He had a very curly tail and lots of other issues. I started making up this story about Jack. First it was an easy story, and then it developed. There are things that you can talk about using a character that's an animal.
"Rafi lives in the Cass Corridor, which is a very interesting place to live," Brown continued. "It's a story about discovering and being who you are. Rafi has two mommies. So it examines the concept of what is family? Jack is in search of his identity, in search of a family and home, and without giving up too much, he finds a home with two mommies."
Telling Jack's story took Brown nearly three years.
"I went through about three different versions, looking at it, thinking about it, writing it, taking it from just a cutesy story to a story with some thought in it. It was a labor of love."
To help tell the story, Brown turned to illustrator Gilbert Tuju, a native of Nigeria.
"His perspective from his country, his relationship to the earth, to animals – he was able to express the feeling and emotion that I wanted," said Brown. "He just really got it. I was tickled pink."
Now that it's completed, Brown wants her book to be a fundraiser. She's already spoken to the Coalition for Adoption Rights Equality and Cass Community Social Services about ways to use her book to help. And when she can find a minute to spare, Brown is already working on follow-up books in her mind. It's a series that threatens to rival the success of Harry Potter.
"There are things I want to talk about, issues that are important to me that I can introduce in this format," she said. "I don't see a Geriatric Jack, but I do envision about three episodes."
So what can one expect from the sequel?
"I already see a little transgendered poodle," Brown said.