Michelle E. Brown
Standing with Survivors, Standing for Justice
The stories are all different, but they are the same. The family friend or member who comes into the bedroom at night. The uncle, grandparent or friend who touches inappropriately with a hug. The boys who cop a feel in the hallway. The "nice" guy [...]
Our Voice, Our Vote! Now More Important Than Ever!
I think about the power of our vote a lot. Maybe it's from hearing my grandmother talk about all they had to endure to have the right to vote. Maybe it's from being with my godmother, walking up and down the streets of her neighborhood, passing out [...]
Lilianna Reyes: Familiar Face in New Role at Affirmations
She's not a new face to the LGBTQ community locally or nationally, and certainly not to Affirmations where she has been working as the Program Services Director and as a volunteer. However, Lilianna Reyes is a new face in her current position as [...]
Trans Sistas of Color Activists Make Positive Change in Peoples' Lives
Five days a week I pass a building whose facade is marred by a bullet hole. The reality of gun violence in our community sends chills down my spine. The fact that this bullet hole came from a gun aimed at someone I know haunts me. I still remember [...]
Kicking Off 2018 With Some Heat: Sinister Wisdom Carries on Tradition
Sinister Wisdom revealed the cover for its first issue of 2018 and in a word it's "hot." Edited by JP Howard and Amber Atiya with the sultry cover photo taken by Akinfe Fatou, the topic of this journal is "Black Lesbians – We Are the [...]
2017 Dark Days With a Glimmer of Hope and Resistance
Michelle Brown In these worst of times, I keep looking for the best of times, the best in people, the best in possible outcomes, but it's hard. Most days, it feels that common decency is under siege by a GOP wave of "shock and awe," where [...]
A perfect February mix: History, equality and love
Viewpoint Each year when February rolls around two things always come to mind, Black History and love. With the recent ruling by California's 9th Circuit Court finding Prop. 8 unconstitutional and the state of Washington becoming the seventh state [...]
Damn shame, all this homophobia
I love the internet. Surfing websites, shopping, researching information, reading blogs, e-mailing, instant messaging (IM), and my latest craze – the webcam – you name it, I'm right there. I probably spend more time online than I care to admit to [...]
The bully connection: How Hollywood slurs affect LGBT teens
I am not big on network television. I have never seen "Survivor," "American Idol" or "Desperate Housewives." My viewing preferences generally consist of programs more on the line of "Tavis Smiley." "Animal Cops," "Living with the Kombai Tribe," "The [...]
Going High: Hard Work, Frank Talk & Not Backing Down
I remember being told as a child that "sticks and stones will break your bones but names/words can never hurt you." There was even a snappy retort — "I'm rubber and you're glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you!" The message [...]
The Band-Aid's Been Ripped Off
Many are wondering what the holy hell happened Nov. 8. Progressive/liberals/dreamers believed, as a society, we had grown — evolved to be inclusive and more embracing of our nation's expanding diversity. After all, we had elected Barack Obama, an [...]
Make America Great Again? Ain't Nobody Got Time for That Rhetoric!
Waiting in line at a popular restaurant, I overheard another patron (Caucasian male around 70) approach the hostess and say "Where's the men's room or should I just use the ladies' room? That's what they want, right?" The hostess blushed, pointed [...]