Michelle E. Brown
Message from a Month of PRIDE: The Five Things
Throughout June I made the Pride Circuit. Every weekend, sometimes at a banquet mid-week, in Michigan and beyond I have been talking to audiences large and small about how we – the LGBTQ community – are going to get from here to there. What's here [...]
We're not in Kansas anymore It's all about the Benjamins
Viewpoint Well the numbers are out, confirming once again the impact of the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" ruling – money can't buy you love but it sure as hell can buy you an election. At least that is what GOP backers are hoping. Following [...]
Evolution: It's been a long time coming
Point of View While on the road in 1963 Sam Cooke penned the original draft of his classic song " A Change Is Gonna Come" while sitting in the back of his tour bus. The song became the soundtrack of the Civil Rights movement for the sixties and [...]
Marriage: We fall down but we get up
Viewpoint Are you feeling good about our chances in November? Still sitting on the sidelines because you're just not that into politics? Are you leaving all the heavy lifting to your local and national organizations? Are you still waiting for [...]
2012: Taking the blue pill - Re-booting the dream
Let me be clear, the race for the 2012 presidency did not just begin. It began the day after Barack Obama was elected in November 2008. At the prospect of electing not just the first African American President, but a candidate campaigning on the [...]
After celebrating Labor Day, remember ENDA
Viewpoint Despite the parades celebrating the accomplishments of workers and unions held in cities across the country, for most people Labor Day traditionally means the end of summer, the time to put away your summer cottons and break out your [...]
Bachmann-Perry overdrive: You ain't seen nothing yet
Viewpoint It's months before the first primary and the rhetoric coming from declared and potential GOP candidates has already kicked into overdrive. Despite many fact malfunctions, including her claim that the Founding Fathers had worked [...]
Showing up, showing out: gay, gifted and black
Viewpoint Sometimes it's not enough just to be here and queer. Sometimes you have to show up and show out to tear down the curtain of homophobia and show the depth and breadth of our community in the fabric of America. We all get tired of the [...]
An Empire State of mind
Viewpoint Some Friday nights I just have to unplug from my technological world. I turn off the television, turn off the computer, set aside the iPhone and, without a Pandora musical background, spend the evening reading a book old-school style, [...]
Here's to the death of power lists
Viewpoint The definition of insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" is generally attributed to Albert Einstein. Regardless of who originally coined this adage, it continues to ring true today. We live [...]
Keep your frigging tolerance!
I love words. They can inspire, excite, and express the human emotions in so many ways yet take on a life of their own once they come out of your mouth. Something as benign as the word mother can go from a term of endearment to a slap in the face, [...]