He Say She Say..Now What Do You Say

CWT4R  again this week will revisit a series that is geared toward the masculine identified lesbian with returning guest Kofi Adoma and the Jerry Palmer Group of Detroit. The conversation will again explore Identity and labels with a twist of social justice movement within the MIL community.The mission of the Jerry Palmer Group is to combine the talents of self-identified masculine lesbians into a cohesive effort to give validation, support and resources to MILs of all ages in the Detroit metropolitan area, as well as across the country where such support is needed. This grassroots self-reliant group specializes in educating the public about the social and cultural experiences of African American MILs and others of color because this is a population often neglected, stigmatized, and rarely highlighted in national discussions about the LGBT community. Since this is a self-help peer support organization, MILs serve as leaders in proactively managing the programs of this collective group. The JPG strives to coll

In August, 2014 The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry’s  African-American Roundtable and Many Voices hosted the Souls a’ Fire Conference focusing on the next generation of Black Queer Theology.  The conference encourages young scholars in their current work and seasoned theologians and preachers as they explore the intersections of African-American culture, the church and LGBTQ identity. As a follow up to CAN WE TALK FOR REAL’s “Black LGBT Believers” series which aired in May, CWT4R cohosts Teresa Adams, Ina Anthony and Michelle E. Brown will once again be joined by Rev. Roland Stringfellow (Detroit) and Rev. Anthony W. Sullivan Jr. (Chicago) as well as Rev. Gwen Thomas (Atlanta) to continue the conversation.Finding solace and strength in religion, Black LGBTQ Believers often find themselves at odds with the very faith communities they were born and raised in. Besides sharing their personal story, they will talk about the safe harbor LGBTQ churches provide, how to build more inclusiv

We will replay Part Two of the series on Black LGBTQ Believers which aired Wednesday, May 28, 2014 when CAN WE TALK FOR REAL co-hosts Ina, Terry Boi and Michelle were joined by Rev. Roland Stringfellow, Rev. Darlene C. A. Franklin and Rev. Anthony W. Sullivan Jr. continuing the conversation started by Bishop Allyson Nelson Abrams.Com next week is Part IIII when they discuss Souls of Fire. They’ve come this far by faith and draw upon that faith to minister and heal members of the LGBTQ community. Finding solace and strength in religion, Black LGBTQ Believers often find themselves at odds with the very faith communities they were born and raised in. Besides sharing their personal story, they will talk about the safe harbor LGBTQ churches provide, how to build more inclusive and supportive communities of faith outside the LGBTQ community, and how to remain strong/be agents of change in the face of attacks against the LGBTQ community often led a by Black ministers. Reverend Roland Stringfellow Senior Pastor of

For close to twenty years Donna worked for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), most recently as the Associate Director of Field Outreach/Diversity. She has advocated for LGBT legislative priorities, such as Marriage Equality and the Employment Non Discrimination Act by building relationships in people of color communities. Her work has successfully created visibility for LGBT people of color nationally. We are the link in understanding and changing the world dynamics around the conversation. Be proud of you and own all parts of you, and the world will have to adapt because you are significant. I must see – and we all must see, reflections of ourselves in fighting for LGBT rights.“ Donna Payne continues to serve as a Member of the Board of NBJC, and also serves as a Board member of Global Diversity & Inclusion Foundation (GDIF), and as a Member of the Metropolitan Community Church, of Washington, DC. She was named by “Root.com” as one of Top Twenty Black LGBT Movers and Shakers in 2012, and received the Natio

Approximately 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ. Nearly all homeless youth service providers in the U.S. now serve our youth but very few are exclusively by, for and about LGBTQ Youth. Joining Ina, Teresa and Michelle on CAN WE TALK FOR REAL on Wednesday August 20, 2014 is Jerry Peterson, Executive Director of The Ruth Ellis Center in Highland Park, Michigan serving the metro-Detroit community.  The Ruth Ellis Center is a youth social services agency that serves the needs of runaway, homeless and at-risk youth. Incorporated in 1999, it is one of the nation’s leading organizations focusing on vulnerable youth who are experiencing residential instability Being homeless brings its own level of stigma to LGBTQ youth and the definition for homelessness defies traditional boundaries. Many youth say “I have a home. I just don’t want to go there”. Opting for alternative housing (couch surfing, etc.) and/or the streets over unstable households. Sex trafficking transactional sex, even suicide are day –to-day realities.

It’s “HOT IN CLEVELAND” and it’s more than because of the summer weather. “SOULS A’ FIRE 4: A National Gathering of Black Queer Scholarship” has just concluded; The GAY GAMES IX are underway; The Republican National Convention is coming to town in 2016; And Lebron “King James” James announced his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Things are truly heating up in “The Rock and Roll Capital of the World” but what does all this activity mean for residents, especially Cleveland’s LGBT community.Paulina Smith of Cleveland’s Eight Ball Club will be joining Ina, TerryBoi and Michelle on CAN WE TALK FOR REAL Wednesday August 13, 2014.The Eight Ball Club was founded in 1984. This Black and International LGBTQ Group works to bring about visualization in the black community as well as the LGBTQ community. It connects young LGBT with older LGBTQ people through mentorship and knowledge.Money raised by The Eight Ball Club donated goes to the community...domestic violence houses, children’s needs, family assistance, most of

Immigration might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of issues affecting the LGBTQ community but it has a deep impact on the lives of many LGBTQ families especially immigrants in our community who face unique and often daunting challenges. Immigration equality demands fair and equal execution of the laws and rights of non-citizens regardless of nationality or where they come from. LGBTQ individuals are being detained when no crime has been committed with reports of transgender persons being isolated weeks on end while awaiting a court appearance or deportation. In over 77 countries around the world being gay is illegal. For many who are undocumented and those seeking asylum, being deported is the equivalent to a death sentence. The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) has been advancing the civil and human rights of LGBTQ people and their families through litigation, legislation, policy, and public education since 1977.  America is a country built on the immigrant experience of ma

There is an epidemic in the community and it is just not in the gay community but in the African American community. The sad TRUTH is that you have it and you don't even know it. When was the last time you were tested? A more important question is: Are you practicing SAFE sex daily? How well do you know the person you are kissing and loving? Do you know their status? Do you know YOURS? Herpes is a disease that has affected one out of six people in the United States between the ages of 14-49.  The CDC has estimated that at least 25% of Americans are infected with Herpes (HSV-2).  At least 90% of the population has herpes -1, which are cold sores. It does not matter if you have never been with a man your partner may have and unbeknownst to her or him and you, you both may have now been exposed and or be a carrier. Herpes is an Infection that is more easily transmitted from men to women than from women to men.  In the United States, an estimated 81.1% of 14–49 year olds infected with HSV-2 have never received a

Join cwt4r as we talk about Hotter In July.  Learn history and get excited. Call 347 215 8985 press 1 to speak.

Tonight join CWT4R co-host, Ina, Michelle and Terry and we discuss the STOP and FRISK Project in New York and the VIOLENCE IN CHICAGO. Today more children are being killed, African American and Latino youth are being hand cuffed and their life which is supposed to be just beginning comes to a complete stop. Parents are crying themselves to sleep either because their child is dead or their child is the reason another family will never get to hold theirs ever again. Are we putting our children in situations that mark them for either jail or the grave? Joining us as LeMagie Tapia a volunteer that works in this grassroots effort to educate our youth and keep them safe and alive. LeMagie will talk about how in the Bronx they are teaching young people about their rights when they are profiled, Stopped and Frisked by members of law enforcement.  LeMaige is involved in the New York STOP and FRISK Project that guide youth by educating them on when they are stopped by the police to not make a bad situation worst then i

Joining CWT4R co-host Ina, Michelle and Terry will be Gay Games IX- Cleveland + Akron, staff and athletics.  Northeast Ohio, Cleveland to be exact is eager to welcome the 13,000+ artists and athletes from around the globe who are expected to participate in over 30 events. If you were in Chicago for the 2006 Gay Games you know how excited the city, athletics and the staff were to bring this major event to the Windy City. Now just think at how excited Ohio must be to have the Games back in the United States. Taken from the web-site In addition to the exciting sporting events, the Gay Games will offer cultural events like concerts, theme parties, and exhibitions, as well as a festival village where athletes, community members, families, and other visitors can enjoy time together. Ask anyone who has attended a major event in Greater Cleveland and they will tell you Cleveland knows how to throw a party and this one will be huge. As Midwesterners, they are great hosts. Whether it's the NCAA basketball tournaments,

Tonight, July 2, 2014, CWT4R co-host, Ina, Michelle and Terry will welcome back Esteem Awards Founder and Publisher of PrideIndex.com, Philip Esteem. Philip started working in the community with Black Pride (Chicago in 2005) he began networking and was being introduced to people that were doing good things in the community and never really recognized as they should have been. After a short time Philip founded the Esteem Awards and some of the pass awardees included organizations such as The Lambda Literary Foundation & GLADD as well as Youth transgender Eboni Warren Watts, Lori Branch, The gay Magazine, Gay Radio.com, Wanda Sykes, Sharon Bridgforth, GBM News.com, and our very own Michelle E. Brown, just to name a few. He also publishes PrideIndex which is a new flavor of web media sharing local information and national resources for the LGBTQ.THIS YEAR AWARDEES INCLUDE: Craig Johnson, Sanford E. Gaylord, David Bridgeforth of DBQ Magazine, Trisha Lee Holloway of Howard Brown, Simone Koehlinger, Gregg Shapi

Joining co-hosts Terry Boi, Ina and Michelle on “Can We Talk for REAL” Blog Talk Radio Wednesday, June 25th will be another Outstanding Youth Leader and Esteem Award Winner David Bridgeforth an influential voice in the LGBT community and a renaissance man. Celebrated public speaker, personal life coach, poet, television personality, Publisher and Editor-In-Chief of a national magazine, noted gay rights activist, and essayist, Mr. Bridgeforth has come a long way in a very short time since his October 15, 1987 birth, in Voorhees, New Jersey. His professional speaking career began at the age of 16, when he caught the attention of Les Brown and was invited to tour nationally with the world-renown communicator. Then at 22, Maya Angelou affirmed his status as a poet when, at her North Carolina home, he presented her with a piece specifically written by him to celebrate her 81st birthday. Since then, he’s been a much sought after poet, performing his work throughout the country. When in college David opened up publi

Joining co-hosts Terry Boi, Ina and Michelle on “Can We Talk for REAL” Blog Talk Radio tomorrow night Wednesday, June 4th will be Mona Noriega let’s talk about if you have been discriminated and did not know where to go. Every city has a Human Relations Department. Join us as we talk to Mona about the department that handles the complaints, steps you need to take to file claims, and how to recognize you have been discriminated against. Mona Noriega, appointed by Mayor Emanuel in 2011, serves as the Chairman and Commissioner of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR). The CCHR works to address prejudice and discrimination, supports victims of hate crimes, and enforces the City of Chicago’s anti-discrimination laws. Currently she is a member of the LGBTQ Coalition for Immigrant Rights and annually serves as an Honorary Co-Chair of Chicago Build the Peace Committee and is working on a Hate Crimes Summit to be held at UIC on October 20, 2014. Mona’s initial community organizing work began with lesbian m

Part Two of the series on Black LGBT Believers airs Wednesday, May 28, 2014 when CAN WE TALK FOR REAL co-hosts Ina, Terry Boi and Michelle are joined by Rev. Roland Stringfellow, Rev. Darlene C. A. Franklin and Rev. Anthony W. Sullivan Jr. continuing the conversation started by Bishop Allyson Nelson Abrams. They’ve come this far by faith and draw upon that faith to minister and heal members of the LGBTQ community.  Finding solace and strength in religion, Black LGBTQ Believers often find themselves at odds with the very faith communities they were born and raised in. Besides sharing their personal story, they will talk about the safe harbor LGBTQ churches provide, how to build more inclusive and supportive communities of faith outside the LGBTQ community, and how to remain strong/be agents of change in the face of attacks against the LGBTQ community often led a by Black ministers. Reverend Roland Stringfellow Senior Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church in Ferndale, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit). Reveren

Joining CWT4R is Bishop Allyson D. N. Abrams.A past pastor of Zion Progress Baptist Church in Detroit, she made the decision to step down rather than divide the church after disclosing she had married her wife in Iowa where same sex marriage is legal. Before her marriage and before the Defense of Marriage Act was overturned by the Supreme Court , allowing same-sex marriages to be recognized by the federal government, Abrams wrote a blog post for People for the American Way, arguing that it was time to "dump DOMA" and allow every person the opportunity to marry. Her wife is bishop emeritus of the Imani Temple of the African-American Catholic Congregation in Washington, D.C. is her best friend and a support system. Abrams, who has a masters in divinity and a doctorate in ministry from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, will share how she reached the understanding that same-sex marriage is aligned with Christian teachings.

Do you want to know how to help your body heal itself utilizing all natural products and supplements?  How to use your life force energy to grow stronger and healthier?  How to have a healthier immune system and live longer?  How to have a young healthy brain all of your life? Then you don't want to miss CAN WE TALK FOR REAL as co-hosts TerryBoi, Ina and Michelle are joined by L. Ojetta Brown, the Director of the Center for Peace and Holistic Healing. Ojetta's experiences as a clinician and as a patient following a closed-head injury in 2003,  revealed to her the need for a radical change in how medical and mental health services are provided in this country.  She came to the conclusion that we do not not have a health care system, but a sick care system.  Her private practice integrates the best of the medical professions’ science and techniques with natural alternative treatments. She will be sharing tips on how we can live  healthier and offering alternatives for your medicine cabinet.  Call in Wednesda

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is the only philanthropic organization working exclusively to advance LGBTQI human rights around the globe. The Foundation supports brilliant and brave grantee partners in the U.S. and internationally who challenge oppression and seed change. Astraea works for racial, economic, social, and gender justice, because we all deserve to live our lives freely, without fear, and with dignity. On May 16, 2014 the Astraea Foundation will present the 2014 Fueling the Frontlines Awards.  The  recognizes activists and organizations whose brave and brilliant work on the cutting edge of LGBTQI Fueling the Frontlines Award  issues inspires movements and generates significant advances for our communities. This year’s Awards will celebrate the life and legacy of pioneering Chicago LGBT activist Vernita Gray. The evening will also honor Tracy Baim, Publisher and executive editor of Windy City Media Group. & co-founder of Windy City Times and Julio Rodriguez, president of the Asso

Dr Kofi wants to have some REAL TALK about butches, studs, AGs, doms, and Masculine-Identified Lesbians who also identify as Black in America. Let’s all talk about these identities in depth and spread some understanding about the perspectives and life experiences of Black lesbians whose gender variance is on the masculine-of-center side of the spectrum. Seems that whenever same gender loving women get together in the Black community, the topic of studs and femmes come up. So this time, it’s going to be a different conversation, a new discussion. It’ll be somewhat informational but it should be fun too. It will be to your advantage to have a visual aid as you’re listening to the show. It’s easy to download off the internet. Go to itspronouncedmeterosexual.com and find the diagram called The Genderbread Person. Do it now so you can have a copy of it during our discussion. Do your homework because show day is Wednesday, April 30th and time is 10:30 eastern, 9:30 central, 8:30 mountain, and 7:30 pacific times. 

Join us Wednesday night April, 23 as the co –host, Ina, Michelle and Terry  welcome back to the show Griot Monica Roberts and Founder and Executive Director of Black Transmen, Inc., Carter Brown. This week’s show is going to celebrate our Transmen and Transwomen as we gear up to help celebrate the third annual Trans Advocacy Conference. The conference will be held in Texas and will be celebrating Education, Equality, Advocacy, Empowerment, and social change for the transgender community.Quoted from the website: This year’s conference, themed “One Earth. One People. One Love. “Is an affirmation and Home To Our Trans & Gender Non-Conforming Family, Our Friends and Community Allies!Per the Transmen the Website Transmen, Inc.® is the 1st National Non-Profit Organization of African American transmen solely focused on acknowledgment, social advocacy and empowering African American transmen with resources to aid in a healthy female to male transition We affirm and celebrate the beauty, strength and uniqueness of