Samson Brown
is a poetically fluent theatre nerd, community activist, and student of life, lover of positivity, follower of dreams and a person of great faith. He recently appeared in Secrets of A Black Boy by Darren Anthony and produced by Trey Anthony.
Robert Carr
Dr Robert Carr is Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy at the International Coalition of AIDS Services Organisations (ICASO). He has been active in the field of HIV since 2000, when he began research and advocacy on stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV in Jamaica, and then in 2002 became Executive Director of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, a national NGO serving the most disenfranchised in Jamaican society, including prisoners, the hearing impaired, sex workers, and gay and other men who have sex with men. Since then, Dr Carr has gone on to be co-founder of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, a coalition of indigenous frontline service providers working on rights based programming with marginalised groups across the Caribbean. Dr Carr has also published several books, including his most recent, Sexuality, Social Exclusion and Human Rights: Vulnerability in the Caribbean Context of HIV (Ian Randle Press, 2009), co-edited with Professor Christine Barrow and Drs Marjan de Bruin, both of the University of the West Indies.
Craig Cromwell
Craig Cromwell is a transplant from Halifax Nova Scotia where he has worked for 20 years in the community development and social services field. He has worked in a variety of capacities as an: Employment Counsellor, Case Manager, Program Coordinator, Liaison Officer, Community Organizer and Consultant. In 2000, he was selected by Macleans Magazine readers as one of “100 Young Canadians to Watch” and was profiled in their millennium edition for his work in community development. Craig currently works as the LGBT Settlement Coordinator at the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention where he provides settlement and supports services to Black LGBTQ Newcomer clients. As a member of the LGBTQ community himself, Craig is passionate about empowering Black LGBT newcomers as they transition to life here in Canada by helping them to recognize the significant and vital role they play within the larger Black community in which we are all stakeholders.
Keith Cunningham
Keith Cunningham is the sexual health educator at the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP) and a radio programmer at CHRY 105.5FM; two opportunities that provide him spaces to challenge homophobia, HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination, lend support to those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, raise sexual health issues that are perceived to be discussed infrequently by Toronto’s Black heterosexual communities such as masturbation, oral and anal sex, which are often seen as taboo topics. He enjoys talking about relationship issues and ways to support and empower each other. He supports dialogue as against discussion mainly so because dialogue is about assuming that we all have a piece of the answer and that together we can explore common grounds by revealing assumptions for re-evaluation, listening to understand, find meaning and agreement, discover new options and craft a solution. He believes that when we engage each other in dialogue we are seeking truths to live by and that by doing so we have a good chance of finding that truth. Keith is a practicing Human Resources Specialist and in his spare time he does relationship coaching.
Trevor Gray
Trevor is currently employed at Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN) as the Youth Outreach Coordinator. His past employment history includes the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black-CAP) as the Men2gether Outreach Coordinator and the Education Coordinator. He was also employed at the East Metro Youth Services HIV/AIDS as the Prevention Coordinator and Facilitator of Out and Proud. Trevor currently volunteers with (BQY) Black Queer You and has held several volunteer positions within agencies such as Toronto People with AIDS Foundation, The AIDS Committee of Toronto, The Canadian AIDS Society, The Ontario HIV/AIDS Advisory Committee and The Community Link-Evaluation AIDS Unit. Trevor current serves as the Co-chair of the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO) and sits on the board of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black-CAP).
Junior Harrison
Junior Dave Harrison, aka David, aka 'Still Tight', aka Priscilla, born in Jamaica, then transplanted in Toronto in 1980. Junior identifies himself as a proud out Black Gay Community Activist/Organizer and above all a person surviving with HIV (20 years and counting). Junior's Community Activism/Organizing encompasses various roles for Black LGBTTQQI, community groups such as one of the Coordinators of 'AYA' [pronounced - eye-ya] - 1991 to 1995), Coordinating Committee Member - Blackness Yes! - The presenters of 'Blockorama' at Pride Toronto (1999 to 2005). Junior Harrison is a life long client, volunteer at large and past Board
Member of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention. Junior works full-time and is currently volunteering as a 'Mentor' in the Legacy Project: Creating a community mentorship network to support PHA learning, sharing and practice - spearheaded by "Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT - Toronto, Ontario
Winston Husbands
Winston is the Director of Research at the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT). As the previous Director of the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO) his work focuses on HIV prevention among gay men and African and Caribbean communities in Canada, and ACCHO’s efforts to implement the strategy on HIV/AIDS for African and Caribbean communities in Ontario. Winston first entered the HIV field in the early 1990s as a volunteer with the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention in Toronto, and joined the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) in 2001. Winston has also been a co-chair of ACCHO (2003-2008). Winston is originally from Barbados, lived in Jamaica when he attended the University of the West Indies. He is a PhD in geography from the University of Western Ontario. He has also lived in southern Africa where he taught at the University of Zambia. Winston’s work is supported by a Community Scholar Award from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network.
Carlos Idibouo
CARLOS IDIBOUO is originally from Ivory Coast. He holds a B.A. in Communications, a B.A. in Languages and a B.A. in General Sociology. Before entering in social work field, he was a High School teacher of French and Spanish. In July 2003, he co-founded Arc-En-Ciel Plus, the first gay and lesbian organization in Ivory Coast. In 2005, he won the UNICEF Award “Ados d’Aujourd’hui, Adultes de Demain” (Teenagers Today, Adults Tomorrow) for his involvement as volunteer with homeless youth. He migrated to Canada since August 2006 when he first worked as Research Assistant at the AIDS Committee of Toronto for the Lambda Project. Afterwards, he worked as HIV/AIDS Program Coordinator for FrancoQueer. Carlos Idibouo now lives in Montreal where he is a Master Candidate in Social Work at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQUAM). He is also responsible of the HIV/AIDS Committee for Arc-En-Ciel d’Afrique, a LGBTQ organization serving the Black African and Caribbean community. Carlos is Vice-President on the board of directors of the Black History Month.
El Farouk Khaki
El-Farouk Khaki is a queer African Muslim man of colour, a feminist and an immigrant.
He has lived in Toronto since 1989. Since that time, he has been active and outspoken as a human rights advocate and a refugee lawyer primarily representing those seeking protection due to their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and/or HIV status.
El-Farouk has served on the boards of the Toronto Mayor's Committee for Community & Race Relations, and The 519 Community Centre. He is currently the elected chair of Africans in Partnership against AIDS, and sits on the Boards of Salaam: Queer Muslim Community, EGALE Canada and the Canadian Muslim Union, of which he is the Secretary General. He is also one of the founders of The Muslim AIDS Project and co-founder with his partner Troy Jackson of Human+. In Spring 2007, he received the Steinert and Ferreiro Award from the Lesbian and Gay Community Appeal Foundation for his "major role in paving the way in Canada for refugee protection on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender", and because he has "broke ground" by raising sexual orientation and gender issues in the Muslim community. Also in 2007, El-Farouk was honoured with the Canadian Bar Association's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference [SOGIC] Hero Award for contributions made in the area of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people for his work with refugees who are sexual minorities or suffering from HIV. He was the recipient of the Theme Award ‘Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop’. El-Farouk continues to advocate and regularly speak on a variety of issues including the immigration system, multiculturalism, racism, progressive Muslim issues, Islam, human rights, gender and homo/sexuality.
Akim Adé Larcher
Akim Adé Larcher, is currently the Director of Policy & Research at Egale Canada, a national LGBT human rights organization: advancing, equality, diversity, education, and justice. He is a current board member of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention, the International Lesbian & Gay Association (ILGA), a member on the Advisory Committee for the LGBT Program with Human Rights Watch, and the founder of Stop Murder Music (Canada). His primary focus and concern lies in the discussion and development of sexual citizenship through transnational advocacy interventions. Akim is a Gordon Global Fellow sponsored by the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation. This fellowship is awarded to emerging young Canadian leaders who have proven their commitment to and passion for enhancing Canada’s role in global politics.
David Lewis-Peart
David Lewis-Peart is the Prevention Program Coordinator with the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP) in Toronto. David is a graduate student at York University, where his focus of study is in Research, BMSM youth, and Community interventions. David has worked as a social services counsellor and consultant over the past five years with organizations such as the Metro Action Committee on Violence Against Women, Central Toronto Youth Services, the Center for Addictions and Mental Health, LOFT community services, Fife House, and was the recipient of the TD Canada LGBT Youthline Award for Achievement in Social Services and Anti-oppression in 2008. David authored, ‘Visibly Hidden: Rethinking BMSM and HIV Prevention’ which has been used in the creation of programming and resources for young Black gay and bisexual men which includes the THINK print media campaign, www.getthelowdown.ca; a sexual health website for BMSM youth, the ‘Dealing with Being Different: A Coming Out Resource Booklet for Black LGBT Youth and their Families’, and in addition spearheaded the development of the Black Families and Friend (BFF) chapter of PFLAG Canada. Most recently, David launched Black CAP’s pilot of the HIV/STI intervention, Many Men, Many Voices (3MV) for BMSM youth which he is evaluating with Black CAP's academic partners..
Lydia Makoroka
Lydia is a research coordinator for the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), where she coordinated the Mabwana Black Men’s Study. Lydia has worked on various community health projects specific to African and Caribbean communities including community-based research, front line work, and outreach. Lydia has also been involved with Gays Lesbians of African Descent (GLAD) and has organized various events including pride march, panel discussions, forum, vigils, Afrofest, etc. Through her activism, Lydia has also worked and collaborated with other African gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer activists living in Africa, Europe and North America. Lydia is a member of the advisory committee for UHAI a grant making initiative which provide accessible resources to support civil society activism around issues of sexuality, health, and human right in the East African region.
Lance McCready
Lance T. McCready, Ph. D. is Assistant Professor of Urban Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He received his doctorate in Social and Cultural Studies with a Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.Dr. McCready’s research and writing focuses on curricular and pedagogical issues in urban education, specifically the “troubles” facing Black male students in urban schools and the experiences of queer youth of color. In Toronto he is principal investigator of the Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices (CRTP) study and an evaluator for the Many Men, Many Voices HIV/AIDS prevention program for Black young men who have sex with men. He is also a Lead Researcher on the Black and Latino Male SchoolIntervention Study (BLMSIS) of single-sex schools based at New York University’s Metro Center. A consistent theme throughout all of these projects is using intersectional lens to understand and make policy recommendations for marginalized youth.
Courtnay McFarlene
is a Jamaican-born and Canadian-raised man who took his first steps into black queer community and organizing in 1983 when he joined Zami, the first ‘Black and West Indian’ queer support group in Toronto. Since then he has been: among the founding membership of a number of similar organizations, an active volunteer at the Black Coalition for Aids Prevention, Coordinator of AYA, a board member of Inside Out, and most recently Blackness Yes, the organizing committee for the Blockorama event at Pride.
In his other life he is Acting Program Director at Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services. A graduate of the OCAD, Courtnay is also a visual artist and poet whose work has been published in several African-Canadian and Queer anthologies.
Abdullahi Mohamed
Lali Mohamed is a queer Somali youth activist completing his final year in Sociology at Ryerson University. As a previous co-ordinator at RyePRIDE and currently sitting on the board of directors at the Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth Line, Lali strives to create spaces for queer youth, particularly those from racialized communities. His experience as a speaker at the TDSB Unity Conference, performer at Scarborough PRIDE and host during Toronto’s queer writing festival, Writing Outside the Margins, has lead Lali to host Pride Toronto’s Fruit Loopz stage this past year which showcased the talent of queer youth artists. Lali intends to utilize art as a tool for social change: he aims to penetrate Toronto’s queer community to ensure adequate representation and space for queer youth of colour.
Alexis Musanganya
Musanganya is Rwandan-Canadian who has been living in Montréal for the last ten years. He works as a executive director for Arc-en-ciel d'Afrique (African rainbow), which he founded in 2004. African Rainbow is is an LGBT community organization that connects LGBT immigrants of African and Caribbean origin living in Québec. As the Co-president of Multimundo, he helps to foster coalitions connecting LGBT ethnocultural community organizations in Canada. Musanganya is a Member (gouvernor) of the Fondation Émergence, a board director member of REZO and a member of the Advisory Board of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Right Commission (IGLHRC), based in New York. He is a Facilitator of Gris Montréal, an organization of gays and lesbians whose mission is to demystify homosexuality in secondary schools and among new immigrants. As of 2002, Musanganya is the Creator and Programmer of the internet site www.gayafrique.com, which was the first francophone internet site that examines GLBT problems in Africa and has enabled the creation of many LGBT organizations in numerous African countries. Musanganya collaborated with the 1st Outgames in Montréal in 2006 and with Arc en ciel d’Afrique, enabling 28 African people to participate in the international conference of LGBT human rights and in the games.
Abdi Osman
Abdi Osman is a Somali-Canadian photographer whose work focuses on questions of black masculinity as it intersects with Muslim and queer identities. Previous work has been supported by a grant from the Ontario Arts Council. As well his photographs are in private collections and the Art Bank of the Canada Council for the Arts. Some of his work will be in the year long group show DiaporArt: Strategy and Seduction by Canadian Artists from Culturally Diverse Communities at Rideau Hall. He is also the MSM Outreach Coordinator at Africans in Partnership Against AIDs (APAA).
Ishwar Persad
Ishwar Persad is the owner of Ghandarva Creations, an event-planning organization that produces steamy, playful erotic events for pushing, exploring and transforming boundaries. For many years, Ishwar and Ghandarva Creations have been creating fun spaces where guests gather to explore sex and sexuality at their own pace, and where safer sex is the norm. His parties cater to a pansexual clientele, attract a diversity of people, and are based on an analysis of issues of race, class, gender, power, privilege, drug use and harm reduction. Ishwar has over 10 years experience working in the HIV/AIDS prevention and harm reduction fields, while also bringing years of experience of exploring kink and BDSM communities.
Eric Peters
Born in Trinidad, Eric Peters spent a large portion of his life living in the U.S, before making the move to Toronto. Eric has committed and dedicated his life’s work to addressing the issues that impact the lives of Black people in the African Diaspora. Eric began work in the field of HIV/AIDS in 1997 following a career in American financial sector and a brief stint as a certified Drug and Alcohol Counsellor. During this time, Eric has held various positions within the ASO field, from counselling and case management, to outreach, program development and project coordination. Presently, Eric is the Capacity Building and Community Development Coordinator with the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO). In addition, Eric is the proud father of two adult sons, as well as a loving grandfather of two young girls.
Al Ramsay
Prior to joining TDBFG, Al spent two years with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as Regional Manager, Community Relations, where he was in charge of developing business and increasing CIBC’s profile in communities across Ontario. Al graduated from Ryerson University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing. Al currently serves on Community One Foundation board – a grass roots community organization that support individuals and groups that enhance the development of the LGBT communities in the Greater Toronto Area including Durham, Halton, Peel and York Regions. Al also serves on several advisory boards including the Urban Financial Services Coalition – an organization dedicated to promoting the growth of Visible Minority professionals in all areas of financial services.
Nik Redman
Nik Redman is an artist, activist and community worker who was born in Montreal, Canada. Nik grew up in both Barbados and Canada. He is a member of the GBQ Trans Men’s' Working Group, part of Ontario Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance; the MaBwana Community Advisory Committee, the Prisoners Justice Action Committee (PJAC) and the Trans Fathers 2B Parenting Course Project Team. Nik was one of the online facilitators for the province-wide HIV/AIDS-themed Stigma campaign. Nik currently works as a Grievance Officer with the University of Toronto’s Local 1998 United Steelworkers Union. In addition, he works doing Anti-Harassment and Human Rights Training for the Union. An active participant in several communities, Nik volunteers with the LGBT Youth Line, Community One and is part of the programming committee and the Board of the Inside Out Film and Video Festival. He also serves on the Board of Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP). Nik is also an award-winning DJ, writer and radio programmer. He can be heard every Thursday 5-7 p.m. on CKLN 88.1 FM in Toronto.
Evan Reid
Evan began his career as a documentary film maker with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago while studying in London, England. In 1968 He migrated to Canada settling in Toronto. Evan worked for the University of Toronto for eighteen years as the head of the media services at the Mississauga campus. He served on the teaching and learning committee of the university for five years. His studies took him into the fields of communications, small business management and eventually into Christian metaphysics. He has been a licensed teacher of Christian metaphysics since 1985 and an ordained minister since 1987. He has spoken and done seminars in the US, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica and Guyana and brings a unique perspective to popularly held views that causes friction in the human drama. He has authored two books. Tilling the Soul; Forgiveness and Shadows in the Dance.
Shannon Thomas Ryan
Shannon Thomas Ryan is the Executive Director of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP). Black CAP is a charitable organization that is focused on reducing the spread of HIV infection within Toronto’s Black, African and Caribbean communities and enhancing the quality of life of Black people living with or affected by HIV or AIDS. Shannon has led Black CAP through a period of stabilization and significant growth and is highly committed to the HIV/AIDS sector and to working within marginalized and racialized communities.
Roberta Timothy
Roberta K. Timothy Ph.D. (Adult education, Community development and Women and Gender studies), M.Ed. (Counselling Psychology), M.A.(Political Science), B.A. (Political Science, Sociology, and the Theme School of International Justice and Human Rights). For over 18 years, Roberta has worked utilizing an anti-oppression approach as a therapist, group facilitator, researcher, community organizer, professor, and clinical supervisor. She has created, practiced, and researched in the areas of intersectional violence, work culture and organizational change, Resistance Education, Creative Resistance, and Anti-Oppression Psychotherapy? in a variety of environments both locally and globally. Roberta has been working as a consultant for the past 12 years and currently works at Continuing Healing Consultants. She is currently a board member of Black CAP and CRCT.
Rinaldo Walcott
Rinaldo Walcott is an Associate Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. He is appointed to the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education; where he served as the Acting Director of The Centre for Media and Culture in Education (2003/04) and held the Canada Research chair in Social Justice and Cultural Studies (2002/2007). His research was supported by grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Innovation Trust. Rinaldo is the author of Black Like Who: Writing Black Canada (1997) of which the second revised edition was published in 2003. He is also the editor of Rude: Contemporary Black Canadian Cultural Criticism (2000). As well he has written and published numerous articles and essays in scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers and books. Before going to OISE/UT Rinaldo worked for seven years at York University in the Division of Humanities. At York he served as the Director of the Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Studies and also as the Affirmative Action Director for the Faculty Affirmative Action program. He is currently working on a number of book projects on black Canadian studies and black gay men of which Black Diaspora Faggotry: Frames, Readings, Limits will be published by Duke University Press; as well he is co-editing a book with Katherine McKittrick and Dina Georgis on Dionne Brand; and with McKittrick on Sylvia Wynter. As well Rinaldo is the founding editor of New Dawn: The Journal of Black Canadian Studies, an online scholarly journal which was launched in 2006. Rinaldo’s interests are in the areas of cultural studies, postcolonial studies, queer and gender theory and multicultural studies. He holds a Ph.D. from OISE/UT which was awarded in 1995.
Syrus Marcus Ware
Syrus Marcus Ware is a visual artist, community activist, youth-advocate, researcher and educator. He is the Program Coordinator of the Teens Behind the Scenes program in the Education Division of the Art Gallery of Ontario. Syrus is a currently an MA candidate in Sociology and Equity Studies at University of Toronto. For the past 12 years, Syrus has hosted the weekly radio segment, “Resistance on the Sound Dial” heard each Friday on CIUT 89.5FM. He works as a member of Blackness Yes! to put on Blockorama; part of Toronto's PRIDE celebrations. Syrus is the author of the study “Assessing the HIV/AIDS Service Needs of Trans Communities in Toronto”, published by the AIDS Committee of Toronto in 2004. He is also a founding member of the Gay/Bi Trans Men’s HIV Prevention Working Group for the Ontario AIDS Bureau. Through this group, he helped create Primed: The Back Pocket Guide for Trans Men and the Men Who Dig Them; one of the first sexual health resources for gay Trans men in the world. Syrus is also a founding member of the Prison Justice Action Committee of Toronto. Syrus is a program committee member for Mayworks Festival, and is a past board member of the FUSE magazine. Syrus also helped to initiate the Trans-Fathers 2B course at The 519 Community Centre, the first course of its kind in North America.
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