10/13/2026
Our Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, quintessential Q***r Safe-Space, courageous community activist hub, & extraordinary educational bridge for LGBTQIA+ youth, intersectional families, & all our beautifully diverse Angelic Troublemakers PROUD to welcome Michelle Elizabeth Brown as new President of our beloved BRCSJ Board of Directors, the ideal individual to help us move forward at this tender time & pivotal moment in our nation’s history.
Straight outta’ da' Bronx NY by way of greater Detroit, Michelle is a powerful public speaker, acclaimed author, courageous co-conspirator, potent poet, & loquacious lecturer at universities, colleges, & educational institutions; LGBTQIA+ PRIDE celebrations; rights for all our folx rallies; community gatherings; & social & racial justice forums across our still great nation as well as representin’ on the international tip. She served as Executive Director for Michigan Equality & fostered that outstanding organization as they transitioned to a larger force with greater outreach beyond their local roots. She is a Nominating Member of the extraordinary ESTEEM Awards in Chicago & Panelist for Artists in the Afternoon each year in Atlanta. Michelle is also the creator of the beloved series of children’s books, “Jack with the Curly Tail”, & on the other end of the age spectrum for all the adults in the audience, “Wild Fruit Hidden in Open Spaces - Musings in Prose & Poetry”, “3 Layers & A Brassiere”, & “Organic Empathy”. She started one of the OG & most influential podcasts, “Conversations: A Collections by Michelle Brown”, recognizing & celebrating the lives of those standing boldly in the crosshairs of their intersectionality & creating change as they move through life. In her work, in her life, & now as our new Board Prez, Michelle is a force that empowers each & every one of us to be accountable for the state of the world around us & to our communities that surround us, & even further & mayhaps most inspirationally by her very existence, the very essence of a possibility model for all our folx in all our beautifully diverse communities!
She serves alongside an august assemblage of inspirational individuals workin' on impactful initiatives with Vice-Prez Dr. Peniel Joseph, Black power scholar, author, & Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the The University of Texas at Austin; Alan Muraoka , Alan on "Sesame Street" & activist for Asian American & LGBTQIA+ Rights & Representation; Coalition for Peace Action's Rev. Bob Moore; transgender crusader Erin Worrell; Clarion River Group founder, legendary union organizer, & BRCSJ Board Treasurer David Sailer; Maplewood, NJ’s first openly gay Mayor Dean Dafis; activist street theatre performer & curator of our extraordinary exhibit at Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library, Glen Pannell (aka the now thankfully retired “Mike Hot-Pence"); BRCSJ Community Outreach Coordinator & q***r education pioneer Carol Watchler; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Haydon; Center for Medicare Advocacy Senior Attorney Wey-Wey Kwok; Stark & Stark shareholder Thomas Onder, esq.; Jay Vaingankar, former Biden White House/Energy official appointee just finished strong run for Congress seat with bigger & better things ahead; Clare Polke, Grimké Scholar with Master of Theological Studies specializing in Religion & Society at Princeton Theological Seminary as well as a former educator, journalist, & diplomat as Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State; Board Member Emeritus Walter Naegle, Bayard Rustin’s powerful partner; & as always with us in spirit, Emilio Delgado (rest in power!), Chicano Rights Activist & Luis on “Sesame Street”; as well as Ex Officio Member, Center Founder, BRCSJ Chief Activist Robt Martin Seda-Schreiber & our BRCSJQ***rEducator & Local Community Officer Dr. Sara.
