Activism
Noelle Lorraine Williams
Noelle Lorraine Williams is an artist whose life's work exemplifies her continued interest in engaging individuals in conversations about community and spirituality using art, history and contemporary culture.
She was born in Jersey City in 1975 and moved to 16th Avenue and 21st street on the borderline between Newark/Irvington in 1987. She lives, works and studies in Newark currently.
Over the past thirty years, Noelle Lorraine...
Terri Suess
Terri was born and raised in Seattle, Wa. and has made Newark, NJ her home with her life partner. She studied communications at the University of Washington, Seattle and worked several years as a journalist in the Pacific Northwest. In the mid-70s, she moved to New York City to earn a Master’s Degree in Urban Affairs and public policy from City University of New York, Hunter College.
As a young person, she saw the power of community organizing in Seattle, when neighbors circulated petitions to stop freeways, marched against the Vietnam War, Saved the Pike Place Market and...
Joseph Canarelli
Joseph Canarelli was born and lived in Newark from 1949 through the mid-70’s. A student at Rutgers Newark in the late 60’s – early 70’s, he feels fortunate to have been on campus—and come out—during a period of much political activism and cultural change. Along with a handful of other lesbians and gay male students, he co-founded RAGE (Rutgers Activists for Gay Education), the first glbtq group at the college. During this time, he also joined the Gay Liberation Front in New York City. He ultimately relocated to the New York where he lived for 30 years or so before moving to Seattle. A psycho-...Aleix Martinez
Aleix Martinez is a longtime Newark resident, music industry communications specialist, and artist across multiple platforms. His work as a publicist in the music industry has focussed on representing and championing LGBT artists including Morrissey, Sia, Anohni, Scissor Sisters, Chavela Vargas, The Gossip, Nomi Ruiz, and Mika as well as singular artists like Santigold, Grace Jones, Tori Amos, Nancy SInatra, and The Cramps.
His art explores the intersections of ambition, luxury, hypercapitalism, and gentrification. His video work Insatiable, largely filmed in Newark, debuted...
Tamara Fleming
Tamara Fleming is a creative powerhouse and co-founder of FEMWORKS, an award winning marketing communications firm that specializes in helping businesses to engage consumers in multicultural markets. Fleming’s industry experience, keen creative eye, attention to detail and the foundation that encouraged her to co-found FEMWORKS. In addition to her work in creative production and the news industry, Tamara Fleming is also a published photographer. She has a driving passion to create images that positively represent African-American, Latinos, urban communities, and the LGBT community. Fleming...Bob Cartwright
Bob Cartwright’s introduction to Newark was in 1966, when he entered NJIT, which was then called Newark College of Engineering. He became radicalized because of the anti-war movement and the Civil Rights Movement. Later he was recruited to a position with the Urban Institute at Essex County College and then worked as a community organizer.
As a straight man involved in the Newark left, he worked closely with several important figures in local LGBTQ history who are no longer with us, and so in this interview he recounts Raymond Proctor, Derek Winans, and Frank Hutchins....
Julio Roman
At the age of sixteen, Safe Space Expert and LGBTQIA+ Rights Advocate, Julio C. Roman, accepted his calling in LGBTQIA+ activism and safe space design.Julio has dedicated over twenty-two years to creating LGBTQIA+ safe spaces and advancing the health equality and social justice initiatives of Black and Brown Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender communities, and other marginalized communities affected by HIV/AIDS and its related health, social, and economic disparities.
His experience lies extensively in Safe Space Design, HIV Prevention and Harm Reduction...
Saundra Toby-Heath
Saundra A. Toby-Heath is a Newark Native who loves her city with great passion. She is an artisan and the sole proprietor of Akirfa Design Studio (find her art on Facebook).Carol Glassman
Carol Glassman was born in Brooklyn in 1942 to a first-generation large Jewish immigrant family. She went to public school and then Smith College, where she got involved with the student movement that became known as the New Left. Her activism eventually brought her to Newark, where she was a central member of the Newark Community Union Project (NCUP), part of the Students for a Democratic Society-led effort to organize in poor communities with the eventual goal of creating an “interracial movement of the poor.”In this oral history, she discusses coming into her lesbian identity...