Gay
Taj Shareef
Taj Shareef is an LA/NJ based writer/VO artist. I have always loved great stories, as I found myself glued to the TV for countless hours watching everything from All in the Family to X-Men. As I dove further into fiction I found the literary works of Octavia Butler, Ray Bradbury, Toni Morrison, and Stephen King pivotal to my lens. I obtained a B.A. in Communications and Radio Production from Delaware State University.His eclectic interests and desire for inclusive storytelling have led to opportunities to co-write for queer Black LGBTQ scripted series Love @ First Night with ...
Darryl Rochester
After graduating from Weequahic High School in 1971, Darryl Wayne Rochester (March 27, 1953-December 8, 2020) studied dance under the tutelage of Kay Thompson Payne, co-owner of the then well-known Thompson Dance Studio of Newark. He became one of her star pupils. One evening Kay invited Darryl to accompany her to her dance class at the Dance Theater of Harlem in New York. The experience was very intimidating and he left there feeling somewhat inadequate and less confident in his ability as a dancer. Darryl had an urgent feeling to obtain additional training in dance from a highly...
Tiney Pringle
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Walter Newkirk
Walter Newkirk owns Walter Newkirk Public Relations LLC. A graduate of Rutgers University in New Brunswick NJ, Mr. Newkirk was the first openly gay Arts Editor of The Rutgers Daily Targum, the daily newspaper on the New Brunswick campus from 1975-1976. As a college journalist he interviewed Pat Loud of the landmark PBS TV series An American Family, and the actor Divine for The Rutgers Targum.Mr. Newkirk was the Project Director of the film lecture series The Changing Stereotypes of Women Black and Gays in The Cinema, sponsored by Rutgers University and The New Jersey Committee...
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-...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...
* John
John (b.1938) grew up in North Newark, in an Irish Catholic family. As a teenager, he participated in Newark's thriving gay social world, and this interview recounts bars, movie theaters, cruising spaces, and other important sites of gay life in the 1950s and 60s, before John left Newark in the late Sixties.Aaron Frazier
38 years living with the virus, a poet and writer, self-published two chap books, write for La Raine Magazine and several other local and nationally. I have a BS From Saint Peters College in Jersey City Urban Studies Public Policies, an Associate in Liberal Arts Social Science from Essex County College, The Mother of the House of Divine of Greater Newark, a volunteer for the LBGTQ Center, previous Coordinator of Project Fire II of El Club Del Barrio, currently an active member of Hyacinth Cab and Thrive Role Model Story, a long term non progressor study participant with the National...