Politics/Government

Pucci Revlon

The Queer Newark Oral History Project mourns the passing of Miss Pucci Revlon, even as we celebrate and honor her life, which she lived fully and proudly as much-loved member of the LGBTQ Newark community. A true transgender pioneer who lived her truth with courage, Pucci participated in the legendary ballroom scene of the 1980s, worked as a nurse, and served as caretaker for generations of Newark youth, among numerous other accomplishments. While struggling with pancreatic cancer, she generously took the time to record several rounds of an oral history that provides invaluable...

Steven Malick

Steven Malick serves as the secretary of the Board of Directors for the Newark LGBTQ Community Center. He previously volunteered with the Newark LGBTQ Concerns Advisory Commission and helped to organize the first ever town hall debate on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community. Steve is a resident of the City of Newark and has worked or lived in and around Newark for nearly a decade. Steve’s professional background includes eight years in education as a former middle school math teacher and as a coach of new teachers. Steven currently works as research analyst for a public policy research firm...

Darnell L. Moore

Because Darnell has written of his earlier life experiences elsewhere, this interview focuses primarily on his time in Newark. For powerful autobiographical reflections on growing up in Camden, NJ, see his two-part essay "Reflections of a Black Queer Suicide Survivor": Part I | Part II

Darnell L. Moore is a Senior Correspondent at MicNews, Co-Managing/Editor at The Feminist Wire and writer-in-residence at the Center on African American Religion, Sexual Politics and Social Justice at Columbia University.  Along with NFL player Wade Davis II, he co-founded YOU Belong, a social...

Gary Paul Wright

Gary Paul Wright is the Founder and Executive Director of the African American Office of Gay Concerns.  He is very active within the LGBTQ community in Newark, New Jersey, where he  served two 3-year terms as a Charter Member of the City of Newark’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Mayoral Advisory Commission (through July, 2014).  He was appointed to the Essex County Executive’s LGBTQ Advisory Board in 2011, and is currently serving a second three-year term as well.  Gary Paul also served as a Charter Board Member of the newly established Newark LGBTQ Community...

Bryan Epps

Bryan Matthew Charles Epps is a policy wonk and community lover. He has worked for Mayor’s Cory A. Booker and Michael Bloomberg conducting outreach and training to the not-for-profit sector and performance management for city departments. Currently Epps directs a historical human rights based nonprofit and operates a beverage startup. As a Newark native Epps has dedicated himself to helping to build community as founding board chair of People's Prep high-school and First Advisory board chair of HMI:NJ and a former President of the James Street Neighborhood Association. He studied Urban Policy...

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