Our Black Gay Diaspora Podcast

Dr. Maurice Franklin is a Public Policy and Public Administration Adjunct Professor California State University, Northridge, and CEO and President of Franklin Management Consulting, lecturing and consulting on organisational sustainability and organisational development strategies throughout the United States. His career includes senior management roles within legacy African American non-profit organisations like Manhattan’s Community Board 10, the Second Vice-President of the Harlem Hospital Community Advisory Board, a Board member of the Prince Hall Medical Foundation, and the Chair of Health and Wellness for the founding Chapter of One Hundred Black Men in Harlem. He’s also a community advisor to the City University of New York, Graduate Center's Harlem Strong Community Mental Health Project. Dr. Franklin attributes his activism and social justice commitments to the influences of his mother, James Baldwin, Reverend Jessie Jackson, and Marcus Garvey.

Our Black Gay Diaspora Podcast's bimonthly On The Panel series returns with the topic, “What Does Pride Mean to Me?” Thank you to Episode 63’s Byron Adu (Australia), Episode 12’s Lennox Benson (UK), and Episode 57’s George Kachimanga (Malawi) for returning and sharing their insights on what being an out Black queer citizen means to them.

This episode debuts the first in the My Digital Nomad Journey series. I share about my life as a Black gay American living abroad since October 2019 as a writer and podcast host and producer. Thank you to all who encourage me to see, celebrate, and embrace who I am. As the creator, host, and producer of Our Black Gay Diaspora Podcast, I highlight a population often overlooked by mainstream LGBTQ+ and Black media outlets.

Rugare Gomo is an Australian-based Zimbabwean keynote speaker, life and business coach, and author. Through accepting himself as a Black gay man, Rugare honours and celebrates who he is and encourages others to do the same. He shares how he authentically lives his life as a son, husband, friend, and motivational entrepreneur.

Ajamu X is a British international fine arts photographer, archivist, curator, and sex activist. His work explores same-sex desire and the Black male body. Ajamu's exhibitions have been shown in museums, galleries, and alternative spaces in Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and other countries. He takes ownership of Black queer sexuality, using his camera to showcase our wants, needs, and desires.

Charles Reese is an American actor, writer, producer, public speaker, and the founder of Teeth and Eyes Communications, LLC. Thank you to Frederick Johnson for connecting us. One of Charles’ most critically acclaimed roles is as American writer, playwright, and activist James Baldwin in the Off-Broadway production of James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire.Through his advocacy and promotion of James Baldwin and his works, Charles earned the 2021 Medal of Honour Recipient from In The Meantime, a Los Angeles-based organisation that enriches, empowers, and extends the lives of intergenerational Black men.

Season 4 debuts with Our Black Gay Diaspora Podcast's first episode of the new bimonthly On The Panel series. Where guests return to join me and sometimes others to share their insights and experiences on various topics. For this discussion, I’m joined by Episode 63’s Byron Adu from Australia, Episode 12’s Lennox Benson from the UK, and Ep. 57’s George Kachimanga from Malawi.

(Original Air Date: 21 June 2023) Our Black Gay Diaspora Podcast's creator, host, and producer Erick Taylor Woodby is interviewed by Gamal 'G' Turawa, an ED&I facilitator, transformational storyteller, and the protagonist in the 2022 BAFTA-wining documentary, The Black Cop. Erick shares his pride in being a Black gay American writer and digital nomad.

Andrew Michél Thomas is a German-based Afro-Jamaican-Haitian-Canadian researcher and English-language teacher and intercultural trainer. His work centers on queer men and persons in Afro-diaspora communities in Germany and Europe, with a focus on the city of Berlin. This includes how “…mutuality of place, identity, and self shape belonging, inclusion, place bond, or attachment to a place…”