Our Black Gay Diaspora Podcast

Brad Walrond is an American poet, author, activist, and conceptual artist. Every Where Alien is his first collection of poems published by Moore Black Press, affiliated with Amistad/HarperCollins Publishers. Brad’s poems have been published in The Atlantic, Academy of American Poets, African Voices magazine, About Place Journal, and other publications. He’s collaborated with artists like Erykah Badu and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. Brad’s first recording is the single Underneath the Metal, on the 1997 spoken word compilation album ‘Eargasms: Crucial Poetics Vol. 1’.

Lyndon K. Gill is an Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Thank you to Episode 83’s Ajamu X for connecting us. Lyndon’s interests include queer aesthetics in the African Diaspora, the erotic, LGBT art and activism in Caribbean cultures, African-based spiritual traditions in the Americas, subjectivity, and community building. In 2018, Lyndon published Erotic Islands: Art and Activism in the Queer Caribbean. With a focus on the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the book details how queer histories in the Caribbean have influenced Carnival and calypso.

Alle Eriksson is a Swedish publisher at Nypon och Vilja förlag. Alle’s credentials include owning a bookstore and publishing company and being a librarian for the city of Stockholm. They were also part of starting an LGBT+ youth space in Stockholm. In early 2024, Alle was on the Nordic Council’s Youth Literature Prize committee. It’s an award for works of fiction written in the Nordic languages of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese. Intersectionality has been an important component throughout Alle’s professional career.

Eric Yassine is the British-based Ivorian director of Yassine Consulting Limited. With over 10 years of experience analysing operational & financial business processes in different companies across various sectors in Europe, Africa & the Middle East, Eric’s expertise includes Internal Control Framework (COSO) & Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) implementation, documentation & testing of controls. Eric and I met in December 2022 at a Black Men’s professional networking event in London organised by Episode 23's Gamal ‘G’ Turawa.

Topher Campbell is a British filmmaker, artist, and writer whose career spans film, theatre, education, and consultancy. Much of his work centres on sexuality, masculinity, race, human rights, and climate change. Some of Topher’s works include his 1995 film, The Homecoming: A Short Film About Ajamu. Topher and Ajamu X are the founders of rukus! Federation Limited, a Black LGBT cultural archive comprising collected diaries, letters, magazines, and other black British queer media. Topher’s other projects include 2018’s short film, FETISH, the 2022 documentary, Moments That Shaped: Queer Black Britain and his installation at London’s Tate Modern.

JAKE Small is an American researcher, non-profit leader, advocate, keynote speaker, DEI workshop facilitator, and poet. JAKE supports professionals at every level of seniority and companies across every industry. He’s also about advancing the education equity of Black boys in the United States. In May 2024, JAKE published his collection of poems titled FOR EVERY BLACK BOY. I didn’t just read the collection; I absorbed it. JAKE shares about his professional journey, and how he uses his credentials and experiences to embrace who he is and encourage others.

George M. Johnson is an American Emmy-nominated, award-winning, New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and activist known for 2021’s We Are Not Broken and 2020’s bestselling memoir manifesto All Boys Aren’t Blue. Their new book is titled, Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I'd Known.

The bimonthly On The Panel series is back with the topic, “Black Queer Citizens in the Workplace”. Thank you to Episode 8’s Prince Beasley (United States), Episode 28’s Edward D. Lathan IV (United States), and Episode 50’s Kaecy (South Africa) for sharing their insights on what being an out Black queer citizen in the workplace means to them.