By Dr. Herukhuti It’s Sunday night in the black box of the WOW Café Theatre where performance artist and sex worker The Magnificent Akynos presents Dark. Nude. Storytellers: In Tales of Conquest. Opening with an irreverent, alcohol enriched welcome Akynos provides the audience with a context for the show, which is a revue of sorts—exploringContinueContinue reading “Dark. Nude. Storytellers: A Review”
Author Archives: H. "Herukhuti" Sharif Williams, PhD, MEd
Convicted Cop Killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal
By Dr. Herukhuti “Convicted cop killer” That’s the meme that spread across social media and conservative cable tv to refer to the fall 2014 Goddard College Undergraduate Programs and BFA Creative Writing Program commencement speaker, Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal is a Goddard College alumnus serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officerContinueContinue reading “Convicted Cop Killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal”
Hiding in Plain Sight: Bisexual Men
By Dr. Herukhuti Being a bisexual man in a world dominated by straight or gay thinking, I continue to resist the pressure to conform to one or the other way of being. – from the Preface to Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men Today, as part of the Bisexual Awareness Week #BiWeek social media campaign,ContinueContinue reading “Hiding in Plain Sight: Bisexual Men”
My Bisexuality Looks Like: Birth of THOT
By Dr. Herukhuti When I tell people that I started having sex when I was in first grade, people usually in one of two ways. They either are in disbelief or concern for me. Among the former, they ask “what kind of sex could you have at six or seven years old?” Among the latter,ContinueContinue reading “My Bisexuality Looks Like: Birth of THOT”
Ray Rice and Janay Rice, Who’s to Blame?
By Dr. Herukhuti When I was child, my mother told me that my father, a Vietnam veteran and black belt in karate, kicked her in her stomach while she was pregnant and the kick led to a miscarriage of her unborn daughter, my sister. My father had left when I was an infant so thisContinueContinue reading “Ray Rice and Janay Rice, Who’s to Blame?”
Black Health: Final Thoughts on the Conference on LGBTI Health Research
It is time (as it has always been the time) for us to liberate and save ourselves. We need a national convening of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, same-gender loving, and queer organizations, leadership and researchers to generate a health agenda that addresses our needs, realities, and aspirations. It will mean recognizing the areasContinueContinue reading “Black Health: Final Thoughts on the Conference on LGBTI Health Research”
Intersectionality Redux and Revised: Day 3 at the Conference on LGBTI Health Research
Visit the LGBT HealthLink: Network for Health Equity to read more from, INTERSECTIONALITY REDUX AND REVISED: DAY 3 AT THE CONFERENCE ON LGBTI HEALTH RESEARCH by Dr. Herukhuti: “The committee recommended four conceptual frameworks “be applied to priority areas of research in order to further the evidence base for LGBT health issues:” minority stress model, life course approach,ContinueContinue reading “Intersectionality Redux and Revised: Day 3 at the Conference on LGBTI Health Research”
The Master’s House: Day 3 at the Conference on LGBTI Health Research
Visit the Network for LGBT Health Equity to read more from, The Master’s House: Day 3 AT THE CONFERENCE FOR LGBTI HEALTH RESEARCH by Dr. Herukhuti: “For those of us who committed to dismantling the master’s house, it is a struggle to obtain resources for that work. Not only will the master’s tools not dismantle the master’sContinueContinue reading “The Master’s House: Day 3 at the Conference on LGBTI Health Research”
Naming and Claiming Legacy: Day 2 at the Conference on LGBTI Health Research
Visit the Network for LGBT Health Equity to read more from, NAMING AND CLAIMING LEGACY: DAY 2 AT THE CONFERENCE ON LGBTI HEALTH RESEARCH, by Dr. Herukhuti: Inspired by the stories of the presenters and having the value of knowing my history, ancestors, and genealogies reaffirmed for me in the absences present in several of the presentations,ContinueContinue reading “Naming and Claiming Legacy: Day 2 at the Conference on LGBTI Health Research”
Long Hot Summer: A Poet Speaks of Murder
By Dr. Herukhuti It is not easy to speak of murder. Summer heat catches the air I need to form the sounds of anguish and rage. In their place is a choking noise coming from the space where my throat should be. The news broke while I have been here in Black Mecca of theContinueContinue reading “Long Hot Summer: A Poet Speaks of Murder”