Catherine Street - Poughkeepsie Neighborhood Club Award

In recognition of my work with 

under served youth in the Hudson Valley.

Tribute to a Lost Friend and Teacher - Michael Foster

Michael J. Foster, of NYC, died suddenly and unexpectedly of pneumonia on Thursday June 14, 2012 at the age of 34. Michael was a nationally recognized leader and activist with BMX (Black Men’s Exchange) working to enrich the lives and improve the health of same gender loving black men in the USA. Previously he was an Environmental Scientist and Environmental Policy Analyst where he served as the Biology Educator with the Youth Initiatives division of the Education department at the American Museum of Natural History. He created curriculum, designed courses, and taught in the areas of biodiversity conservation and ecology. In addition, Michael helped Museum scientists improve their mentoring skills and developed recruitment methods that reached increasing numbers of traditionally underrepresented students.

Racism in Performance - A Holiday Reflection in Portland

This past Saturday night I went as I usually do to see the Portland Gay Men's Chorus Holiday Concert. Escorted by my partner and my friends we settled in for a night of feeling safe, included, sentimental, humorous, and hopefully lifted up. Having been part of the gay chorus movement myself, I have always valued the contributions gay choruses have made not just to the quality of my life, but to my political and social awareness. I have people dear to me in the Portland chorus and I am proud of them and their artistry. I also know them to be some of the most progressive and amazing people in the community today. Walking to the PCPA for the show Saturday night, there were reports of protesters on the Burnside Bridge, and surely for the many days and weeks before the concert, images of unjust killings of black people were broadcast all over the media. For many people, the depth of pain being felt due to the injustice of a maligned and marginalized group, has deeply impacted most communities I know. Portland had huge rallies expressing outrage. This is why I was not expecting to be hurt and dismayed and angry in a place where those who have been historically targeted gather, a gay chorus concert.

Carlton is Interviewed about Homeless LGBTQ Youth in the Bronx

South African Travel Writing

South Africa Piece

What does a gay white man pack when he goes to Africa the first time? I asked myself this preparing for my first trip to South Africa. What I knew about South Africa was limited to what I suppose many Americans know, Mandela, Apartheid, wildness, animals, and black people. I had talked with some of my South African students at the college since I managed their special program, and was aware of the unique and blunt way they confronted racial issues. I remember being excited yet a bit unsure of what to expect and how to handle what I might experience as a visitor to such a distant place. How would I communicate? Would I be understood? Would people know I was American? What might that mean to them? I knew they would know I was white.