The Coalition for Justice and Respect ( CJR ) and the Coalition for Justice and Respect Foundation ( CJRF ) announces the speakers for the 2014 Bolder Than Out ( BTO ) Civil Rights and Social Justice Identity Conference of African-American Same Gender Loving ( SGL ) Black LGBTQ people and allies. The conference will be held April 4-6, 2014.
The theme of this year's conference is taken from the speech of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. of the same title: "Breaking The Silence". "Bolder Than Out — Breaking The Silence" is the second annual CJR Chicago based international social justice identity conference.
The speakers are: Former Ambassador and United States Senator Her Excellency Carol Moseley Braun' Reverend Jesse L.Jackson, Sr.; Roco Claps, director of Illinois Human Rights Department; A. Billy S. Jones, founder of the Coalition of Black Gays and Lesbians; Cleo Mongo, Founder and Director of the National Black Men Xchange; and Dr. Alicia Mathews, who leads research from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse to evaluate a culturally targeted smoking cessation treatment program for LGBT smokers.
Other speakers are expected to include Delmarie Cobb, political consultant; Rod McCullom a writer, television news producer, and political columnist and frequent contributor to The Advocate, the award-winning LGBT news magazine; Earl Fowlkes, chair of the Democratic National Committee ( DNC ) LGBT Caucus and executive director and founder of the Center for Black Equity formally known as the International Federation of Black Prides; and Perrie Shelton, director of curriculum for Orion's University Enthusiast Race and Gender Theory.
BTO will also have international speakers from Ghana, Uganda and Kenya that will offer insights on current challenges of LGBTQ people in their respective countries.
BTO will also initiate a national call for a network of LGBTQ African-American Same Gender Loving Black Civil Rights and Social Justice organizations.
Contact Coalition for Justice and Respect at cjr.chicago@gmail.com or see www.cjrchicago.org .