About Michelle
Michelle Brown is an author, activist & public speaker who believes in common ground for all people.Appearances
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Recent Posts
- The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice welcomes Michelle Elizabeth Brown to the BRCSJ Board of Directors
- Ode to Kamala Harris/Our Vice President
- Updated poetry for TDOR 2020 (Monica on my mind)
- Living in the Shadow of COVID 3: Getting Back to Work, Because There’s SO Much Work to Do
- Living in the Shadow of COVID 2: Caring for Our Communities
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It’s here!!! My new book available for purchase online
My new book of poetry “Three Layers & A Brassiere” is available for purchase online! Book signing is in planning stage but get your’s today and receive a special gift at the book signing.
Order at:
http://bookstore.authorhouse.com/Products/SKU-000956771/Three-Layers-and-a-Brassierre.aspx
Book Over view:
On a frigid November weekend in 2012, I took a trip to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. My plan had been to catch a train, hit the city and just wander about taking in the sights. I wanted a lost weekend, to wander around to find something—just what I really didn’t know. But these uncertain plans took an unexpected turn when, instead, I hitched a ride with a friend.
I met an amazing woman named Gwen who was in her eighties, and over the course of the weekend, she shared stories of her remarkable life. One afternoon, we were heading out, and her family, being protective as families can be, gathered sweaters, scarves, and jackets and proceeded to try to convince Gwen to put them all on. Her response: “I’ve got three layers and a brassiere, that’s enough to keep me warm.”
On the ride back to Detroit, I thought about Gwen her life and the three stages of life—childhood, adulthood, and those final days. Maybe all we need are those three layers, not all those mountains of things, just to see us through to warm our hearts, our spirits, and a brassiere to hold the memories.
Order at:
http://bookstore.authorhouse.com/Products/SKU-000956771/Three-Layers-and-a-Brassierre.aspx
Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Black women, Creative Writing, Detroit, Detroit Bankruptcy, Detroit Spirit, lgbt, Love, marriage equality, Pop Culture, Queer, Self imaage, Women
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On Voting: New poetry for my new year
I Vote Because
By Michelle E. Brown
Because they had no voice
When brought over in those chains.
Sold, beaten, traded
Eyes cast down shuffling by
As they silently swallowed pride.
Because they rode the back of the bus
Having services denied.
Colored toilets, colored fountains
Suffering indignities just to get by.
Because they marched for freedom
While being beaten and knocked down
Water cannons, dog bites, night sticks
To deny their civil rights.
Because their voices were silenced
Before they could make their mark
Four little girls in Birmingham
Trayvon, Ayanna, Renisha, Michael
Our stand in Ferguson
For babies yet to come
I vote to make a difference
I vote to make a change
I vote for this imperfect union
I vote in all their names.
Because of them it matters
For me to be a part of the game
Not sitting on the sidelines
To cast aspersions and merely complain
I might not see the difference
Or live to see the change
But because of them I do it
I vote so their lives were not in vain.
Posted in 2014 Elections, Black identity, Black women, Creating Change, ENDA, hate crime, lgbt, literature, marriage equality, NN14, Pop Culture, Self imaage, World events
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EVolution Open Mic
On the 2nd and 4th Friday at the AFF Cafe, Store & More located at 290 W. Nine Mile. Featured artists and an open mic for up and coming artist. Hosted by Michelle Brown and China Palazzola.
Featured Performers:
Barbara Teeter
Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Creative Writing, lgbt, literature, Queer, Women, youth
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Poetry for Detroit – For our Detroit
WAGE LOVE
By Michelle E. Brown
Her streets no longer lined with trees
Branches arching across streets
Paved with hopes and dreams
Now minefields of disrepair
Potholes, broken sidewalks
Lots and playgrounds strewn with litter
Vacant lots, crumbling buildings
No neighbors sitting on stoops sharing stories
No quartets under streetlamps singing songs
Store fronts sit vacant
While residents wait for buses
Always late for a trip to no where
She is maligned, misrepresented,
Violated, raped
Stripped of her authority
She weeps
As her people suffer
As her people thirst
She watches
Managed neglect for the benefit of profits
But she’s a queen.
Her majesty does not lie in institutions
Credit ratings, political wrangling
Her majesty cannot be bankrupted
Because she’s a queen
Of, for and by the people
She is the people
And she/they are rich
Rich in spirit, rich in art
Feeding her people from gardens
Growing in forgotten lots
Entrepreneurs, innovators, dreamers
Rebuilding neighborhoods
Re-spiriting communities
Calling her people, all people
Black, Brown, White, Young, Old
From across the street
From around the world
To rise up, to stand up
Not in war, but with voices raised
To wage love
She is a queen
She is Detroit.
Posted in 2014 Elections, Black identity, Creative Writing, Detroit, Detroit Bankruptcy, Detroit Spirit, literature, Love, NN14, Self imaage, World events
Tagged NN14
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MOCK
By Michelle E. Brown (For Transgender Day of Visibility 3/26/14)
Daddy wanted a son
A man child, legacy bearer
A son to toss a ball, cast a rod
Share manly things around the campfire
While cleaning guns
Daddy wanted a son
Momma wanted a daughter
A woman child, baby girl
Pretty curls, frills and dolls
She’d teach her to cook, to sew
To preen and be coy
Share womanly things
While getting mani-pedis
Momma wanted a daughter
I sat amongst the stars
Hearing their longings
Seeing their dream
Looking down, pondering
I want to be me
Unfettered by sexual identity
Not playing roles in their boxes
Safe from lines drawn by intellect and reason
Decidedly, undecided
Free
If I must choose
I choose to stay here
Free
Just me
But daddy wants a son
Momma wants a daughter
Earth wants my presence
So I must leave my heavenly sanctuary
Pushing me, pulling me
Traveling towards the light
Where daddy wants a boy
Momma wants a girl
Doctor opens his mouth to pass judgment
Pronounce life’s sentence upon me
What is it
Is it boy
Is it girl
I open my mouth and shout
Shout for those who came before
For those who will come after
Before the verdict is given
STOP!
Do not bind me with your biases
Your preconceived notions of
Who I am
How I should be
I am not it
Not boy, nor girl
I am a baby
Let me, be me
“I was born a baby, not a boy” Janet Mock 02/06/2014
Posted in Black women, Creative Writing, lgbt, literature, Love, Queer, Self imaage, Transgender, Women
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