Join Me & The Gathering for Justice to Celebrate the 94th Birthday of the Iconic Harry Belafonte

Hosted by Tiffany Haddish& Charlamagne the God, and Benefiting The Gathering for Justice,
the Night Features Performances & Words by Common, Aloe Blacc, Tamika Mallory, Bernie Sanders, Chuck D., Danny Glover and Many More

I first met Harry Belafonte in the Spring of 2016, through our mutual friend and general A+ connector, freedom-fighter, and Broadway aficionado Ira Gilbert. Knowing I had produced and directed a string of events and commercials benefiting mostly non-profits, Ira wanted to get my thoughts on what Harry was starting to put together: a festival to get out the vote, encouraging people to stand up for justice, somehow seeing what was on the horizon unlike many of us truly did in the months leading up to the 2016 Presidential Election (does that require a trigger warning?) .

Harry had a great idea, and the gravitas to pull it off. Some people today are only familiar with Mr. B, as Harry is known to many, as the guy who sang Day-O. Here’s a short list of what some people don’t know, but really will benefit from knowing:

• Harry is one of a few people to have the coveted EGOT, winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony

• He was one of the major funders of the civli rights movement

• He was one of the first Black American performers to touch a white woman performer, which caused quite a stir in the early 1960’s

• He was responsible for brokering the relationship between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy

• And in fact, he was one of the people responsible for much of the progress the civil rights movement saw in the 1960’s

• He’s worked to heal conflicts globally ever since, from poverty to AIDS

• He’s a REALLY. COOL. GUY.

Ira brought me to my first meeting with Harry and his wife Pam, a smart, striking photographer, at one of the trios’ favorite restaurants in the Upper West Side. I had prepared a deck that encapsulated what was then called “STIR IT UP”. I was treated to stories, laughs, and an education, all over the course of a two-and-a-half-hour dinner. Harry, Pam & Ira liked what I had to offer, and we got started on producing the festival that eventually became Many Rivers to Cross. My role ultimately scaled down when other teams came on board, but I still got a chance to play a part in what was in many ways an incredible experience, and what could have been, in other ways, even better.

One of my favorite memories of this time was sitting in Pam & Harry’s living room, along with Susanne Rostock, a dear friend who is the editor-extraordinaire of Harry’s biopic “Sing Your Song”, and Brian Satz, Harry’s friend and music-coordinator/star-connector, going over music that was going to be in the show. At one point, either Brian or I introduced Harry to Spotify; Harry was treated to an AI-induced trip down memory lane, and we were treated to a solo concert from one of the greatest voices of all time.

So when Ira hit me up to let me know about the plans that Carmen Perez-Jordan had for this year’s birthday celebration, I jumped into the mix. I gotta say, it’s going to be incredible. The lineup is great, but the cause - the night benefits the Gathering for Justice, the org that Harry started in the early 2000’s and that Carmen has been leading since it’s inception - is so truly Harry Belafonte, in my humble opinion.

The team at the Gathering, The Justice League (the rapid response offshoot of the org), and the parties involved are all super professional and super CHILL. It’s evident this group is creating magic, and being witness to it, along with the conversations with icons of the movement like Danny Glover, Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Nane Alejandrez, Gus Newport and more are nothing short of awe-inspiring.

The Gathering for Justice started as The Gathering for the Elders in Epps Alabama in 2005. The first Gathering took place in Epps Alabama, when Harry gathered together the elders, met some resistance from the youth, and ultimately culminated in the birth of The Gathering for Justice, the incubator for movements like The Women's March, Free Meek Mill, The March for Our Lives Tour Across America, and many many of the movements that have helped catapult our country back to the front of the fight for Civil Rights for ALL. That first event and those since included those named above and many more. One of the most iconic moments from that first gathering is when Ruby Dee got up, demanding into the microphone

"Over the years I've come to places like this so, many, times. And I leave without an assignment! We need an assignment!"

long-since part of the battle cry to continually take action.

The next Gathering, the one happening this Sunday, February 28th, 2021, will be unlike those previous; a world entrenched in an epidemic where, once again, communities of color are disproportionately left to bear the brunt of brutality; a world that continues to uprise against oppression because there are still too many injustices to fight; a world that is on the tipping point of great and radical change, or, scarily, the polar opposite. This will also include many of the new change-makers in front-line-activism, entertainment and sports.

So join me in celebrating Harry Belafonte, a man who is credited with being one of the major reasons the civil rights movement of the 1960’s had the impact it did, and the organization he founded to create and fulfill the agenda of sustaining justice for all.

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LEARN ABOUT THE GATHERING FOR JUSTICE

A Brief Overview of What This Section of My Site Entails

I grew up within a family of outspoken and justice-fighting love, from picketing in front of our church, to working with Habitat for Humanity,  to learning about the horrors of domestic violence from my mother, who was an activist in that world. The value of fighting for others was instilled in me from birth. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure my mom was picketing with the teachers union when I was in utero. 

My work over the past twenty years has been no different. It’s included creating staged arts projects to combat homelessness, meth-addiction, and racism, to working with Civil Rights Icons to create large-scale music festivals.

It has been global, working to free villages in India from slavery and to provide an education for the kids in those villages, as well as close-to-home, fostering, and soon adopting my own children from the foster-care system.

As I continue to work in wellness, I’m more focused than ever on creating change in the world. While I’ll continue to share #getrealgood Meditations, Parenting, News & Food, I’m excited to add to my work by amplifying Black and ally-voices in the movement, celebrate activists who are creating change and expand this website and my work into leaning-in to learning, growing, and continuing a journey of activism and anti-racism.

In 2010, I Thought It HIV/AIDS Was Over, But That’s When the

Were Just Beginning

NOTE: This Tuesday, December 1st, 2020, is both World AIDS Day AND Giving Tuesday. So please take a look at the evolution of STORIES: The AIDS Monument, below, and if you feel so inclined, please donate to support our work in your GivingTuesday Pledges by visiting My Donation Page.

In the summer of 2010, I was at the beginning of what, in hindsight, can best be described as an awakening. Just over 30 years old, I had recently begun my journey of meditation, which led me to discover a plethora of great things about myself, and about the world around me. This discovery wasn’t one of those ones you see in TV or read about in books, filled with bright lights and exciting changes, or at least, it didn’t seem so at the time. Instead, it resulted in the ending of a 6-year relationship, moving into a furniture-less apartment, was accompanied by an abrupt loss of income, and one of the most important realizations of my life:

I knew nothing.

via GIPHY

But from not knowing, and accepting it, comes the beginning of learning.

One example of this awakening of my unknowing came in the form of a casual date, one of many, which was actually a fun byproduct of this period of my life. One such casual date began at the Crunch Gym on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood, CA, a place that could best be described as a nightclub with beautiful people and some gym equipment. It had an equal number of mirrored reflective surfaces as it had machines, a small ramp that served the dual-purpose of handicap access and catwalk, and was complete with opaque glass-walled showers butting up to the entrance to the gym. So while you could definitely get a great workout in, and meet some really cool people, it was also a great place to meet guys.

One of those guys I met was this tall, handsome dark-haired Latino man a few years my junior. We did the stereotypical glance-across-the-gym, a slight smile, then I went up and started a conversation. I flirted, we made a date. It was all pretty routine.

We met at my apartment and what I lacked in furniture I made up for in charm, or at least that’s the way I remember it. We started talking, and there was a clear, palpable connection there. It was fireworks and excitement and that part was a lot like what you see in the movies. As it was clear we were quickly progressing this from a casual date to sex, I candidly threw off a statement that used to be common for me:

“You’re negative right?”

His response was confident and quick.

“No.”

It took me a second to register that response, and I kept moving forward. It was 2010, a full decade after “AIDS ended”, or at least that’s what I thought at the time.

“Wait, what?”

“No, I’m HIV Positive.”

We continued making out, but then I stopped, not out of fear, rather because I had a bunch of questions for him. We took a break, and this angel sat with me and answered a ton of questions about his status, ones that I am embarrassed that I asked now, instead of knowing them at the time. Questions like:

“How long have you been positive?”
”What does that mean for sex with people who are negative?”
”How long have you known?”
”Can you contract HIV through (fill in specific sexual position?”

Look, this was 2010, and here’s the thing about that period: there wasn’t a plethora of overt information or commonplace conversation about HIV/AIDS anymore and/or yet. There wasn’t a lot of talk about PREP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) because it didn’t exist yet. in retrospect, this period of time was a great limbo in the global conversation of HIV/AIDS. For me, and for many of the people I knew, especially many of the young gay men I knew, HIV/AIDS was a thing of the past. Something we “beat”, and because everyone used condoms, it had kind of gone away.

Naive, party of one, your table is now available.

The lack of seemingly-readily available information at the time doesn’t prevent the wave of shame that washes over my body in vividly remembering both that way of thinking and the ignorant barrage of questions I asked my date that night. I liken my questioning of him to the type of questioning “well-meaning White people” ask their Black friends and co-workers, a level of ignorance so grotesque that in addition to showing their severe lack of education, it shows a lack of compassion in that they, or in my case, he, should be the one to educate me.

But my date was gracious, answered all my questions, and was really sexy, too. We ended up having a really fun, intimate, safe evening. When he left, I meditated, tapping into my then-newfound passion, and one of the things that came clear to me was this: I had a lot of work to do, and I was making a commitment to doing it.

Getting to Work

The thing about meditation and setting intentions is that when it comes from a clear place, the Universe starts to respond. Within days of my date, I sat down beside my friend Craig at the same Crunch gym on Sunset where I met that handsome teacher. Craig is tall (I swear I’m not a height-ist), handsome, and at the time in his early 50’s. He and his husband, Tony, have been together for 30-some years and are this really cool, smart, kind couple.

Craig and I were stretching before a spin class, and I casually asked what he was working on. As I remember it, he mentioned the idea of working with another friend to enhance the AIDS Memorial Walk, the plaques on Santa Monica Blvd, part of the original memorial to AIDS victims in West Hollywood.

These plaques were produced and maintained by the Alliance for Housing and Healing as part of their AIDS Memorial Walk, and often accompanied a palm tree and are a beautiful tribute to the people who died from AIDS and lived in - or had an impact on -this city that lost nearly 1/3 of its entire population in the 10-year span beginning in 1984, when the city was founded.

Craig and many others described that period of time, walking through the streets of WeHo, as walking through a war-zone. Recently-healthy, vibrant, and often young bodies and faces were rapidly replaced with the gaunt, thinning, and hollowed-eyed stares of people who were succumbing to the brutal impacts of AIDS.

Alliance for Housing and Healing (AHH), Sponsors the AIDS Memorial Walk in West Hollywood

As Craig shared more of what he hoped a new, reimagined memorial could be, I added the story of my recent-encounter/educational experience. I shared that while I considered myself to be somewhat educated, I had a lot to learn, and I ventured a hypothesis I was not alone in that need. We made a plan to meet to talk more about the opportunity to create something together, and we did. An AIDS Memorial would be great, but one of the things I was adamant about, and Craig concurred, is that it had to talk to youth, it had to be a resource of educational experience and the need for HIV/AIDS to be part of a conversation, to both educated AND to remove stigma around HIV/AIDS.

I started informal research, asking my mother, a high school English teacher, and my brother, then a junior in high-school, what their schools taught about HIV/AIDS. It was grim - there wasn’t much. It was in fact a history lesson, and part of a safe-sex curriculum during a week of Health Class. I reflected on my own experience in school “learning” about HIV/AIDS. What I remember, and what some friends corroborated, was a brief discussion that AIDS killed, it mostly affected drug users and gay men, so if you were to avoid both of those things you would be fine.

Uh… yea that explains a lot of internalized homophobia, fear of coming out, and lack of a complete understanding and/or willingness to talk about it.

It was important for me to make sure no other gay kids endured that self-torture, and to make sure there wasn’t a “death sentence” or other fear-based stigma associated with people who were now living healthy, full lives as HIV+ Men and Women thanks to advances in health-care, prescription drugs, and a better understanding of what it meant to be HIV+ Non-Detectable.

We began inviting others into the fold, like our friends Hank Stratton, an acclaimed film, television and stage actor, Conor Gaughan, a political consultant and digital strategist, and Ruth Tittle, who moved to WeHo to take over the pharmacy her brother owned when he began losing his battle with AIDS, and who became a compassionate force in AIDS Activism as a result. We had great advisers like pioneering Lesbian and AIDS Activist Ivy Bottini, and our friend David Mixner, both of whom helped remind us - subtly and not-so-subtly - the importance of celebrating the activists of the movement. Did you ever hear about how ACT UP put the giant condom on Senator Jesse Helms House? Talk about Good Trouble.

We formalized our vision in 2012 into a board of directors, a registered non-profit, and added prominent voices to the board like:

• Mark Lehman, a West Hollywood attorney and activist;

• Peggy Callahan, a journalist/producer, and global anti-slavery activist who has been instrumental in content development, including the award-winning short film “The UNIT: Lessons in Living and Dying”;

• Rogerio Carvalheiro, an architect and Todd Williamson, an artist, both of whom worked closely to secure our design and our relationship with the cities Arts & Cultural Affairs Commission;

• Irwin Rappaport, an entertainment lawyer who has managed many-a-contract;

• Bobby Heller, a LA-based photographer agent who was instrumental in developing our PHOTO__ Fundraisers

• Michael Nutt, a wealth-management executive passionate about making a difference in our world.

• Stephen Simon, LA AIDS Task Force and City Government Official

• Mark Itkin, philanthropist and recently-retired WME Executive

• Jorge Mellado, real estate agent and development executive

• J. Hobart, an incredible NY-based trial-attorney instrumental in our governance

• Bruce Brown, retired Microsoft executive and tech expert who has steered us in many great digital, along with former board-member Dimple Thakkar, social media guru

• Irene Kim, world-reknowned surgeon at Cedars-Sinai

• Sherri Lewis, AIDS-Activist, performing artist

• Phi Wilson, founder of Black AIDS Institute/AIDS Activist

• Etienne Maurice, Activist and Actor, and founder of WALKGOOD LA

• Paris Chong, Art Curator and Consultant instrumental in PHOTO__ Events

• Dr. Christine Tangalakis, Higher-education specialist who will be a huge asset in our programming moving forward

• Abdi Nazemian, author and screenwriter

• Lane Janger, Therapist and Former Entertainment Executive

We’ve been supported by generous donors, many of whom have been brought in by development-expert and AIDS Activist John Gile.

And we crystallized our vision:

STORIES: The AIDS Monument seeks to remember the lives lost, celebrate the advances, and educate this and future generations about the current and future states of HIV/AIDS

We’ve filmed incredible interviews, celebrated with amazing fundraisers filled with people passionate about our vision, and have led awesome discussions in our STORIESTelling Series, like the impact of HIV/AIDS on Music at Grammy Museum, and the impact of HIV/AIDS on Hollywood at Neuehouse.

HERE’s THE GOOD NEWS

I’m so inspired by the work of this board and the community involved in making this vision a reality. My ignorance didn’t lead to this, but my willingness to overcome that ignorance certainly played a part in creating this lasting monument to remember, celebrate and educate. The lesson here is this: keep seeking to understand, and great things will come.

See a fly-through of STORIES: The AIDS Monument, opening in West Hollywood Park in late 2021:

An act of Solidarity | The actions to Support It

Take a Knee | Take a Stand Homepage

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

If you disagree with that statement, please let me know, and I will make it take time to have a conversation with you as to why that statement is true, now, always.

YOU CAN TEXT ME AT (310) 359-0438

I’d love to take a few moments to help you understand how I, as a white man of privilege, have learned to understand the vital importance of ending racism, ending police brutality, getting justice for the - and preventing yet another - murder of Black Americans and LatinX Americans and immigrants living in this country. And I’d be grateful to help you start on your journey of growing into anti-racism.

In an effort to help White and Non-Black POC better understand the oppression felt by and the fight led by Black, Indigenous Persons of Color (BIPOC), and in light of recent amplification of 401 years of systemic racism, white supremacy, and murder, a group of us have created the portal/platform TAKE A KNEE | TAKE A STAND.

Endorsed by The Gathering for Justice, and built with guidance from Black voices both in and out of the movement, the site encourages people to #TakeAKnee - reflecting in solidarity to honor Black voices and to remember the lives of those lost to racism and police brutality, and #TakeAStand, getting into action to make daily efforts to end racism, police brutality, and violence & bias.

#TakeAStand is how we provide visitors to the platform the opportunity to get into action, categorizing the plethora of actions, organizations, literature, podcasts, articles and opportunities to create change from the leaders in large-scale and grassroots Black-led and Ally-led organizations. From The Gathering for Justice, Black Lives Matter and Until Freedom, Tamika Mallory’s organization, to The Okra Project for the Black Trans Community to books by Ibram X. Kendi and Jennifer L. Eberhardt, we believe this portal is a great start to a resource for people who want to take action, and perhaps don’t know where to turn.

Our social media campaign encourages people to reflect for 8:46 while taking a knee, in honor of George Floyd. Then take a picture of your action, posting it on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, and comment or include the specific actions you’re taking to end racism, tagging @takeakneetakeastand, and including #TakeaKneeTakeaStand as a hashtag.

And because this is about the movement, not just the moment, and we’re in it for the marathon, not just the mile, we provide accountability in the form of text-message reminders, with daily or weekly reminders to take action to grow into anti-racism and demand change in your world and in the world. You can even challenge your friends to take part in your journey.

So please take a moment and take a look, then #TakeAKnee and #TakeAStand