Lesbians
Anita Dickens
Anita Dickens was born and raised in Newark, NJ 1972. She graduated from West Side High School and went on to receive an Associate’s in Science from Essex County College, a BA in Science from New Jersey City University and a Masters in Public Affairs and Administration from Rutgers-Newark.In addition to her many accomplishments Anita volunteered her services in the community and elected as a Board member of a local LGBT organization.
Anita Dickens is the founder and Owner of ANĒ formally known as A Girl&Guy Thing that started in 2013. CoOwner of a Fashion and Home...
Patreese Johnson
Patreese Johnson is a femme-identified poet. She is the youngest of four brothers and one sister, and she grew up as the youngest on the block in her tight-knit community in Newark, New Jersey. She is fiercely empathetic with a big heart. While incarcerated after fighting off a street harasser in New York City (a story told in the documentary Out in the Night), she received her GED and ran a support group for women who were survivors of domestic violence. Since her release, she has enrolled at Essex County Community College, studying for Associates degree in Liberal Arts. She has been touring...Burley Tuggle
Burley Tuggle completed her Masters in Urban Policy Analysis and Management in 1997 and officially began her professional career. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the fields of Public Policy and Financial Management. Over this period, Ms. Tuggle has held research, lobbying and fiscal management positions in private, government and not-for-profit organizations. In her former position as a Budget Analyst with the New York City Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Ms. Tuggle worked on the team in charge of planning and monitoring the $1 billion expense budget for the New York City...Alicia Heath-Toby
C. Alicia Heath-Toby resides in Newark, NJ with her wife, Saundra ‘Honei’. She is the current board president of the Newark LGBTQ Community Center Board of Directors. In 1984 she received her Bachelor of Arts from the College of the Holy Cross. After leaving college, she was given the opportunity to work with a team of black doctors and community activists on addressing the HIV and AIDS crisis for Black Americans; this organization became known as the Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. In 1997, she joined Liberation In Truth Unity Fellowship Church (LITUFC) in Newark, NJ; a local church of...Margaret Woods
Margaret L. Woods is currently the President/Chief Executive Officer of Independence: A Family of Services, Inc., a multi-service agency serving high risk, socially disadvantaged youth and families residing primarily in the Greater Newark area. She is the former Associate Director of the New Jersey Governor’s Committee on Children’s Services Planning. In addition, she has served as the Executive Director of both Tri-City People’s Corporation in Newark, New Jersey and the Partnership for Neighborhood Safety, Inc. in New York City. She is a former staff member of the National Council on...Jerri Mitchell-Lee
Reverend Jerri Mitchell-Lee is a native of Brooklyn, New York. As the daughter of a Career Army Officer she has lived all across the United States and has been a long time resident of New Jersey. Reverend Lee has a passion for serving and continues to do so as a health educator, mental health counselor, and workshop trainer within and outside of Unity Fellowship Church Movement. She received her education at Sterling College, University of Kansas, Rutgers, University of Medicine and Dentistry, Newark, N.J., Howard School of Theology (Sat. Program) and Newark School of Theology. Reverend Lee...June Dowell-Burton
June Dowell-Burton is the founder and an executive board member of Newark Gay Pride, Inc., a LGBT community-based, volunteer run organization that works to enhance LGBTQ life by producing an annual Gay Pride Week and facilitating programming in Newark, New Jersey. The organization was recognized by the White House in 2012 and recently celebrated its Decennial anniversary in 2015. June became an Essex County LGBTQ advisor in 2011, working primarily on identifying issues, providing recommendations and guiding strategy for the County Executive. In 2010, June was vetted and hired as 1 of 23...Miriam Frank
Miriam Frank grew up in Newark during the 1950s. She retired from fulltime teaching at NYU in 2014 where she is currently Adjunct Professor of Humanities. She has also taught Labor History in union education programs in New York City and in Detroit, where she was a founder of Women’s Studies at Wayne County Community College. Miriam Frank's July 2015 interview by Steven Dansky is on OUTSPOKEN: Oral History from LGBTQ Pioneers.Renata Hill
Renata Hill is currently a full-time student on the path to earn an Associates degree in Human Services at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and will then work to get her master’s degree in Social Work. She has toured the country speaking out for this case and also for all women who are incarcerated for defending themselves. She spoke to a room of over 1600 people at the national INCITE! Color Of Violence Conference in Chicago in March 2015. Renata won the 2015 Beyond Measure Award co-presented with DapperQ and New York Fashion Week for her dedication to activism and social justice...Venice Brown
Venice Brown earned her GED from Cape Fear Community College. She received her Cosmetology License from the College of Wilmington, North Carolina where she lives and works part-time at a hair salon and at Cape Fear College. She had a baby boy, Jasiah, who just turned four and co-parents with her girlfriend whom she has known since they were twelve years old. As Venice’s mom says, “Venice would give you the shirt off her back, but do not disrespect her friends.”Venice has spoken at the University of California – San Diego for The Nicholas Papadopoulos Endowed Lecture in Gay & Lesbian...