FROM SELMA TO STONEWALL: NAVIGATING THE WAY
Video: From Selma to Stonewall: Navigating the Way Teaser
From Selma to Stonewall: Navigating the Way comes from a special event held in Washington, DC in May of 2019 marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. This film shows a panel of diverse leaders, activists, and organizers who expand upon the themes of From Selma to Stonewall: Are We There Yet, sharing powerful stories and insight on how to make change in your own community. Available on video and as a podcast.
Edited by: Lynn-Wood Fields
THE PANEL
SHEILA ALEXANDER-REID Director, Washington DC Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Sheila has always worked hard to bring both visibility and awareness to the issues facing the LGBT community including transphobia, the stigma of HIV/AIDS, the isolation of older LGBT adults, and the impact of youth homelessness. From her printed magazine in the 1990’s, to her position as producer/ host of WPFW’s Inside Out, the only LGBT FM radio show in DC, to her current position as Director of the Mayor's Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, she’s become a prominent and vocal change agent for our community. Her work includes finding housing for homeless LGBTQ youth and oversight of the LGBTQ Cultural Competency Training for all 35,000 government employees.
STAR BENNETT CEO, Check It Enterprises
Star is the CEO of Check It Enterprises and a trans activist. Check It Enterprises is a clothing store and LGBTQ advocacy center in Anacostia. At the age of 13, she was a founding member of an LGBTQ youth gang called Check It. The group was formed to fend off attacks by other gangs that targeted them. By 2013, Check It street gang had transformed into Check It Enterprises. Most members never imagined the group could evolve into a budding fashion clothing business.
BISHOP GENE ROBINSON
Gene Robinson was elected Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, becoming the first openly gay, partnered priest to become a bishop in historic Christianity. He has been a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and now serves as Vice President of Religion at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. Author of two books and the subject of two documentaries, he was invited by Barack Obama to pray the invocation at the opening inaugural event in 2009.
ASHLEY SMITH Board President, Capital Pride Alliance
Ashley’s commitment to the fight for LGBTQ Equality is long and expansive. In addition to his new role as Capital Pride’s Board President, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Previously, he was on the Board of Directors for the DC Center and also served as a past President and Vice President of the DC Coalition of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People. Ashley was named as one of the National Co-Chairs for the Equality March in June 2017. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Ashley received a B.A. in Business Management from Morehouse College and moved to Washington, DC, in 2007. Ashley has worked in the hospitality field for almost 20 years.
REBECCA YORK
Rebecca York (they/them) is a DEI expert based in the Washington, DC area. They have over 10 years of experience in leading conversations about race, gender, equity, and leadership. Rebecca’s work focuses on developing and facilitating intersectional, LGBTQ+ cultural competency and leadership development programming for youth and adults alike. Throughout their career, Rebecca has worked with organizations all over the world to increase acceptance of, and awareness for LGBTQ+ identities and experiences. They have also been a featured voice in a number of local and national events, including Matthew Shepard’s Interment at the National Cathedral, and The White House Convening on Transgender Equality, the first of its kind. In 2020 they were a recipient of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s grant, the Rockstar Fund. They are a graduate of Smith College, with a BA in the Study of Women and Gender.
Panel moderated by CATHY RENNA. Cathy is a nationally recognized media relations and communications expert and longtime activist in the LGBTQ community. Cathy is the Communications Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force.