Our Black Gay Diaspora™

Wayne Mertins-Brown is a British psychotherapeutic counselor specializing in Black gay mental health and culturally competent therapy for Black LGBTQ clients. Based in Greater London, he provides one-to-one, couples, and group counseling, helping people embrace their authentic identities through inclusive, affirming mental health care. Rate, comment, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Aca...

American writer and novelist Doug Jones , Morehouse College alumnus, Columbia University MFA graduate, and Lambda Literary Fellow, discusses his powerful 2025 debut novel, The Fantasies of Future Things . Set against the backdrop of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and gentrification, the novel centers on two young Black gay men as they navigate identity, purpose, and community displacement. In this cand...

Seattle-based Brad Blackburn III is a public service professional, strategist, and community advocate committed to advancing equity, civic engagement, and systems change. As co-host of Identity Unboxed alongside Tiana Cole, Brad amplifies candid conversations with Black professionals about their career journeys, identities, and resilience. Brad opens up about his journey as a Black queer man, navi...

Dr. Jonathan Matthias Lassiter is an American African-centered psychologist, award-winning author, and Black LGBTQ mental health expert who joins Erick for a powerful conversation about his 2025 book, How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes from a Frustrated Black Psychologist . Dr. Lassiter unpacks the whiteness mindset, the decolonization of mental health, and why Black same-g...

Master Dominion Onyx —leatherman, kinkster, writer, and president of Onyx Mid-Atlantic —joins Erick for a candid conversation about Black gay identity, the leather and kink communities, and the power of radical self-acceptance. Master Dominion also shares about the history and mission of Onyx, a safe space for queer people of color in the leather lifestyle, and why education, consent, and communit...

Marvin Bowser , a Washington, D.C.-based photographer and founder of Marvin Bowser Photography, joins Erick to discuss his powerful work that captures the African diaspora experience through art, identity, and cultural heritage. Marvin shares his journey from Air Force officer during Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to Black gay artist, his celebrated Black Hair Exhibition, and the large-scale mural project...

Dakarai Larriett —an openly gay U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama, entrepreneur, and author—joins Erick for a powerful conversation about justice, advocacy, and Black LGBTQ+ representation in politics. Dakarai recounts his wrongful arrest in Michigan in 2024 and the inspiration behind his book Don’t Flush: From a False Arrest to a Political Awakening . He also discusses running as a Black gay can...

Bennu Byrd is a Washington, D.C.-born hip-hop artist, songwriter, and founder of Millennial Soul Records. She joins Erick for an electrifying conversation about music, identity, and fearless living. Bennu shares her journey from Clark Atlanta University to Las Vegas, including the creation of the Washington Mystics’ anthem, Fearless , and the Las Vegas Aces’ anthem, All In . She also discusses fus...

In this powerful episode of Our Black Gay Diaspora , host Erick speaks with acclaimed American choreographer, writer, director, and filmmaker David Roussève . With a career spanning over four decades, David shares the deeply personal journey behind his latest solo work, Becoming Daddy AF —his first evening-length solo performance in 25 years. He opens up about love, loss, Black gay identity, and t...

In this captivating episode of Our Black Gay Diaspora , host Erick speaks with Eric Gyamfi , an internationally celebrated Ghanaian photographer and filmmaker. From his groundbreaking series Just Like Us — documenting everyday queer life in Ghana — to his deeply personal exhibition Fixing Shadows: Julius and I, a homage to Black gay American composer Julius Eastman, Eric shares how photography is...

Our Black Gay Diaspora host Erick sits down with Benjamin Coy — queer digital creator, PR professional, and one of NBJC's "2025 Cohort of 100 Black LGBTQ+/SGL Emerging Leaders" — to discuss what it means to show up fully as a Black queer person today. From Bethune-Cookman University to Washington, D.C.'s Black LGBTQ+ community, Benjamin shares how his advocacy work, the Creating Change Conference...

Our Black Gay Diaspora host Erick sits down with Lloyd Young — founder of Black Experience UK , independent sexual violence advocate, and champion for Black LGBTQ+ communities — to discuss what it truly means to show up for Black queer men in Britain and beyond. He opens up about his grassroots work supporting victim survivors of sexual violence, the unique barriers Black queer men face when repor...

Our Black Gay Diaspora host Erick sits down with Keith Jarrett — British poet, performer, educator, UK Poetry Slam Champion, and author of Selah — to explore what it means to be Black, British, and queer through the power of storytelling and verse. Keith opens up about his journey from a Jamaican-British, Pentecostal upbringing to becoming one of the UK’s most distinctive queer voices in poetry an...

In a special role reversal, British author and educator Dr. Martin Patrick turns the mic on Our Black Gay Diaspora creator and host Erick Taylor Woodby — exploring the life, travels, and reflections of the man behind the podcast. From growing up in Phoenix, Arizona, to visiting Sweden and South Africa, and finding his voice as a podcaster and interviewer, Erick opens up about identity, self-discov...

Our Black Gay Diaspora host Erick sits down with Emil Wilbekin — award-winning journalist, former editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine, founder of Native Son, and professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology — to discuss a career that has shaped Black culture, media, and LGBTQ+ visibility for decades. Emil opens up about growing up Black and gay in Cincinnati, discovering his identity through Isaa...

Diana Bamimeke is an Ireland-based Nigerian independent curator, art writer, and transdisciplinary artist based in Dublin. Their socially engaged practice spans text, exhibition-making, performance, pedagogy and other artistic interventions. Guided by critical and political frameworks—including Black feminist & queer thought, anti-colonialism, and anti-imperialism—Diana strives to understand t...

Dr. Martin Patrick is a British author, playwright, and educator. He began his professional career writing for the theatre, but found his true calling writing crime and romance novels. Dr. Patrick's literary works include JJ’s Isolation , Love Both Ways , Son of a Dish , The Labyrinth of Families , and his most recent, The Torment of Desire . With 30 years of experience in teaching creative writin...

Anastacia-Reneé is an American writer, educator, interdisciplinary artist, playwright, former radio host, and TEDx speaker. She is the author of Forget It , Sidenotes from the Archivist , and Here in the (Middle) of Nowhere . Side Notes From The Archivist was selected as one of “NYPL Best Books of 2023” and the American Library Association's (RUSA) “Notable Books of 2024.” Anastacia-Reneé is a rec...

Jay Penn is an American writer, producer, and singer. His 2024 album, Sky High Sunsets , features the songs “Euphoria (Say Yes)” and “Money”. In 2020, he released the EP, Before Then . His 2018 EP is titled Pennding . Jay is also the creator, writer, and lead in the SLAYTV web series, Love & Us . It centers around the lives of three 30-something Black gay men who navigate dating and friendship...

This special episode features Dr. Harvey Kennedy-Pitt , a British Trustee for Portfolio for Global Health & Development for ReportOUT , a UK-based global human rights organisation for sexual and gender minorities. Dr. Kennedy-Pitt is a “globally oriented health strategist and public health practitioner committed to advancing health equity on an international scale.” He’s worked with other orga...

Chiamaka Okike is a Nigerian multidisciplinary writer who has edited for women’s issues in Isele Magazine and spoken at various workshops and panels. Her writings have appeared in The Kalahari Review , Narratively , Wilson Quarterly , Edinburgh’s Literary Salon , Brittle Paper , and A ctiveMuse . Chiamake's works include Perihelion , Chewed Glass , Return of the Sun . She's also the author of the...

Steve Morris is a British LGBTQ+ Travel Curator for Outbound Adventures , an agency where he curates travel adventures for LGBTQ+ couples and small groups. Steve’s ten years of world travel as a flight attendant gave him a front-row seat to how one can relieve the stress and experience the magic of international travel. With Outbound Adventures, he offers “travel with heart and structure”. Ra...

Rodrigo Tadeu is a Brazilian international advocate, storyteller, and human rights & public policy strategist. With a background in international law and public affairs, he is a “passionate advocate for justice, equity, and transformative leadership.” Rodrigo is also a Global Campaigns Officer for ReportOUT , an organisation founded by Drew Dalton, that is “protecting the human rights of sexua...

André Wade is the State Director for Silver State Equality, Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. André leads legislative, policy, and government affairs work, as well as fundraising, political and advocacy activities. In May 2018, he was one of The Advocate's ‘Champions of Pride’ . In May 2023, André was featured in Modern Luxury Las Vegas magazine as one of the 15 Most Influential...

This episode features " The Karamazovs ," Rami Margron and Jordan McCree . Rami is an American actor, playwright, dancer and physical comedian. Their résumé includes being a founding member of Reconnect, an African-diaspora dance theater company, a resident artist at San Francisco’s Crowded Fire Theater, and acting in televisions series like Law & Order , New Amsterdam , and Ray Donovan. Jorda...