Watch the awards 2022 Baldwin Awards
Our Honorees
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is proud to present the 2nd annual James Baldwin Legacy Awards commemorating National Senior Citizens Day on Sunday, August 21, 2022, at 3 pm EST. This signature event is an opportunity for our community to honor iconic Black GBTQ+/SGL men and masculine elders and celebrate the process of aging while sharing the wisdom accrued by our elders through this virtual event. We honor Black male and masculine elders who have blazed trails across a number of fields and careers. The honorees this year include (in alphabetical order):
Elder Bishop Kwabena “Rainey” Cheeks
Elder Bishop Kwabena “Rainey” Cheeks is the co-founder of Us Helping Us and is a faith leader at Inner Light Ministries. He is also the coordinator of the historic DC Clubhouse community events and parties.
Eugene Cornelius
Eugene Cornelius is the senior advisor to the Office of International Trade at the U.S. Small Business Administration and Designer of the International Council of Small Business (ICSB) at George Washington University.
Earl Fowlkes
Earl Fowlkes is the founder, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Black Equity, the Chair of the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT Caucus, and a widely respected HIV/AIDS activist.
Rev. Cedric Harmon
Rev. Cedric Harmon is the co-director of Many Voices: A Black Church Movement for LGBTQ Justice. He is an ordained pastor affiliated with the National Baptist and Missionary Baptist Churches and served as a religious organizer for Americans for the Separation of Church and State.
A. Nzere Kwabena
Formerly known as Curtis Lipscomb, Kwabena is an artist, publisher, community organizer, mentor, and the Executive Director of LGBT Detroit.
Dr. Cleo Manago
Dr. Cleo Manago is an activist who coined the term same-gender loving (SGL), used by members of the African-American /Black community to express an alternative sexual orientation without relying on terms and symbols of Anglo/European descent. Manago is also the founder and CEO of AmASSI Health and Cultural Centers and Black Men’s Xchange (BMX)
Dr. Eugene McCray
Dr. Eugene McCray was one of the earliest Black gay men HIV/AIDS researchers at the CDC and the director of the Division of HIV/ADIS Prevention. He was also the Director of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.
