Each year, the San Francisco Bay Times with The Academy SF honors LGBTQ+ Black women leaders and allies for Black History Month. This year’s celebration, held on February 21, 2025, recognized leaders from multiple fields in the arts, education, nonprofits, and much more. Please join us in celebrating these accomplished, empowered women who continue to strengthen and enrich our community and who have a positive impact on the lives of countless others.
Black
A DJ for over three decades, DJ Black is one of the Bay Area’s most sought-after music masters. She has opened for artists such as Medusa, Erykah Badu, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Alanis Morissette. Also a producer, DJ Black has created phenomenal Bay Area parties like Tight, Rise, Dream EZ, Hella Gay, and Ships in the Night. She is paying it back, teaching other DJs and mentoring countless individuals to express themselves through music with love and also with respect for those wise community leaders who came before us. As she says, she is her “ancestors’ wildest dream.”
Reverend Dereca Blackmon
Rev. Dereca Blackmon is the Senior Minister at the East Bay Church of Religious Science, a Center for Spiritual Living in Oakland, where she has dedicated over 25 years of service to the spiritual transformation of the entire planet. Her work is rooted in a tradition of sacred activism that seamlessly blends spiritual and cultural principles that foster personal and social liberation. Whether her ministry is in juvenile hall or corporate conference rooms, she is committed to providing loving comfort to those facing oppression and “constructive discomfort” to those resting in their societal privilege. She is the mother of four bold and beautiful daughters whom she raised in the spiritual principles of New Thought and who continue to be her life’s best teachers.
Taniesha Broadfoot
An Assistant Manager at Mollie Stone’s Greenbrae Market, Taniesha Broadfoot has been an executive at the family-owned market chain for many years, working previously at the Castro store. With great skill she has managed very large teams and has helped her store receive numerous awards including The Marin Independent Journal award for Best Supermarket for at least three years. During times of great need, such as throughout the COVID pandemic, Mollie Stone’s Markets donated essential resources to hospitals, food banks, schools, first responders, and various nonprofits, evidencing the generosity and compassion of Taniesha and her talented team.
Reverend Angela Brown
Rev. Angela Brown is the Minister of Community Engagement, Advocacy, and Social Justice for the ten United Methodist Churches located in San Francisco. Her tireless efforts are helping to dismantle systems and expressions of racism, benefiting all of us. She received her Juris Doctorate Degree from San Francisco Law School, and she then worked as an ADA with The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office until her retirement in 2010. Retirement didn’t last long, though, as Angela then earned her Masters of Divinity in 2014 from the Pacific School of Religion Seminary. Rev. Angela’s first appointment was as the Associate Pastor serving at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church from 2014–2018 as the minister of Advocacy and Congregational Care before her present leadership role.
Kamika Dunlap
Kamika Dunlap is the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy’s Chief Communications Officer. She leads the Communications and Public Affairs Branch of the organization to advance awareness of the role national parks play in addressing issues of today and tomorrow, including climate resilience, social and community justice, and the stewardship of national parks and protected lands, waters, and air. She has over 20 years of experience in strategic communications, policy advocacy, and people-centered leadership in the philanthropic, government, and media sectors. Passionate about climate issues, Kamika is a fellow with the OnePointFive Academy, focusing on nature-based solutions and comprehensive Net Zero strategies. She is dedicated to collaborating with changemakers to drive bold and equitable climate solutions.
Shay Franco-Clausen
Shay Franco-Clausen is such a skilled political consultant and veteran of many candidate and ballot initiative campaigns that she was named the Political Director of Equality California ahead of the 2024 elections. The first openly lesbian Black, Afro-Latina woman to be elected in Santa Clara County, she has served on the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority and on the Hayward Planning Commission. She additionally has served as PAC Chair of the Courage California C4 Board, Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party LGBTQ Caucus, Co-Chair of the National Black Justice Coalition’s “Good Trouble Network,” PAC Chair for the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, and she was a member of the Victory Fund Campaign Board.
Elena Gross
The Director of Exhibitions & Public Programs at the GLBT Historical Society, Elena Gross has expertise that spans museums, culturally specific institutions, commercial galleries, independent nonprofits, and arts publications. She has served as Co-Director of the Berkeley Art Center and Director of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs at the Museum of the African Diaspora. She is also an independent writer and cultural critic who has curated multiple solo exhibitions. As she says, “Community art spaces are a vital, and yet a rapidly disappearing, cultural asset,” so she continues to do all that she can to keep the existing ones vital and
thriving.
Tammy Hall
Grammy award-winning pianist, composer, arranger, lecturer, and musical director Tammy Hall began playing the piano at age 4 and is still devoted to that instrument, music, and its calling. Her career now spans more than four decades, with no end in sight. In pursuit of the creation, development, and performance of artistic excellence and transformative music, Tammy has worked with and accompanied numerous vocalists and instrumentalists including Etta Jones, Melba Moore, Darlene Love, Linda Tillery, Holly Near, and too many others to mention here. In addition to winning a Grammy, she was the recipient of a Human Right’s Commission award for her work in the community and received a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle award for Best Musical Direction, among her many honors. She is also an Olivia Travel favorite who brings great joy to audiences the world over.
Cassandra Falby
Psychotherapist Cassandra Falby assists individuals, couples, and families in living and experiencing richer, healthier lives. Their clinical interests include intergenerational trauma and healing, values-based therapeutic interventions, and the impact of disability and chronic illness on self-concept. With three decades of experience, Cassandra has been involved in social justice and equity movements since their grassroots organizing days in the Midwest. They remain an advocate for historically marginalized communities and are dedicated to fostering inclusive environments where individuals can authentically be themselves and thrive. Cassandra is also Chair of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project Board and is a performance artist and filmmaker.
Khilynn Fowler
Khilynn Fowler holds numerous roles including serving as a Board Member of the Family HealthCare Network, Commissioner of Arts Culture & Library for the City of San Leandro, and Community Relations Manager at the San Francisco Community Health Center. She was a former Supervisor of Trans Thrive at the San Francisco Community Health Center and was a Community Engagement Manager for the City and County of San Francisco. She worked for the State Coordinated Campaign for Biden and Harris in 2020, helping to make possible their victory that election year. She even created a transgender-affirming boutique-to-care program, transforming an office space into a chic and successful boutique.
Dr. Stephanie Anne Johnson
Dr. Johnson’s career of more than 50 years includes diverse roles from full professor at California State University, Monterey Bay, to author and playwright, award-winning artist, exhibit curator and contributor, researcher, theater lighting specialist, project designer, and nonprofit board member. Her works have been included in hundreds of exhibits decade by decade since the 1970s. Among her many prior awards was a Proclamation from the City of Berkeley in honor of her contributions to the city, the California State University system, and her work in theater and art. October 30, 2012, was officially called “Stephanie Anne Johnson Day.”
Christiana Remington
Christiana Remington is the talented visionary behind Oakland Pride’s Womyn’s Stage. She is a longtime LGBTQ+ community organizer who is also the founder, curator, and promoter of Butterfly Productions, affectionately known as “Butta.” She was a Grand Marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade in 2011. This accomplished woman has been described by her legions of admirers as a “quiet storm.”
Mary Midgett
One of those rare and special people who is known by just a single name, “Midgett,” this extraordinary octogenarian is known throughout the Bay Area as a community organizer and activist, writer, and teacher. She helped found The Women’s Building, counseled people with addictions, and co-launched Bay Area Black Lesbians and Gays and the NIA Collective, a retreat for lesbians of African descent. She is additionally a beloved leader of OLOC: Older Lesbians Organizing for Change.
DJ Ryan
As one of the most in demand DJs in the Bay Area, DJ Ryan regularly spins tunes at Golden State Warriors and San Francisco Giants games. She has shared the stage with Diana Ross, Weezer, George Clinton, Chaka Kahn, Miley Cyrus, the Indigo Girls, and many other well-known artists. DJ Ryan graces the airwaves of 91.7 KALW, has been recognized as Best DJ in the Bay Area multiple times by community publications, and was honored by the City of Oakland for her commitment to the liberation of queer and transpeople and the intersectional approach to liberation, principles of equality, and inclusion for all. Presented by Olivia Travel, she was the DJ for the February 21 celebration.
Ramona Laughing Brook Webb
Ramona Laughing Brook Webb is a dynamic Afro-Creek Muskogee queer poet and performing artist who serves as the inaugural Poet-in-Residence at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) within the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, The Black Womxn’s Health and Livelihood Initiative, and The Black Wellness Center. Ramona is also the Director of Wellness at the UCSF Black Wellness Center and the curator of its art gallery. She extends her leadership and creativity to Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, where she serves as the first Janice Mirikitani Poet Theologian in Residence.
Divas and Drinks at the Academy
Published on February 27, 2025
Recent Comments