My Story Simply Told

 My life has been shaped by two defining journeys. The first began when I was seventeen and felt the unmistakable touch of God. I believed I was chosen for a purpose, yet I spent decades wrestling with shame, not for what I had done, but for who I was. My sexual identity became the one part of me I was taught to fear, deny, and hide. I lived in a painful tug of war between the God who called me and the church that condemned me. Through years of inner struggle, prayer, and raw honesty, I discovered a truth that changed everything. Shame only survives where fear is fed, and God’s love has never been conditioned on my conformity.

The second journey began in March of 1994 when I was beaten by five young Black men who left me with three words that changed my life forever, “Welcome to racism.” That moment struck deeper than the blows themselves. It pushed me into a long, transformative journey through the inner city of Chicago. For the next thirty three years, I walked the streets with gang members, spent eighteen years volunteering at Cook County Jail, dedicated thirteen years to the Juvenile Detention Center, and worked eight years inside Chicago Public Schools. Through those years of listening, serving, and witnessing life at its rawest levels, I learned not only about the realities of racism, but also about my own racist conditioning and my own white privilege. God used that path to break me open, strip me of illusion, and rebuild me with a commitment to fight injustice wherever it lives.

These two journeys reshaped my identity and my calling. They transformed me into a voice for the unheard, the unseen, and all who carry the weight of injustice. I stand in solidarity with marginalized communities to include all who have been pushed to the margins of society. My purpose is to speak truth with courage, to stand with those who walk in silence, and to fight for a world where dignity, compassion, and justice are extended to all.