What did you promise yourself you would do different in 2017? For most, 2017 is the year you are going to work out, eat healthy, work on yourself or even participate in a social cause dear to your heart. Let start the conversation about fitness, work outs and personal trainers with Jai Davis, Professional Athlete, Firefighter, Paramedic, Personal Trainer, and Child Advocate. Joining CAN WE TALK FOR REAL on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 will be Jai Davis Professional Athlete, Firefighter, Paramedic, Personal Trainer, and Child Advocate. Join us as Jai talks about achieving a healthier lifestyle with nutritional planning, staying fit, and maintaining a healthy body image and how fitness empowers woman. Jai will also talk about her commitment to juvenile diabetes through the Jai Fit Academy.  The Jai Fit Academy works hard to educate the youth in achieving a healthier lifestyle to include: nutritional planning, staying fit, and maintaining a healthy body image. Join us this Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 8:30PM EST/7:30PM CST as CAN WE TALK FOR REAL has a candid conversation with Jai Davis, personal trainer, ex- boxer, and advocate about training and empowering your body.   CAN WE TALK FOR REAL – your award winning Blogtalkradio show.

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Jai Davis: Professional Athlete and Personal Trainer. Let’s talks about fitness

SCHOOL HAS NOW OFFICIALLY OPENED FOR MILLIONS OF CHILDREN. Nearly nine out of 10 LGBT students (86.2 percent) experience harassment at school because of their sexual orientation, and 60.8 percent feel unsafe, according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) 2007 National School Climate Survey. The 2015 National School Climate Survey will come out in fall of 2016 as noted on the GLSEN website. These numbers are alarming but what is on the horizon is more alarming in a good way. California and Georgia have open schools that are geared toward the LGBTQ student offering LGBTQ students a safe, supportive environment -- one they can choose or decline -- can save lives and be an important ingredient in an overall recipe for positive change for all youth, including and especially LGBTQ youth and their allies.” More importantly is that in October 2016, the LGBTQ Community Initiative at Teach for America will celebrate two years. The Initiative will be a part of the Summit where it is open to LGBTQ and allied corps members, alumni, staff, partners, and students. They are sponsored by Teach for America’s LGBTQ Community Initiative and participating regions. LGBTQ Summits will drive the work of engaging teachers and leaders in partnership with regional and national organizations that focus on supporting LGBTQ students and educators. Joining Can We Talk for REAL will be Tim’m West, Senior Managing Director, LGBTQ Community Initiative, Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships of Teach America. Tim’m will lead the conversation about LGBTQ students in schools and what they go through once they enter the buildings every day. 

“Supporting Black LGBTQ Students in our Schools”

We previously had couples from the Chicago area who agreed to join us and juts talk raw about marriage and their feelings about issues that affect us all no matter who you marry. Tonight on Can WE Talk for REAL we are going to continue that conversation. Joining CAN WE TALK FOR REAL tonight, August17, 2016 is Lisa (Verse) Ware has been married to Romesa Ware since June 10, 2016. Lisa is Sup. Historian,, President of Chicago's Lambda Colony, Alpha Psi Kappa Fraternity, Incorporated, April 2, 2011 to present. Also joining us will be SB Moss, who had been married since June 17, 2008. Sb is a Patient Care Technician (PCT) at DaVita.  She also studied Health Care at South Suburban College. Lastly we have a couple that also are married and are business partners. Interesting combination we have the owners of TnPcleaningprofessionals Are Us joining us tonight. Tonight’s conversation is going to be open and if you are thinking about getting married listen in and ask those questions that will help you. Also, if you got married within the past 10 years or more and you have good advice for our couples to be or newlyweds call in and share the Happiness. Did marriage change you?  If you have to do it again what would you change? What is your secret.

MARRIAGE and WHAT IT BRINGS TO THE MIX

School starts soon and for many it will be a new experience with a group of classmates they have never met and they know nothing about. For those returning to school there is the in crowd, the jocks, the brainy students and the TARGETS, and not just the new kids in schools but “friends”, “neighbors” or just the “outsiders”.  Middle school and High school are supposed to be the best years of your life. Its where you meet those lifelong friends, be popular, play sports, become a good debater, take up politics, find puppy love, go to Prom and graduate- beginning life.  Hundreds of students will begin school and many of those who accept and begin living their truth as LGBTQ, or is diagnosed with bi-polar or a mental disease will become those TARGETS and will commit Suicide. ALERT: There is a NEW BULLY in town and it is called Social Media better known as Face Book. It becomes the hidden fist that strikes you, the vicious words (gay, trans, bi-polar) that degrades you, the gun that shoots you and the knife that stabs you in the heart.  As school, starts back parents need to look, listen and be proactive in conversations with your children. Young people if you stay silent and allow someone else to be bullied you can also carry the label of bully, because you are not part of the solution.  

LGBTQ/Suicide, Mental Illness/Suicide, Bullying/ Suicide…..Families/Friends Dest

It’s been a little past the year mark since the landmark Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, decided the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples. The actual number of couples that have wed since the decision is unknown.  Joining CAN WE TALK FOR REAL on Wednesday, August 3, 2016 is Imani Baskin. President and CEO of Women Healing Women, Inc. Imani is also Poetess, Empowerment Coach, Artist, Motivator, Feminist, Thought Liberator, Unicorn and Author. This spring she added a new title to her arsenal that of bride/wife.Imani is a dynamic speaker, who captivates her audience with passion, humor and a unique ability to personalize her message to fit anyone listening to her words. As a professional counselor and life coach, Imani inspires her clients to turn painful experiences into purpose-driven missions. She is affectionately known as the Barrier Breaker & Change Maker! Is a wedding in your plans? Want to make a surprise proposal or announce to friends/family your wedding plans? Then tune in to hear what this powerhouse has to say about the experience, get some tips and learn how it has changed her life. If you were recently married join us as we talk.  

Love & Marriage: Advice and insight from Women Healing Women’s CEO (who recently

Supreme Court

Do you remember what you thought, how you felt or what you were doing when you heard that 49 people who were out enjoying the evening had been shot and killed in an Orlando Nightclub? Now the same question, when it was announced the club was a gay club? Did this horrible event impact you in such a way that you needed to talk to a friend, family, vent on FaceBook, or just join in one of the vigils for the victims no matter what city, town or state you were in? The most important question is going to be now, “How did this change your life”? Believe me it has, whether you want to believe it did or not. We are all changed even if you are not gay. Joining Can We Talk for REAL cohosts Teresa (TerryBoi) Jackson and Michelle E. Brown on Wednesday June 22, 2016 is Claudia Mosier, Psy.D. a licensed clinical psychologist in Chicago. She had been the Director of Mental Health and Youth Services for the Center on Halsted. Once the LGBTQ community woke to the news of the Orlando shooting, Mosier opened her office to the members of the LGBTQ community and anyone who needed to come and join in conversation. CAN WE TALK FOR REAL airs at 8:30PM EST/7:30PM CST. Call (347)215-8985 and press “1” to listen and be a part of the conversation  

Behind the Orlando Shootings! How have You Changed?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Every day during this month, Muslims around the world spend the daylight hours in a complete fast. In 2016 Ramadan begins in the evening of Sunday, June 5th and ends in the evening of Tuesday, July 5th. Muslims currently make up approximately 0.9% of the U.S. adult population. If children are included, the Muslim population in the United States totals 2.75 million Muslims in the country.  Although the exact number of LGBTQ Muslims in the United States or globally is not known, openly gay Imams are emerging to help those struggling to live openly and authentically in harmony with their faith. Joining CAN WE TALK FOR REAL cohosts Teresa (TerryBoi) Jackson and Michelle E. Brown on Wednesday June 8, 2016 is IMAM DAAYIEE ABDULLAH one of the five Imams worldwide who are openly gay. IMAM DAAYIEE ABDULLAH lectures nationally and internationally on progressive Muslim concepts, intra-faith and interfaith networking, and the development of inclusive and progressive revisions of Islamic theological thought and Islamic law. He actively promotes understanding and awareness of issues of racial, gender and sexual equality as understood in the UN Declaration of Human Rights within and beyond Muslim communities.

Imam Daayiee Abdullah Speaking For Our LGBTQ Muslim Brothers & Sisters

Each year on Memorial Day we remember members of our community – family, friends, neighbors even strangers – who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. We visit their graves, hold memorials, march in parades and thank them for their service but what about the remaining 364 days of the year.After a successful career as an entrepreneur in Michigan, Tiera Craig moved to New York and joined the US Department of Veterans Affairs in New York. Besides providing management analysis, she provides a welcoming “Out and Proud” face for LGBTQ veterans visiting the facility.Tiera has volunteered at various non-profit organizations across the country. As a member of Kappa Xi Omega Sorority, Inc., she is surrounded by successful professional women, some of whom are active military and veterans themselves.Tiera recently attended the 5th Annual OutServe-SLDN LGBT Military Leadership Conference in Washington DC. OutServe-SLDN brings together actively serving and retired service members, advocates and experts to discuss issues, concerns, and future planning for the LGBT military community. Tiera will share her observations from the OutServe-SLDN Conference. She will also talk about her experiences as a membership in Kappa Xi Omega and how it drives her commitment to serve with the Rainbow Veterans Project. Founded by Tiera Craig, The Rainbow Veterans Project aims to provide resource, advocacy, and training to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Veterans.

The Other 364 Days: Giving Vets Their Roses While They’re Living

May is Lupus Awareness Month! Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints and/or organs inside the body). African-Americans are three times more likely than Caucasians to develop lupus and with greater severity.  Black females disproportionately are burdened by lupus. Joining CAN WE TALK FOR REAL ,May 25, 2016 is Sharon L. Harris, founder and president of Lupus Detroit. Ms. Harris will share her journey from diagnosis to Lupus Warrior raising awareness about the disease and advocating for others stricken with Lupus so they could also not just survive but thrive.A month after graduating from Florida A & M University, she was diagnosed with discoid and systemic lupus. Soon after the diagnosis, she had a “what if tomorrow is never promised” moment. Shortly after the lupus went into remission, she passed two rigorous interviews and six weeks of training and became a flight attendant for Mesaba Airlines. Her reasoning was if lupus was going to attack her, it would have to find her on the beaches of Aruba or high above the Eiffel tower. In late 2008 threatened her health and well-being. Sharon experienced a lupus flare so great that her doctor told her there was nothing left that he could do. He then patted her on her back and told her “good luck”. Within a year, Sharon raised more than one million dollars in pledges, in-kind donations and sponsorships for the organization. In 2009, her Lupus Walk team raised almost $5,000 for lupus research. This led her to be a sought after lupus advocate, participating as a guest on radio and television. She has travelled to Washington D.C to lobby Congress and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on behalf of those with lupus. The genetics of lupus in minority populations is starting to get the attention it deserves in part due to the efforts of Warriors like Sharon L. Harris.

Beyond Surviving to Thriving: When Lupus Attacked this Black Woman, a warrior wa

The relationship between women is based on a complexity of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. The mother-daughter bond has a powerful impact on women’s relationships. This relationship of dependence and nurturance, engulfment, power and control, is what gets re-activated in same sex relationships between women. This is where the nature of the mother-daughter bond can show itself in subtle, yet, powerful ways. Difficulties can arise when both parties in the relationship struggle to get their individual needs met. Wednesday Night, May 18th joining CAN WE TALK FOR REAL, co-host Michelle E Brown and Teresa (Terry Boi) Jackson will be Bonnie Harrison well-known and dynamic Licensed Psychotherapist who frames her work around an African, and Indigenous Spiritualities Paradigm. The focus of her work is on healing what’s broken as a result of historical harm, childhood trauma, and ongoing socio-political stressors and wounding. She is known as a developer and facilitator of wellness-centered learning experiences for both women and men, and gender-diverse people of African descent. However, her training and healing models are designed to benefit members of various ethno-cultural groups. Paradoxically, the needs one wants to be satisfied most-nurturance and dependence-become a struggle for power and control, often resulting in the thing most feared, abandonment and loss.Gaining a clearer understanding of same gender loving relationships between women, can be best accomplished by taking a look at our own mothers’ relationships with their mothers, and the portrait of their lives within an ethno-cultural, and bio-psychosocial context. Bonnie will discuss the approaches she uses to better ensure self-healing and wellness in our communities. Her work is informed by her use of the technologies found in African and Indigenous Spiritualities, in combination with some western therapeutic interventions, and the creative arts.

The Mother-Daughter Bond: Transforming Same Gender-Loving (SGL) Women’s Relatio

The Strength of My Soul: Stories of Sisterhood, Triumph and Inspiration includes stories that also highlight mothers and their struggles. As noted about the book women are the bearers of life. Women breathe live, live life and love life with all its turns in the roads. This week Can We Talk for REAL will continue to celebrate Mothers in our own unique way. We will have a mother and daughter conversation with Dr. Carole Hysmith and her daughter Lenore about their mother/daughter relationship and how it has formed to be what it is today.Mothers have always been the back bone of the African American Community. So image you have a daughter that identifies as a same gender loving woman.  Joining “Can We Talk for REAL”, Wednesday, May 11th to continue celebrating Mothers will be Dr. Carole Hysmith. Dr.  Hysmith will take us through her journey “ The Union between a Mother and Her Same-Gender Loving Daughter” and how she and her daughter were able to grow in this new relationship once they started the conversation and put in the work. Dr Hysmith talks about how her world was rocked when she discovered her daughter was a lesbian. However, over thirty years later she now realizes that knowing about her daughter has enriched her own character and their relationship. Listen to her own words. http://www.thestrengthofmysoul.com/team_member/dr-carol-hysmith/ Happy Mother’s day to all the Mommies and if you need a way to start that conversation join us and ask your questions of someone who had been there done that. Remember in every situation there can be you are never alone. There is no handbook only a SISTERHOOD that share Best Practices that still has its flaws but it’s with LOVE that it is passed on. Show starts at 8:30 est, 7:30 cst, call in 347-215-8985 and Press 1 to speak.

Dr Hyman & Daughter's conversation about The Union between a Mother and Her Sam

The Black Trans Advocacy Conference (BTAC) is not just a convention, it's a joyful family reunion. This year the gathering celebrated its 5th anniversary with attendees from across the country and as far away as Jamaica. BTAC is a unique life changing five day program that furthers education, provides linkage to resources, community building and organizing, leadership development and celebration of diverse identities.Winners at this year’s gala awards ceremony included Elle Hearns (Monica Roberts Advocacy Award); Angelica Ross, Bryanna Jenkins, Yusuf James and Wriply Bennet (BTAC Trailblazer Award); Aurora Jonez (Community Ally award), and DeeDee Watters (Advocate of the Year). Each day transgender people are faced with bias that affects all areas of life. According to Injustice at Every Turn: A Look at Black Respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, Black trans and gender non-conforming people reported experiencing the highest levels of discrimination of all transgender people based on the combination of anti-transgender bias with structural and individual racism. Black Trans Advocacy, through its national advocacy center and affiliate state chapters works daily to advance social equality with specific focus on inequities faced in the black and transgender human experience.Hear about this year’s BTAC celebration = what was learned, what was shared, what was celebrated this Wednesday at 8:30PM EST/7:30PM CST on CAN WE TALK FOR REAL, your award winning blogtalk radio. Call (347)215-8985 then press “1” to listen and join in the conversation.

Five Down! On to the next five years of Black Trans Advocacy

Earlier this month the North Carolina Legislature passed HB2 a discriminatory law taking aim at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and especially the Transgender communities. There are several things involved in HB2 but the one that has gotten the most attention is the requirement that anyone using a public or school multiuser bathroom must use the bathroom assigned to the gender on that person’s birth certificate.This sweeping law reverses ordinance that Charlotte, NC that extended some rights to people who are gay or transgender and nullified local ordinances around the state that would have expanded protections for the LGBT community.In the wake of the passage of North Carolina’s HB2, nearly 70 clergy from several faith traditions pledged to do whatever they can to overturn North Carolina’s controversial new law. The Rev. Robin Tanner, lead minister at the Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church chairs the interfaith Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice.Joining CAN WE TALK FOR REAL cohosts Teresa (Terry Boi) Jackson and Michelle E. Brown will be representatives from the Coalition to talk about HB2 and their commitment to fight this discriminatory law including Rev. Robin Tanner, Rev. Dawn Flynn and Bishop Tonyia Rawls.The clergy group, which includes two transgender ministers, will organize an anti-HB2 rally on April 24 and have pledged to financially support the lawsuit recently filed by the ACLU to challenge HB2.The Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice, called out to North Carolinians from the shared moral grounding of love for neighbor. The Coalition employs the methods of nonviolence and the practices of peace in the pursuit of justice and equity in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. 

NC passes discriminatory law and the Clergy Strike Back

APRIL is SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH. Around the world activists and survivors of sexual assault are participating in Take Back The Night events, marches, rallies and vigils as a protest and direct action against rape and other forms of sexual, relationship and domestic violence. On WEDNESDAY APRIL 13, 2016, Kalimah Johnson, Founder and CEO of the SASHA CENTER returns to the show and, will join CAN WE TALK FOR REAL cohosts Teresa (Terry Boi) Jackson and Michelle E. Brown to talk about Sexual Assault Awareness, SASHA CENTER’s recent Take Back The Night event and the CENTER’s on going work. The SASHA CENTER is a culturally specific Sexual Assault Peer Educational Support Group that provides services for self-identified survivors of rape. SASHA’s programs focus on the primary prevention of sexual violence, educating the public about rape, raising awareness and providing free and confidential support groups to self-identified survivors of sexual assault. Sexual violence is a major public health, human rights and social justice. At the SASHA CENTER and for survivors of sexual Assault - Healing is possible Join us WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 at 8:30PM EST/7:30PM CST as CAN WE TALK FOR REAL as we Take Back the NIGHT with Kalimah and the SASHA CENTER.  

Taking Back the NIGHT with Kalimah Johnson and the SASHA CENTER

Conversations about subjects many talk about at bars, in the basement and at the kitchen table. It is time to not be afraid to express your opinion. Lets talk about relationships, domestic violence, bullying, suicide and don't forget lets talk about life and LOVE. Time to feel EMPOWERED through your voice.

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Can We Talk for REAL

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