Dear Friends:

As we continue celebrating dads this month, we must also honor and celebrate June as PRIDE month. With today’s blog, I am going for a two in one.  My father was great.  He was – not perfect but great. He served in WWII for 13 months. It was there he discovered his ability and interest in writing. He became a writer and worked for the CIA as a staff writer from 1949 to 1965, and quit because of the discrimination and the inability to advance. Fast forward – he found his way as a businessman. Although he prospered in business, he never stopped writing because, as he would say, “writers write.”  What I learned about my father as a grown woman is that he was a champion for LGBTQ rights. He never said it, and it was only in discovering a Letter to the Editor did I learn of his passion to stand up for what is right, especially in the face of adversity. I invite you to read it here: https://bit.ly/3fyfsi5. In 1977 when he wrote this article as a heterosexual man, it would have been easy to stay silent. What I admire most is that he wasn’t. We are currently living in times that require we no longer be silent about human rights. This month I would like to invite my allies to tag/like/share this. Give it a like or a comment to let our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters know that we stand with them, not because we have to, but because we choose to.

I proudly share that a collection of my father’s work is captured in a book called “I Wanted You to Know” that can be found on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2YLEOlA. This book was selected by the African American Museum to be kept in their library.

Dr. Lisa

PS: Our song is “Stand” by Sly and the Family Stone.