LIVING HISTORY 2026
During African-American History Month, The Gatekeepers Collective is proud to celebrate extraordinary contributions being made by members of our community as Living History.
Dr. Maurice Franklin
Dr. Maurice Franklin is a nationally respected public health leader, educator, veteran, and community advocate whose work centers on health equity, civic engagement, and Black liberation. He holds advanced degrees in public leadership, strategy, and education, and serves as a professor within the City University of New York and California State University systems, teaching public health, nutrition, substance use, and leadership.
Dr. Franklin serves on the Board of Directors of The Gatekeepers Collective, a Harlem-based organization committed to Black cultural preservation, community healing, and intergenerational leadership. There, he helps shape strategy, governance, and mission-driven programming that bridges history, the arts, and health justice.
He is Chair of Manhattan Community Board 10’s Parks and Recreation Committee in Central Harlem and a member of its Executive Committee. He also chairs the Health & Wellness Committee of One Hundred Black Men of New York, leading initiatives focused on chronic disease prevention, mental health, HIV/AIDS education, and culturally responsive care. A nationally recognized HIV/AIDS advocate, he has been honored by the New York City Department of Health for life-saving contributions during the epidemic.
Words of Inspiration:
As an Oklahoma Creek Freedman and descendant of civil rights attorney Buck Franklin—and cousin of historian Dr. John Hope Franklin—Dr. Franklin grounds his work in legacy and responsibility. As he often says, “Black history is not behind us—it is the living blueprint for how we care for one another today and how we build what comes next.”
David P. Martin
David P. Martin is a respected community advocate and cultural strategist with extensive experience in the arts, media, institution-building, and public health. He holds a degree from Howard University and possesses advanced training in arts management from NYU. Mr. Martin began his career in theater, dance, and nonprofit media, gaining vital skills in business, communication, and storytelling. His work now focuses on strengthening care systems, expanding health equity, and supporting vulnerable communities facing significant social and structural challenges.
Mr. Martin is the duly elected Community Co-Chair of the HIV Health and Human Services Planning Council of New York. In this role, he provides insight and perspective on statewide AIDS Institute quality initiatives and education materials. He collaborates with local and national networks to address critical issues, including aging, equity, resilience, and access to essential services. Mr. Martin’s leadership is guided by his lived experience and deep dedication to representing marginalized communities and shaping care policies that better serve their needs.
Words of Wisdom:
Mr. Martin believes that true wisdom comes from reflecting on experience. He emphasizes valuing past lessons, acting diligently now, and trusting the future. According to him, progress occurs when communities are listened to and their input guides decision-making.
Martez D. R. Smith
Martez D. R. Smith, PhD, LMSW is a public health researcher, licensed social worker, and community-engaged scholar whose work centers Black sexual and gender-diverse communities. He holds a PhD in Nursing and Health Science and brings over a decade of experience across HIV prevention, treatment, and care; qualitative and mixed-methods research; and community-based program development. His scholarship examines the social, structural, and network-level factors shaping sexual health outcomes, with particular attention to chosen families, substance use, and health equity among Black men who have sex with men and members of the House Ball Community. Dr. Smith has led and supported federally and state-funded research initiatives, taught graduate-level courses in sociomedical sciences and qualitative methods, and consulted with nonprofit and public-sector organizations nationwide. He is the co-founder of a national community-based network focused on health equity and capacity building and is committed to translating research into sustainable, community-driven interventions.
My words of wisdom are simple, and something I'm learning to integrate into my life every day: focus on what brings you joy, peace, and fulfillment. As you learn to center these things, your life—and the world around you—will begin to shift.
Shunt’ae Lloyd
Shunt’ae Lloyd is a former elementary school teacher with more than twenty-five years of experience in education. In 2023, he began a new professional chapter with the CEC of NYC, serving as a Collision Facilitator for Bedford-Stuyvesant, where he is now in his second year. A lifelong learner, he believes in applying personal growth and lived experience to everyday life and leadership.
As the oldest of six siblings, he has long embraced a mindset rooted in family, service, and community responsibility. His advocacy work reflects his belief in giving back and strengthening the communities that shape and sustain us.
In 2020, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a life-altering experience that deepened his faith and clarified his purpose. Through spiritual grounding, the support of his medical team, and the love of family and friends, he emerged with renewed strength and gratitude. He approaches life with courage, stepping forward in faith regardless of circumstance. Shunt’ae views life as a continual process of growth—embracing both the bitter and the sweet—never taking a single breath for granted and honoring the ancestors whose legacy he carries forward.
Words of Wisdom:
Up and downs. Never taking life for granted for it is a blessing to live and breathe life. When I walk I come as a man with many ancestors who have walked before me demanding and acknowledging that I am here and here.
Jon Key
Jon Key is a Queer Black man originally from the small rural town Seale, Alabama now living and working in Bushwick, NY. A writer, designer and painter, his work excavates the lineage and history of his identity through four themes: Southernness, Blackness, Queerness, and Family. Through the process of writing, photography and painting, Jon’s work is portrayed graphically through four colors: Green, Black, Violet and Red. Respectively, these colors intertwine memory and intimate recounting of the four pillars grounding the work.
As an educator, Jon has taught at MICA, Parsons, and currently teaches at Cooper Union. Jon is the Co-Founder and Design Director of Codify Art, a multidisciplinary collective dedicated to creating, producing, supporting, and showcasing work by artists of color, particularly women, queer, and trans artists of color.
Jon's work has been showcased in The Armory Show with Steve Turner LA, Carl Freedman Gallery, Jeffrey Deitch NY and included in personal and institutional collections including Yale University, AIEVA Institute, and The Dean Collection. Key’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic. Jon was selected for Forbes 30 under 30 Art and Style list for 2020 and was the Frank Staton Chair in Graphic Design at Cooper Union 2018-2019.
Emil Wilbekin
Emil Wilbekin is the Chairman, CEO and Founder of Native Son, a movement, community and platform created to amplify the voice and visibility of Black gay and queer men. He is also a Deacon at First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem. And he is an Assistant Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City where he teaches journalism, public relations, and magazine feature writing. Emil Wilbekin is a multimedia maverick who contributes to The New York Times T Magazine, Vogue, The Cut, Architectural Digest, Time, Essence, Ebony, The Advocate, and Town & Country. He is the Co-Producer and Co-Writer on the documentary The Remix: Hip Hip X Fashion. Wilbekin has served as Chief Content Officer at Afropunk, Editor-at-Large at Essence, Managing Editor of Essence.com, Editor-in-Chief of Giant and Giantmag.com, Style Guru at Complex, VP of Brand Development at Marc Eckō Enterprises, Editorial Director/Vice President of Vibe Ventures and Editor-in-Chief of Vibe Magazine. Under Wilbekin’s leadership, Vibe won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002. He holds a B.S. in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University, and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University.
Durrock Knox
Durrock Knox is a Baltimore native with formative roots in Virginia’s Tidewater region. A Digital Producer and User Experience Marketer, he has spent over a decade consulting across media and tech, from early-stage startups to global brands, including Calendly, Snapchat, Bloomberg, and Ebony.
He studied Graphic Design at the Art Institute of Philadelphia and began his career freelancing with LGBTQIA+ event promoters and public health organizations before moving to New York to further his work in commercial digital production and strategy.
Durrock is the founder of HRLY Media, which produces the Hourly Rage podcast—amplifying narratives around work, identity, and culture. He also leads Mediapedal, a creative tech agency focused on digital strategy and marketing operations for startups and mission-based organizations. His mission is to use technology and storytelling to help marginalized communities and organizations show up authentically in the digital world.
Word of Wisdom: Progress happens when we show up fully and bring others with us.
Cory L. Scott
Cory L. Scott is an author, activist, strategist, pastor, and Black sex educator whose work lives at the intersections of sacred purpose, radical possibility, and transformative justice. Born in Chicago, came of age in Washington, DC, and based in the Bronx, he creates spaces for Black queer people to embrace wholeness—where joy is sacred resistance and truth-telling is spiritual devotion.
A proud Howard University alumnus, Cory’s path spans grief and bereavement care, former lead pastor of Transformers Church Chicago, sex education, nonprofit leadership, and theology. From 2016–2022 he was a regular cast member, contributor, and producer on The Grapevine TV, a groundbreaking YouTube panel series shaping conversation on race, gender, identity, and politics across Black digital communities.
Cory is the author of The Counterculture Devotional (2019) and is writing Forgotten We Once Flew: Reconciling Queer Identity & Christianity. As Founder and Chair of the Board for the Pauli Murray Awards Foundation, he leads a nonprofit honoring Black LGBTQ+ excellence through national awards, mentorship, and advocacy—guided by legacy as a spiritual practice. --
“The challenge of the moment is to live so that the future will not be ashamed of us.”
— Pauli Murray
We are living in a moment the future will judge… Not by our intentions, but by our choices. By who we protected, who we ignored, and what we were willing to risk for the sake of our humanity.
In Gospel of Matthew 25, Jesus makes it plain: the measure of our lives is found in how we treat the least among us - the hungry, the stranger, the vulnerable.
My hope for future generations is simple: that when they look back, they see that we chose courage over convenience and care over cruelty - when the decisions we made today mattered most and weighed heavily on the society we left them.
Richard E. Pelzer II
Richard E. Pelzer II is a cultural producer, community builder, and visionary leader dedicated to advancing equity, creativity, and economic opportunity through the arts. He is the Founder & Executive Cultural Producer of HarlemCLX and the Harlem Fine Arts Show, one of the nation’s premier platforms for showcasing artists of African descent. With a background in art history, business management, and large-scale cultural production, Richard has spent nearly two decades creating spaces where art, culture, and community intersect with purpose.
His work bridges grassroots engagement and global visibility—connecting artists, designers, cultural institutions, and corporate partners to sustainable pathways for growth. Through initiatives centered on storytelling, design, innovation, and intergenerational exchange, Richard champions the preservation of cultural legacy while cultivating future leadership. Grounded in Harlem yet globally minded, his mission is to build creative ecosystems that honor the past, empower the present, and boldly shape what’s next.
“Legacy is not what we leave behind, it’s what we build alongside others while we’re still here. Our responsibility is to listen deeply, share generously, and create pathways so the next generation doesn’t have to start from scratch. When culture leads, community follows, and progress becomes inevitable.”
Dr. John-Martin Green
John-Martin Green, Ed.D. is Founder and Executive Director of The Gatekeeper's Collective (TGC), a resiliency enhancement network of same gender loving (SGL), gay, bisexual and Queer African descended men. As Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Blackberry Productions Theatre Company, John-Martin develops and produces theater that sheds light on issues impacting our communities, and creates forums for a multiplicity of voices and perspectives in solutions-focused reflection. As an educator, he was a co-founder and co-director over a decade, of Changing Scenes, an OBIE Award winning arts-based crisis intervention program for juvenile offenders. There he created a theatre workshop wherein participants explored their relationship to issues of human needs, power, control, self-concept, personal responsibility and societal expectations. Currently, Dr. Green teaches community health at Hostos College, of the City University of New York, and has taught theatre at New School University, Brooklyn College, and SUNY campuses at Old Westbury and Nassau Community College.
“It takes courage to heal, and that's a responsibility each of us is charged with. Fortunately, we don't have to do it alone."
René Bentiné
René Bentiné is a New York City native who studied Hotel and Restaurant Technology and built his early career in fine catering. Alongside his professional work, he has remained committed to community engagement, volunteering with Children’s Art Carnival’s “Men Who Cook” and supporting various political initiatives. While he values these formal avenues of service, he also believes meaningful impact often happens in more personal, relational ways.
Central to his philosophy is the principle of Agape Love—love expressed through acts of service, affirming words, and thoughtful generosity. He believes this practice is especially vital among Black SGL men, whether partnered or not, as strong networks of care and accountability are essential. In times of illness or hardship, he emphasizes the importance of dependable support systems that offer practical, moral, and spiritual care. In moments of celebration, he values the presence of a committed “cheering squad” to share in life’s joys.
Inspired by leaders such as Dr. John-Martin Green and the work of GKC, René strives to pour into others as he has been poured into, grounding his life in service, reciprocity, and community.
Words of wisdom:
"Yes, life can be challenging sometimes. Yet, as I continue to experience inspiring examples of folks like Dr. John-Martin Green and TGC (The Gatekeeper's Collective) that pour into so many, I will humbly strive to pour back as well."
Stephen Conrad Moore
Stephen Conrad Moore is a New York–based actor whose career spans more than two decades across stage and screen. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, and a graduate of the Acting program at the Yale School of Drama, Mr. Moore has built a distinguished career that includes performances on Broadway, internationally in Hong Kong, and at some of the nation’s leading regional theaters.
On television, Mr. Moore has guest-starred across major networks in series ranging from Sesame Street and Empire to The Blacklist and Better Call Saul, among others. He is perhaps most widely recognized for his five-season portrayal of Oliver Grayson on The Bold Type, a groundbreaking role that placed him among a small but vital group of openly queer Black actors portraying queer characters in mainstream scripted television.
As a same-gender-loving (SGL) artist of African Caribbean American descent, Moore’s work is guided by a commitment to visibility, integrity, and cultural impact. He strives to embody the representation he once longed to see when he was younger.
Moore currently serves on the Board of The Gatekeepers Collective.
Jonathan Mathias Lassiter
Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in New York City specializing in culturally informed mental health care for Black, POC, and LGBTQ+ individuals and couples. With a passion to use his Ph.D. for the culture, he serves as a therapist, scientist, educator, author, mental health columnist, on-air mental health expert, and international public speaker. Dr. Lassiter has appeared in such outlets as NBC, PBS, Forbes, Huff Post, Radio New Zealand, SiriusXM, iHeart Radio, and more. He is the author of How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes From a Frustrated Black Psychologist, published by Legacy Lit Books. In the book he tells his story of becoming part of the less than 1% of Black male psychologists, and explains how whiteness limits how we understand and practice mental health. Dr. Lassiter is also the co-editor of the award-winning text, Black LGBT Health in the United States: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation, published by Lexington Books. Follow Dr. Lassiter on all social media platforms at @lassiterhealth.
Words of Wisdom:
Healing is a long-term journey that is often more pain than pleasure. The key is to cultivate meaning along each step of the journey.
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