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2012 Carl Frazier Commemorative Recipient
William M. Lewis – “Mr.” Brothas4Ever
by
Bruce E. Gipson
There is an immensely popular show
on the African American cable network TVOne entitled “UnSung” which heralds the
music of those Black singers and groups of days gone by who never quite
received their well deserved notoriety – if the scope of that series acknowledged
the “unsung” efforts of same gender loving Black men in advocating for our
brothers in The Mile High City, William
M. Lewis, recipient of this year’s Carl Frazier Commemmorative Award from
TEN (Treatment Educat10n Network) would be at the top of the list.
I’ve known William for a number of years ever
since I took over the role of Program Director of Brothas4Ever, which is
arguably one of the longest running ongoing gatherings of men who self-identify
as gay or bisexual of any color in
the state of Colorado or possibly anywhere in the country. Although the target population of Brothas4Ever is Black men and much of the
program has to do with HIV prevention, men of any race, creed, or color
are welcome; and an array of topics having nothing to do with HIV are discussed
at the traditional Monday evening meetings conducted at Aurora-based African
American nonprofit It Takes a Village.
Brothas4Ever has always attempted to provide a safe space for men to
discuss and explore their feelings with men of kindred spirit who may not self
identify as gay or bisexual but who have sex with other men. In 2011, Brothas4Ever celebrated its 500th
consecutive Monday night meeting in over a decade of existence! William, who was the first director of B4E,
helped me prepare for my role as Program Director a few years ago.
When I sat down with William to
learn more about the accomplished man behind Brothas4Ever, he told me that he
sort of “fell into” this work. Hailing
from the small Appalachian city of Bluefield, West Virginia, William’s
educational background is in music. In
fact, he has been music director at a number of churches in the Denver
area. He did undergraduate work at West
Virginia Wesleyan College and Centenary College, and graduate work at the Iliff
School of Theology. After moving to
Denver, William recalls conducting a focus group in November of 1998 where the
question, “what do Black gay men in Denver need and want?” was posed William had been approached to facilitate
these focus groups by Imani Latif, Excutive Director of It Takes a
Village. William recalls that 7 men
showed up at that first gathering.
William related to me with his usual sense of humor that, having grown
up in West Virginia, he’d had little exposure to other gay men of color, that
he’d “never heard of Patty Labelle,” that he didn’t “know anyone who had more
than two pair of shoes,” and he initially feared that other
Black gay men “wouldn’t like the
way he talked.” During that same period,
William also recalls venturing to the fabled but now gone African American
owned Hue-Man Bookstore in Five Points to purchase a copy of Black gay author
James Earl Hardy’s book B-Boy Blues
where he also learned of another gathering of SGL men of color knows as the
“James Baldwin Reading Circle” as William’s familiarization with Black gay life
continued.
William became the de facto founder of Brothas4Ever as that
name emerged from the metamorphosis of the groups Out4Life and Brothas4Life and
the physical location of the meetings moved from Brother Jeff’s Fard/Cousins
Building down Welton Street to “our own Space” and drop in center in the
heart of Five Points. William established
a protocol for the Monday night meetings which continues to this day – quality
standards of promptness, respect of one another during the often spirited group
discussions, and complimentary nourishment provided to lend a sense of communal
“breaking bread together” to the gatherings.
William established the tradition of dubbing each meeting with “a sassy
title” to attract the curious, and with the reading of a short but borderline
erotic story called “A Moment with Dick” (written by one of the “brothas”) which
presents an HIV prevention theme in a popular, sometimes titillating manner.
William also emphasized that the brothas
always attempt to express themselves in the form of “I” statements. He also established a “Facilitators Academy”
– an intense daylong training session to prepare brothas who desired to
facilitate Monday night gatherings by themselves in the intricacies of
skillfully leading such discussions. He’d
also noticed that brothas were simply not greeting one another at times and he
instilled a theme of personally warmly welcoming each new arrival on a Monday
night. All this time, Brothas4Ever was a
“side” endeavor for William as he continued his full time duties in church music
and later as Program Director for Denver Urban Ministries. He also brought in guest speakers of some
note who would normally not be expected to speak in a gathering of SGL men of
color such as The Reverend Gil Caldwell of Park Hill United Methodist Church. As the scope of the duties expanded to where
a full time director was required, William relinquished his position to
continue his “day jobs” but he has remained totally supportive of the effort he
started over a decade and 500 meetings ago and has continued to willingly
consult with us – I am personally grateful for the comprehensive preparation he
provided me before I became Brothas4Ever Program Director. William’s successors at the helm of B4E –
Michael McLeod, The Reverend Benjamin Reynolds, myself, and MaShawn Moore - have
all made every effort to maintain William’s unquestionable sense of excellence
in this ongoing gathering – a true “gift” to men of color who have sex with men
in Denver.
When I spoke with other
Brothas4Ever participants (some of whom have attended B4E regularly since day
one) about their impressions of William’s leadership style, to a man they
responded with complete respect and admiration for this gentleman. A couple of fellows acknowledged that William
could be a tad intimidating at times, but they understood that such was needed
to keep things moving forward, especially during those fledgling years, and
that his affirming inspirational musings delivered in his uniquely clever
no-nonsense manner left never a dull moment on those Monday nights.
William told me that his “falling
into” this work partially had to do with the first friends he’d lost to HIV –
one acquaintance from Centenary College and one through church here in Denver
in the ‘90s – deaths that impacted William profoundly. Unfortunately William himself has also
endured a recent medical setback – when I asked him what he thought the future
held for him, he told me at this point in any future opportunities he really
preferred to be a “deputy” rather than a “chief”, and he especially didn’t want
to deal with anything grief related because of the twists and turns of his life
thus far. William Lewis, though, has
left his indelible mark on Brothas4Ever and the men who have come to the
gatherings held each and every night for more than a decade. For his legacy of advocacy, no one is more
deserving of this year’s Carl Frazier Memorial Award than William M. Lewis.
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