Meet A Black Sexologist: Tracie Gilbert

I'm happy to introduce and feature some amazing Black Sexologists for Black History Month (and always because it's always BHM here and atThe LatiNegr@s Project!) This month I will be featuring amazing Black women in the sexuality and sexology field. Each woman featured is also a member of the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN), an amazing space that has given us a connection to one another and ways to network.

Each woman featured is not only an amazing provider, educator, therapist, and/or activist, but they are also a part of the WOCSHN Fundraising effort to raise funds to attend AASECT conference this year where we will present our original research and findings. Please consider donating if you can and spreading the word so we can meet our goal!

Please meet Tracie Gilbert

Why are you in the field? What brought you to this field?

GREAT question…I came to this field after being interested in African American adolescent identity development, and finding all this research about their negative sexual outcomes. I originally thought about how this may affect the notion of blackness (read: black as lascivious, immoral, savage), but began to shift my notions a bit to think about Black sexuality as a whole—specifically the question of “What does it mean to be Black and sexual in the 21^st Century?” At this point, my main interest is in helping answer this question, and make sure that answer is as life-affirming as possible.

What work do you do, what do you hope to shift/change/work on?

Currently I’m a full-time doctoral student in human sexuality, and work as a health resource center coordinator in Southwest Philadelphia, with high school students. What I’d like to do ultimately is a number of different things: working at an HBCU as an academic faculty member is top on my list, followed by doing work in the community as an independent workshop leader/consultant/counselor, etc. I am specifically interested in advancing the field of Black sexology, really helping bring new light to current ways of viewing sexuality, and—again—that notion of what it really means to be sexual. African-centered epistemologies and philosophies around sexuality do not get real voice in the sexology discipline; the great news about that though is the flexibility we have in introducing new ideas and frameworks to examine the problems and experiences people have, which I think is KEY for developing new ways to help people live and, by extension, have better sex lives.

  Ideas for future work for Black Women in this field:

 Create more networks, get more credentialing that is specifically in Sexology/Human Sexuality, INTRODUCE MORE SEXOLOGY THEORY…and recruit more sexologists, especially Black men, and ESPECIALLY those [Black men] who identify as heterosexual!!!

 Any additional items to share?

  I am truly thankful the Universe brought me to this field. It’s not something I would’ve ever thought about growing up, but I know that’s only because I knew nothing about it. So much in the way of research and practice (both education and clinical work) happens ABOUT Black and other communities of color in this field; very LITTLE, however, includes or even considers our voices, history, or epistemologies in the theoretical framework. THIS is a problem that must be addressed if we are ever to truly move forward in making sexuality a consistently GREAT thing to do/be in our communities.

Meet A Black Sexologists: De-Andrea Blaylock-Johnson

I'm happy to introduce and feature some amazing Black Sexologists for Black History Month (and always because it's always BHM here and at The LatiNegr@s Project!) This month I will be featuring amazing Black women in the sexuality and sexology field. Each woman featured is also a member of the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN), an amazing space that has given us a connection to one another and ways to network.

Each woman featured is not only an amazing provider, educator, therapist, and/or activist, but they are also a part of the WOCSHN Fundraising effort to raise funds to attend AASECT conference this year where we will present our original research and findings. Please consider donating if you can and spreading the word so we can meet our goal!

Please meet De-Andrea Blaylock-Johnson

Why you are in the field, what brought you to the field?

My mother always talked to my older sister and me about sex and sexuality. There wasn’t one big conversation where she talked about the birds and the bees, but whenever she sensed we had questions or concerns, she always made herself available and tried to help us understand and appreciate our own sexuality. As a psychology and later social work major at Saint Louis University, a good friend introduced the idea of sex therapy to me as I was sharing my plans to go into marriage and family therapy. Upon further investigation, I realized the field of sexuality needed new varied voices that could not only speak to our own cultural experiences, but bring that appreciation of diversity to a greater audience. And so after yet another talk with my mom, who was nothing but supportive, I decided to pursue a certification in sex therapy. As I told her, my goal is to help people have great sex and come to appreciate and accept themselves as whole persons.

What work do you do, what do you hope to shift/change/work on?

I currently provide individual and couples therapy to a variety of clients. Also, I conduct monthly workshops that focus on issues of sexuality within the context of Christianity. My goal is to provide education and assist in healing so that people can understand the amazing gift of sexuality instead of feeling restricted in its expression.

Ideas of future work for Black women in the field (esp Black sexologists)

I am inspired daily by the work of those in the WOCSHN. Seeing them move forward in advocacy and education propels me to do better. However, we are still a very small minority within the field of sexuality. This may sound simple, but I think it’s important that we continue our work, support each other, and find new ways for our voices to be heard. The fact that so many people of color are presenting at this year’s AASECT conference excites me. This is, I believe, a step in the right direction. We have to keep pressing and, of course, lifting each other as we climb higher.

Anything else you want to add?

At the end of this month, I will be hosting a workshop titled, “Good Girls DON’T Do That! …Or Do They” with my good friend who introduced me to the idea of sex therapy. You can find more information here. Also, I blog at Sex For The Saints and you can find my personal profile at about.mehttp://about.me/d.blaylockjohnson.

Please support the work of Black sexologists and consider a donation or sharing information about WOCSHN fundraising efforts.

Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN) Fundraising

The Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN) working group and collective was established in 2009, when 18 women of Color came together to strategize ways to increase representation in the field and especially at AASECT (American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists). WOCSHN has made numerous efforts to ensure women and people of Color working in the sexology and sexuality fields are represented, supported, and included. We are educators, medical providers, counselors, activists, and writers who are committed to mentoring, working, and changing the way sex/uality is discussed about our communities.

Members of the WOCSHN have submitted several presentations to AASECTs 2013 National Conference, many of which were accepted. To have as many WOCSHN members present and able to present our original work, members are in need of supporting funds. All of the funds raised will go directly to each member to cover their needs to attend the conference. Without these funds they will not be able to attend.*

Below is an outline of our needs to have 5 WOCSHN members attend.

Plane $2050 (for 5 members)
Transportation $250 (to/from airport and hotel)
Hotel $2000 (double rooms)
Per Diem $1000 (3 meals a day)
Registration $1850 (speaker reduced registration fee)
Total: $7150

The five WOCSHN members who are in need of funding are each dynamic, thoughtful, and revolutionary Black women thinkers in the field and include:

De-Andrea Blaylock-Johnson
De-Andrea Blaylock-Johnson is licensed in the State of Missouri as a clinical social worker and has served the St. Louis community since 2005. She is passionate about helping others achieve their goals and live as whole persons. De-Andrea firmly believes that you must be the change you wish to see in the world and endeavors to positively impact her clients through her interactions with them. De-Andrea has worked in many settings, serving as a hospital social worker at an inpatient psychiatric unit, a contract therapist, and as a school social worker. She has helped clients with various issues, including addiction, mood disorders, anxiety, chemical dependency, relationship issues, and trauma. Currently, she serves clients in her Clayton, MO office and conducts monthly workshops regarding sexual health and building intimacy.

Nicole Clark
Nicole Clark a social worker, consultant, and sexual health activist who has worked with local and national sexual/reproductive justice organizations, such as Helping Our Teen Girls In Real Life Situations, Inc. (HOTGIRLS), Advocates for Youth, the Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition (YWCHAC). She has a B.A. in Psychology from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and a Masters of Social Work degree from the Columbia University School of Social Work, with a practice method centered on direct practice/counseling & programmatic planning. Nicole’s workshop for AASECT is about sex, gender, race, and religion.

Traci Q. Gilbert
Ms. Tracie Q. Gilbert is the founder of Gilbert Educational Ministries, and has over 15 years of experience working with young people and youth development programs. She has turned her attention toward the issue of holistic sexuality development—particularly among African Americans. She is currently in pursuit of her doctorate in human sexuality education from Widener University, with which she hopes to increase our collective understanding of African American sexual phenomenology. Ms. Tracie was the 2011 winner of Women for Social Innovation’s Turning Point Prize, provided presentations for a variety of different special events, including the Black Male Development Symposium, the National Black Child Development Institute’s Annual Conference, and Congressman Chakah Fattah’s National Conference on Higher Education.

Bianca Laureano
Bianca I Laureano is an award-winning sexologist, consultant, educator, and activist. Her interests include representations of the sexuality of people of Color in media and popular culture, reproductive justice, and positive youth development. She has a BA from the University of Maryland in Women’s Health & Latino Communities, a MA from NYU in Human Sexuality Education, and an MA from the University of Maryland in Women’s Studies with a focus on gender, bodies, sexuality, and race. She is an adjunct professor at a private college, freelance writer, co-founder of The LatiNegr@s Project, abortion doula, and hosts LatinoSexuality.com. All her writings and reviews can be seen at her website BiancaLaureano.com. Her presentation at AASECT will focus on how to include people of Color in the field of sexology and the sexuality needs of LatiNegr@s in the US.

Whitney Sewell
Whitney Sewell is a master’s student of social work at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She majored in sociology at Tufts University, and received a BA in psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests include human sexuality and reproductive justice. At UNC, Whitney is a lead facilitator for the UNC LGBTQ Center’s Safe Zone training program, a training that promotes awareness, inclusiveness and ally development. She also serves as an HIV counselor for the Student Health Action Coalition, providing clients with pre/post test counseling. Whitney is committed to bringing evidence based, culturally inclusive, and sex positive sexual education interventions to marginalized communities.

Fundraising has begun! We will need to register and reserve hotel rooms for the conference by mid-April 2013. We will continue to fundraise until the date of the conference: June 5, 2013. Each donation of any amount will receive a special gift after the conference has concluded.

All additional funds will go to covering a communal gathering of WOCSHN members at the conference. Please spread the word and help us reach our goal!

*AASECT only has one scholarship for people of Color which only offers a reduced registration fee.