Wilhelmina Perry's guest appearances

Wilhelmina Perry

The ZAMI NOBLA Podcast

Collections by Michelle Brown

Denise Davis

Karen Williams

Verlena L. Johnson

Cynthia McKinney

Karen Hardy

Scott Ellis

Alexis Pauline Gumbs

Ruth Ellis

Eric Darnell

Willy Wilkinson

Imani Williams

John Sykes

Pauli Murray

Ericka Huggins

Elizabeth Brown

OwlTail

Dr. Wilhelmina Perry (85) was interviewed by Angela Denise Davis from her home in June 2020. She talked about growing up in Harlem, her 30-year partnership with Antonia Pantoja, radical activism, and life during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a community activist, social work educator, spiritual leader, homeless youth and marriage equality advocate, author, and the co-founder of LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent. Dr. Perry holds a masters in social work and a doctorate in human behavior and leadership. She has been a social work professor, administrator of not- for- profit institutions, and community educator. In 2002, she became a member of The Riverside Church and shortly thereafter would become the convener of Marantha, the LGBT ministry. Dr. Perry was a co-founder and Vice President of the Interfaith Task Force for Homeless LGBT Youth.  Under the work of the Task Force, three shelters were opened in local churches. Dr. Perry has been an advocate for LGBT same-gender loving people as well as for marriage equality. She held the position of convener of the Round table People of Color under Empire State Pride Agenda. In 2010, this group reformed itself as an independent organization and would become the LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent. Dr. Perry served as Administrative Coordinator until 2018 when she was voted the Founder Emeritus. Dr. Perry was honored in 2013 with an award from Harlem Pride.  She became a Purpose Prize Fellow in 2014. In 2014, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from LGBT Kwanzaa Community of NYC, Inc.  In 2016 she received the Regina Shavers Legacy Award from Griot Circle, Inc. the oldest organization for LGBT seniors. In 2019, she received the Parity Award. She has received numerous awards and recognitions. Dr. Perry has contributed many articles on LGBT youth, same-gender families, “coming out”, clergy and attitudes towards LGBT people and President Obama’s support of marriage equality.  These articles have appeared in Caribbean Life, The Daily News, The Amsterdam News, Huffington Post and The Positive Community. Collections by Michelle Brown interview with Dr. Wilhelmina Perry February 22, 2018 https://podbay.fm/podcast/1209679697/e/1519344000

Dr. Wilhelmina Perry (85) was interviewed by Angela Denise Davis from her home in June 2020. She talked about growing up in Harlem, her 30-year partnership with Antonia Pantoja, radical activism, and life during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a community activist, social work educator, spiritual leader, homeless youth and marriage equality advocate, author, and the co-founder of LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent. Dr. Perry holds a masters in social work and a doctorate in human behavior and leadership. She has been a social work professor, administrator of not- for- profit institutions, and community educator. In 2002, she became a member of The Riverside Church and shortly thereafter would become the convener of Marantha, the LGBT ministry. Dr. Perry was a co-founder and Vice President of the Interfaith Task Force for Homeless LGBT Youth.  Under the work of the Task Force, three shelters were opened in local churches. Dr. Perry has been an advocate for LGBT same-gender loving people as well as for marriage equality. She held the position of convener of the Round table People of Color under Empire State Pride Agenda. In 2010, this group reformed itself as an independent organization and would become the LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent. Dr. Perry served as Administrative Coordinator until 2018 when she was voted the Founder Emeritus. Dr. Perry was honored in 2013 with an award from Harlem Pride.  She became a Purpose Prize Fellow in 2014. In 2014, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from LGBT Kwanzaa Community of NYC, Inc.  In 2016 she received the Regina Shavers Legacy Award from Griot Circle, Inc. the oldest organization for LGBT seniors. In 2019, she received the Parity Award. She has received numerous awards and recognitions. Dr. Perry has contributed many articles on LGBT youth, same-gender families, “coming out”, clergy and attitudes towards LGBT people and President Obama’s support of marriage equality.  These articles have appeared in Caribbean Life, The Daily News, The Amsterdam News, Huffington Post and The Positive Community. Collections by Michelle Brown interview with Dr. Wilhelmina Perry February 22, 2018 <a href="https://podbay.fm/podcast/1209679697/e/1519344000" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://podbay.fm/podcast/1209679697/e/1519344000</a>

Dr. Wilhelmina Perry Reflects on Lesbian Love, Radical Activism, and COVID-19

Michelle Brown WSG

Amazing, incredible, inspiring are but a few words that could be used to describe Dr.Wilhelmina Perry. She grew up in Harlem with her parents, grandmother, and eight siblings. Her father was a deacon and union leader who sometimes held two jobs to support the family, and her mother also worked outside the home. Dr. Perry was raised in the Pentecostal church in a household filled with a strong sense of community activism and Black pride. She earned a BA in social welfare and a master’s degree in social work. Perry later earned a doctorate in human behavior and leadership. She met her life partner, civil rights activist Antonia Pantoja while teaching at San Diego State University in California.  Over the course of their three-decade relationship, they founded the Graduate School for Community Development in San Diego and were mainly involved with social work in low-income communities in both the United States and Pantoja’s native Puerto Rico, to where the pair relocated in the mid-1980s returning to New York in the late 1990s.Following Pantoja’s death from cancer in 2002, Dr. Perry found a purpose by returning to her church roots and joining the Maranatha LGBTQ initiative at Riverside Church in New York City. She co-founded the Interfaith Task Force for LGBT Homeless Youth. She also worked as a marriage equality advocate for Empire State Pride Agenda and was a co-founder of the LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent. She was honored with the Encore Purpose Prize fellowship, one of the nation’s largest and most popular prizes for people over the age of 60 fighting social inequality and recently joined the advisory board for Zami Nobla.

Amazing, incredible, inspiring are but a few words that could be used to describe Dr.Wilhelmina Perry.  She grew up in Harlem with her parents, grandmother, and eight siblings. Her father was a deacon and union leader who sometimes held two jobs to support the family, and her mother also worked outside the home. Dr. Perry was raised in the Pentecostal church in a household filled with a strong sense of community activism and Black pride.  She earned a BA in social welfare and a master’s degree in social work. Perry later earned a doctorate in human behavior and leadership.  She met her life partner, civil rights activist Antonia Pantoja while teaching at San Diego State University in California.  Over the course of their three-decade relationship, they founded the Graduate School for Community Development in San Diego and were mainly involved with social work in low-income communities in both the United States and Pantoja’s native Puerto Rico, to where the pair relocated in the mid-1980s returning to New York in the late 1990s. Following Pantoja’s death from cancer in 2002, Dr. Perry found a purpose by returning to her church roots and joining the Maranatha LGBTQ initiative at Riverside Church in New York City.  She co-founded the Interfaith Task Force for LGBT Homeless Youth. She also worked as a marriage equality advocate for Empire State Pride Agenda and was a co-founder of the LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent. She was honored with the Encore Purpose Prize fellowship, one of the nation’s largest and most popular prizes for people over the age of 60 fighting social inequality and recently joined the advisory board for Zami Nobla.

Collections by Michelle Brown WSG Dr. Wilhelmina Perry