In this episode, Jha interviews our first LGBTQ+ guest to kick off our Pride campaign, Ian L. Haddock. Ian is the Founder of The Normal Anamoly, and he shares his incredible journey to where he is today. 

The Normal Anomaly Initiative began in 2016 in Houston as a blog to tell the stories of people at the margins. Throughout the span of 3 years, Ian and his team have worked with Huffington Post, Unites States Conference on HIV/ AIDS (USCHA) and Prime Video. As the platform grew, Ian had amassed a team of nontraditional activists that began to expand the trajectory in which the group was going. In 2020, after the pandemic, the group shifted its lens from telling the story of Black, queer plus persons to changing their story through advocacy, direct services and technical assistance.

Ian shares his personal story of how he struggled as a troubled young man after being kicked out of his home at 16 for being queer. After being taken under the wing of new mentors who supported Ian, his life changed forever. Ian is now on the mission to support and transform the lives of Black LGBTQ+ peoples. Tune in and Happy Pride Month!

1:04 - Ian, take it over! Introduce yourself.

2:15 - What does normanality mean?

3:37 - Who wrote your first blogs?

3:44 - How did you write your blogs?

6:35 - What are some of the tangible things that you are doing and how can we get involved?

9:10 - What got you into the work you do? How did you start?

11:46 - Which organization did you start with?

14:44 - What are all the ways to bring in money for a non-profit?

15:40 - Do you get paid from your non-profit?

19:40 - Tell us about some of your past events

21:00 - How were you able to raise so much money from sponsors?

23:10 - What do you mean when you say “de-stigmatizing certain stigmas” and what types of stigmas did you have to overcome?

23:45 - Please clarify what trans-identifying is

29:15 - Where can we connect with you?

Follow The Normal Anamoly on Instagram: ​​https://www.instagram.com/thenormalanomaly/

The Normal anomaly Website: https://www.normalanomaly.org/

Follow Jha Allen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jha.allen/

Learn more about Jha Allen: https://workwithjha.com/content

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