We recently connected with Lorenzo Robertson and have shared our conversation below.
Lorenzo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
There was a defining moment that changed or altered my life’s trajectory. I had been working in various aspects of the non-profit realm and thought that this is not the arena for me. I wanted to be in a position to make more money. Not because money was that important to me, but because I knew that if I had more I could do more, for myself and others. In my mid-thirties I became deathly ill. I did not know what was wrong with me and my doctors were at a loss. I had a growth on my right eye that grew from the size of a garden pea to the size of a golf ball in a matter of days. The mass was removed and determined to be benign, which was a relief. However, after the mass removal, I was still weak and unable to do many small tasks for myself. I was so hot that my body temperature could be felt by someone entering my bedroom. Still, the doctors did not know why I was having these issues. My doctor ran tests for over a month to determine they were all inconclusive. Finally, my doctor ran an HIV test and that test came back positive. So, at that point, I decided that I was a person that dedicated my life to working hard so that other people would not contract HIV. That has been my focus and particularly for Black same-gender loving men and those that love and support us. So the bulk of my work deals with addressing issues around HIV and the stigma that continues to plague our community. My AIDS status was the defining moment for me to realize that I wanted to make a change for others to live better lives.
Lorenzo, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
We initially were part of an organization and we did a conference for Black men, including all sexualities. We realized that the sauce was great, but it did not provide ample space for Black same gender loving men. Black men have a multitude of opportunities to meet and facilitate conversations that can create and build relationships. However, many Black same gender loving men did not have the same level of option to build and grow relationships with other Black same gender loving men. We wanted to provide a safe space for Black same gender loving men to communicate about who they are and not feel intimidated about sharing that information. Our organization is the Ujima Men’s Collective. Ujima is one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, collective work and responsibility. Our overarching goal is to encourage Black same gender loving men to live their lives in the light and not in the shadows. We operate under 5 tents: leadership, advocacy, relationships, spirituality, and Health & Wellness. We have provided our conference for many years and we have expanded our service to include HIV testing and counseling in addition to implementing the Social Network Strategies intervention. We are continuing to explore other opportunities to build a greater collective of Black same gender loving men to help the greater community.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Consistency and commitment to the cause. I continue to be in the community and build relationships with community members and entities. If you are consistent your reputation will proceed and you will become the go-to person for various aspects and questions in your field. I am a person that will support any and all causes that are important to my friends and family. I will show up and assist in any manner that is needed. I do not put myself above anyone. I will clean the toilets, pack supplies, and do any other tasks required to make sure the community receives their needed services. I am a person that works diligently to assure that no one thinks that I have an ego or that I am better that anyone else. I have dedicated my life to service and I know that is what I am intended to do and why I am here on the earth.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
During the first few years of our organization, we did not have funding to present our conference, so we had to beg, steal and borrow to make it happen. Not literally steal, but you get the reference. This provided us with the unique opportunity to build community partners that are still partners and they provided us with initial funding to conduct our first conference after leaving the agency we previously worked with. There was a time when we had planned a conference in another state and because of unforeseen circumstances that conference was not able to happen I was devasted. That caused the reputation of the organization to come into question, but we were able to rebound and put on an amazing conference with our next effort. I have always worked to make the lives of Black same-gender loving men better. One of our overarching themes for the Ujima Men’s Collective is to build a network of Black same-gender loving men that will educate, encourage and support each other to live in the light and not in the shadows. We have built the Ujima Men’s Collective on five tenets: leadership, advocacy, spirituality, relationships, and Health & Wellness with a focus on the essence of being Black same-gender loving men. The Ujima Men’s Collective could not do our work without those that love and support Black same-gender loving men. There were many times when I thought that the Ujima Men’s Collective would not move forward, but as I continued to pray for guidance the realities of my prays have come to fruition.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ujimamen.net
- Instagram: instagram.com/ujimamen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorenz762
- Twitter: @ujimamen
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHc0CGGy3zI&t=12s
- Other: http://lorenzoseclecticword.blogspot.com/ http://lorenzorobertson.com/
Image Credits
Michael Anthony Clark