ATLANTA, GEORGIA – NAESM, Inc invites Black gay and bisexual men between the ages of 19 and 30 to apply for its national Creating Responsible Intelligent Black Brothers (C.R.I.B.B.) Fellowship Program. C.R.I.B.B. is a yearlong leadership development course for Black gay and bisexual men who are actively involved in HIV/AIDS services, other health disparities or social justice issues that affect Black gay and bisexual men, or who wish to become involved with addressing these challenges.
The purpose of the fellowship program is to provide Black gay and bisexual men with leadership training and mentoring support that will strengthen their capacity to contribute to local and national efforts in reducing and ending the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, other health disparities, and social injustices, impacting Black communities.
The C.R.I.B.B. fellowship program begins on January 13-16, 2022, at the National African American MSM Leadership Conference on Health Disparities and Social Justice in Los Angeles, California, where fellows will attend specific workshops and institutes on leadership and professional development. From there, selected fellows will participate in hands on activities and complete required assignments throughout the year. Fellows also must complete a community project that demonstrates leadership, with support from an assigned faculty member. Upon the successful completion of the programmatic and mentoring portions of the fellowship, fellows will attend the 2023 National African American MSM Leadership Conference on Health Disparities and Social Justice and meet with community elders for a final assessment of their readiness to be a C.R.I.B.B. graduate. The fellows who receive the blessing of the elders will be honored at a “Rite of Passage” ceremony where they will be celebrated for their successful graduation and accepted as emergent leaders within the community.
Alumni fellows include, Venton Hill-Jones, Dr. Orlando Harris, Dr. Jamaal Clue, DaShawn Usher, Daniel Driffin, Blake Rowley, Christopher Roby, Calvin Hylton, Marvin Thompson, Alexander King, Jermaine Sylvester, Cardel Parish, Daniel Ball, Courtney Johnson, Steven Martinez, Justin Rush, Obie McNair, Martez Smith, Kenneth Pass and Adedotun Ogunbajo.
Prospective applicants interested in applying for the fellowship program are asked to visit https://naesminc.org/da-cribb/overview/ for more information.
