Dwayne Jenkins Uncensored
Interview by Cleavester Brooks Photos Courtesy of Walter Jones, Misty Ellis, Burning Karma, and Tony Teal. The month of June is Pride month for the Same Gender Loving community. So, I sat down with community activist Dwayne Jenkins. I consider Dwayne Mr. Nashville, because of the role that he plays in the city. He represents what every man should aspire to be in their life. We talked about any and everything under the sun. About life, love, community, and the future. So, enjoy this interview. Life Cleavester: Who is Dwayne Jenkins? Dwayne Jenkins: Dwayne Jenkins is a native New Yorker that grew up as an only child in the Bronx. He is an easy-going type of guy who lives in Nashville with his partner Nathan and Cocker Spaniel Ashley. Dwayne talks to his mother at least three times a month, has three adult adopted sons, two God children, loves a variety of music, and is active in his fraternity. He is an award-winning educator and community activist that likes to smile, enjoys looking at cartoons, and not ashamed to be a fan of superheroes. CB: What was life like growing up? DJ: My childhood was great! My parents didn’t divorce until my sophomore year in college, so I was one of the few kids in the neighborhood to have both in the house. As an only child, I grew up hanging with my cousins a lot and we were all pretty tight and had a good time when we all got together, which seemed like every other weekend. I also had a great group of friends, both male and female at school and around the block in Parkchester. CB: What did you want to be growing up? DJ: I wanted to be an architect like the father on the Brady Bunch. I thought that it would be cool to design a living space the way that I wanted to. I especially liked that he was able to work from his home office most of the time allowing him to always know what was going on with the family. Once I found out that there was a lot of math involved, including measuring for this and that I quickly switch to becoming the next big music video director. Way before THRILLER and some of the other videos that had a specific plot, I could remember listening to songs and envisioning an entire story line of sorts. None included dancing, but all had a story to tell. CB: Have you accomplish everything you wanted to accomplish in life? DJ: No way! Earlier in life I wanted to do the basic things such as laugh, love, and travel. Having done those very early in life, I think my goals continue to shift and change with my current circumstances. A few of the new things that I want to accomplish include but not limited to losing a few pounds, paying off this last bit of debt and the mortgage. CB: What has working for the SGL community been like? DJ: Working in the SGL community can be challenging at times, but
30
THE HEAT SEEKERS MAGAZINE
is also very fulfilling. My primary job as an HIV Educator at Nashville CARES, Tennessee’s leading AIDS Service Organization, has allowed me to do many things over the last 14 years. All of the other responsibilities that I have are mainly community focused and driven by passion and not payment. My participation in non-health related SGL activities and events is a major part of who I am, and I feel lucky to be able to combine each of the pieces into one “life’s work”. CB: When did you start working in the community fulltime? DJ: When I moved from Rochester, NY to Nashville in 1994, I immediately began to volunteer for CARES within two weeks of my arrival. I knew I wanted to be involved and help educate people on HIV/AIDS, and didn’t waste any time finding out where to go to begin. My first official day as a full-time employee working for CARES as the new Brothers United Program Coordinator was on December 1, 1996, on World AIDS Day. CB: How did you get your start working in public serve? DJ: As a volunteer. I use to assist with a project named Brother 2 Brother, which reached out to educate men who were incarcerated. From there, I began to help do safer sex presentations during house parties hosted by other Black Gay Men, as well as outreach tables at different community functions. Once we developed a name, logo and plan of action/mission and helped to write our first grant everything else fell into place and I was hired to carry it through.
