Mandy Carter

Mandy Carter is one of the nation's leading African American lesbian activists. An extraordinary political activist, Carter has organized the grassroots in almost every major region of this country over the last 30-plus years. 

Mandy grew up in upstate NY Born November 2, 1948, in Albany, NY where she was raised in orphanages and foster care. She arrived in NC via San Francisco.  Mandy's early political activism includes her work with the War Resistors League. Mandy was an early director of NCPRIDEPAC, and helped found SONG--Southerners On New Ground -- at the Durham Creating Change Conference in 1993. A noted speaker, Mandy has traveled extensively, educating audiences about LGBT rights in a broader social justice movement. A winner of the prestigious Stonewall Award, Mandy Carter has enough energy for an army of organizers, and she never fails to maintain her sense of humor. Mandy is an articulate and non-confrontational doer, who get things accomplished by her motivational mentoring and by exemplary and tireless activity. She has forged strong and indelible ties between the natural allies that exist in the African-American, religious, and LGBT communities. Mandy is unforgettable as a symbol of what organizational skill can mean to the development of a movement and the centering of a culture.  [Read More]

Butch Mystique

Some women come into "the life" through many doors.  She may walk through the doors of a gay and lesbian center, or a gay and lesbian organization while in college.  She may walk through the door of a lesbian club after circling the site for days or months before entering.  She may walk into the life of another woman and fall in love.  Later, when the heat of the relationship grows cold, realize she is who she is and will seek out other women like herself.  She may walk through the door of a good friend and find herself in her good friend?s bed, discovering her bisexuality and later, realize she is a lesbian.  She may walk through the doors of a swinger?s club where both men and women cohort together and soon discover she really does prefer women to men.  She may even walk through the door of an instructor?s office, like I did, and find herself being introduced to women who do not identify as lesbians, but as women who prefer the company of other women.  [Read More]

Kimberly "Q", is Artistic Director and Co-Founder of ToDaz Woman Productions.  She is an actress, singer, writer, has performed in numerous award winning productions such as, The Children?of the Night, winner of 3 NAACP awards, and a GLAAD award; Shakin The Mess Outta Misery, winner of an OOBR; and is a six-time AUDELCO award winner, ?Best Supporting Actress? in 1998 for Gertrude Jeannette?s Gladys? Dilemma and ?Best Leading Actress? in 2002 for her one-woman piece entitled J?ai Deux Amours? A Journey With Josephine Baker and four AUDELCO's including Best Dramatic Production in American Menu.

"Q", as she is so affectionately called, has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a " high-steppin actress with drop dead looks" and by the New York Times as "a convincingly, satisfying actress". "Acting is life; life that changes and grows and if you don't live it?you're not in it!" Know your past, because it is the key to your future!"

Her most recent production, J'ai Deux Amours...A Journey With Josephine Baker was written and Performed by Kimberly "Q".
J'ai Deux Amours...A Journey With Josephine Baker, takes you through the life and career of Madame Josephine Baker. From her start as a street performer to her taking Paris by storm; her stance on civil rights, to her undercover days as a spy for the French Resistance; her motivation to adopt 12 children to her eviction from her precious Les Milandes and right back to her triumphant return to stardom! A spectacular and inspirational story that will leave you saying "For what I may have known of Josephine, I've learned even more."

Discover ToDaz Woman and other productions on their website at:  http://todazwoman.org/index.html

BUTCH MYSTIQUE gets personal and political with the stories of butch, black lesbians revealed in bold, lucid interviews.

Butch Mystique
Debra Wilson,
34 min, dv, color
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