Rising Stars: Meet Sean Ebony Coleman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Ebony Coleman.

Sean, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
At a young age, my life was impacted by the HIV/AIDS crisis when my mom became ill. I became aware of the disproportionate impact and stigma that the epidemic had on communities of color and watched as folks began to organize.

This injustice led me to start my career as a peer leader at the Minority Task Force on AIDS, where I organized the community to work together to promote HIV prevention. In that role, I started to understand the importance of unity and working with an equity-based framework. After moving on to the Bronx Community Pride Center, I noticed the lack of Trans representation, and particularly Trans representation of color, within LGBTQ+ centers. Additionally, I wanted to make sure that Black and brown folks who identified as LGBTQ+ did not have to leave their borough or their neighborhood to receive services and programs that were affirming and safe. As a Black Trans man, I wanted to create a space that myself and other Black trans people needed when we were coming up. So I decided to create a space for folks like myself and in 2009, Destination Tomorrow was born.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, but I recognize that the work we’ve done at Destination Tomorrow and elsewhere is making it smoother for others. Dedicating myself to elevating Black and LGBTQ+ communities has put me in a position where I’ve needed to advocate for myself as a leader despite disproportionate amounts of violence facing folks like me. As a founder and executive director of an organization, I am underrepresented in those categories by also living as a Black Trans man. Demanding more representation and inclusion for TGNC/NB people is a struggle for that very reason, but it remains my life’s mission. People often fail to look at the LGBTQ+ community from an intersectional lens and shed too much light on skewed displays of acceptance such as pride marches and LGBTQ+ organizations catered towards cis-gendered, white folks. These portrayals of the community as inclusive are harmful and leave Black and brown and/or TGNC/NB folks and organizations like Destination Tomorrow chronically underfunded in favor of white, LGB-focused initiatives. Furthermore, emphasizing that allyship does not start with and ends at financial contributions for LGBTQ+, specifically Black and brown TGNC folks, continues to remain a struggle. Limitations still exist around the inclusion of Trans voices in consideration to the work being done to uplift LGBTQ+ communities. I am a subject-matter expert in my life. I need folks to trust that I know what I’m saying when I tell you what I need, and then I need you to invite me into these spaces.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In 2022, Destination Tomorrow officially became a national organization, opening its doors and services to Atlanta, Georgia in addition to its home base in the Bronx. To date, Destination Tomorrow still operates as the Bronx’s only LGBTQ+ center and additionally I am the only African American of Transgender experience to operate an LGBTQ+ center in the state of New York. I am also the current grantmaker for Gilead’s TRANScend Community Impact Fund, which allows me to identify and administer funds to Trans-led organizations doing impactful work to uplift the community around the country. I want readers to know that Destination Tomorrow will not only be a strong advocate for issues affecting LGBTQ+ individuals of color but also will work to ensure that members of the community have a seat at the table when important decisions are being made. At Destination Tomorrow our main focus is to provide crucial and life-saving services to the community including educational, financial, housing, health and personal support programs.

My role at the organization as executive director is to spearhead our operations and strategic vision. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Destination Tomorrow kept its doors open, continuing to serve the community during these challenging times and expanding its programs to provide the best possible support. Highlights include the additions of SWITCH Housing, 16 units in Pelham Bay for TGNC individuals who are victims of sexual violence and sex trafficking, and the Destination Tomorrow Food Mart and Food Pantry in the Bronx. Destination Tomorrow also administered over $810,000 in funding to other Trans-led grassroots organizations nationwide and provided $210,000 in COVID-19 relief funding in partnership with HRC, Elton John AIDS foundations, AIDS United and Gilead.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory was going to the bank for my grandmother to deposit the monthly rents from the tenants in our brownstone. As a child I saw it as a chore I didn’t want to do. What I’ve come to realize is it was in those moments that a sense of responsibility was instilled in me. I understood the banking process and how important it was, which is something I carry with me to this day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://destinationtomorrow.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destinationtomorrow452/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DestinationTomorrow1/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dest2morrow?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor