MILWAUKEE — The National Association of Black and White Men Together was founded in San Francisco back in 1980.
The Milwaukee Chapter formed several years later. Mark Behar and Demetrius Mack have both served on the National Board.
"The part that brought me in which was interesting is that you had a collective group of different men. Black and white that came together that unified for the rights, gay rights, not just for gay rights, but for our voting rights and all other things that are very important that people before us have fought for," said Behar.
They engage in the educational, political, cultural and social activities as a means of addressing the racism, sexism, homophobia, HIV/AIDS discrimination and other inequities in our community.
"We have a big problem in our country, as we all know, having to do with failure of people of different viewpoints to understand how to communicate effectively together and how to work through compromise," said Behar.
Behar spent many years in the healthcare field, working over a decade with Planned Parenthood. He feels that the recent reversal of Roe v. Wade could be the first step in rescinding two decades of gains in federal protections for LGBTQ+ Americans.
"We have to be prepared because we're not going to take it. We're not going to allow such things to have such an adverse affect on us emotionally," said Behar.
He recently retired from Milwaukee Health Services, Inc.
"Over the past 10 plus years, I had been working more directly with our HIV at-risk patients and tried to provide them with the best care that we could and those people who got with the plan and took medication as indicated are surviving and thriving," said Behar.
Whether working with the National Association of Black and White Men Together or making a difference throughout the community, this couple is committed to spreading awareness and the notion that there are no big I's and little You's, but everybody is somebody!
"There are many things that are potentially dangerous and threatening on the horizon, one of the things that we've always felt important is the need for walking, trying to help people walk a mile in our shoes," said Behar.
