Michelle Parkerson is from Washington, DC. Her career burgeoned in the late 1970s and early 80s, when she became a major contributor to a Black gay and lesbian renaissance of DC artists, musicians, activists, writers and performers.

Michelle’s award-winning films include Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey in the Rock, A Litany For Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde and Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box. Her documentaries have screened at prestigious festivals, including The Sundance Film Festival, The Berlin International Film Festival and AFI Fest. She has received numerous grants and awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, the Mayor’s Art Award, grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Rainbow History Project’s Community Pioneer Award and a Humanities DC Docs Grant. Her new documentary, Fierceness Served! The ENIKAlley Coffeehouse, revives the storied history of a DC Black LGBTQ cultural hub in the 1980s. Parkerson’s earlier films are now been streamed on The Criterion Channel.

Ms. Parkerson has served on the faculties of the University of Delaware, Northwestern University, Howard University and Temple University, as well as the Advisory Boards of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Mary’s House For Older Adults, Inc.