Profile: Julius Pateman

In early May of this year, I began volunteering for the Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund, as I was recruited by the Co-Founder of RBMF Larry D. Lyons . Before I was invited by Larry to attend an interest meeting, I had never heard of the fund, or the killing of Rashawn; however once I found out what actually happened, I was touched. Being apart of RBMF has opened my eyes to the different hurdles and discrimination we face as a whole in LGBT community. Of course I’ve heard of “gay bashing” but it had been awhile since I knew of any current incidents, but the real issue is that they go unreported, and unsolved.

I am the Communications Coordinator for the Fund, and it’s my job to make sure our followers are updated on what’s going on within the fund, our scholars, and also in the LGBT community. Rashawn’s death affects me tremendously, knowing that his killer is still on our streets, and could possibly strike again. Rashawn was a rising scholar, and had big dreams of going off to college. That is my drive for volunteering for the fund, as we continue his legacy by helping students attend college and offer academic and moral support thru our Mentor Program.