Individual | Inducted 2026
ADODI Chicago was organized on August 17, 1996, more than a decade after Clifford Rawlins founded ADODI’s first chapter in Philadelphia in May 1986. Its roots can be traced to Ado Alden Bell’s involvement with Group Dialogue and Book Forum, two Chicago discussion groups that shared ADODI’s goal of raising the social consciousness of Black same-gender-loving (SGL) men.
Through Group Dialogue, Bell met Barry Martin, the only Chicagoan who attended ADODI’s first retreat. In 1991, after losing his partner, Roderick Wilbanks, during the HIV/AIDS crisis, Bell attended his first ADODI retreat in search of clarity and connection with other Black gay men facing loss. He returned each summer and brought additional members of Chicago’s Black SGL community, including Marcus Murphy, Shelton Watson, Nsilo Ward, and Jim Smoote.
By 1996, enough Chicagoans were attending the retreats that Bell persuaded ADODI’s New York leadership to hold a summer retreat in the Midwest. The event took place at Camp Ronora and drew support from across Chicago’s SGL community, including lesbians, transgender people, Group Dialogue members, local HIV/AIDS organizations, and BLACKlines, a Black gay publication of Windy City Media Group. That fall, the Chicago attendees met at the home of Rev. Juan Reed and decided to establish a local chapter with monthly meetings. Bell became ADODI Chicago’s first president.
The chapter continues to follow ADODI National’s mission of supporting the emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being of same-gender-loving men of African descent through connection and mutual support. Its activities include monthly discussion groups, social programs, and SGL artistic events addressing mental and physical health. ADODI Chicago also provides sexual-health education and support for SGL men living with HIV while addressing the invisibility experienced by Black men who love men.
The HABARI GANI discussion group meets on the first Saturday of each month at the Jamii Center for Arts & Media. The KUNDI MLO / EGBE ONJE potluck is held on the third Saturday at a member’s home. Seven ADODI National brothers are members of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, including John Ademola Adewoye, Sanford E. Gaylord, Rev. Juan I. Reed, Charles Edward Nelson II, Israel Wright, Ernest E. Hite Jr., and Maxsonn Smith.