Cleo Manago

Cleo Manago has been in the trenches for social reform for well over two decades. A socio-political analyst, behavioral health specialist, activist, writer, film-maker and popular spokesperson on the most controversial issues facing Americans today, Manago is a prominent figure in the African American community and beyond. He is courageously at the forefront when it comes to combating society’s most pressing issues.

His distinctively inventive programs have stimulated the national discourse on Black community sexual, mental, spiritual and cultural health, most notably for appropriate methodologies in mental health and wellness, and the prevention of health threats. In 1989, Mr. Manago was one of the first health providers in the United States to direct national attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Black community. He was the first innovator to develop successful programmatic implementation models for prevention, conduct research, and consult the Centers for Disease Control and other public health agencies on the limits of program models addressing health disparity for Blacks, and divergent subpopulations.

Manago developed his study, the Critical Thinking and Cultural Affirmation (CTCA) methodology in 1994. CTCA is a culturally informed preventive health strategy that addresses positive mental, sexual and community health, encouraging self-actualization, cultural empowerment and responsibility. It has been in practice in Los Angeles for close to two decades, in New York City since 2002, and is currently being evaluated by the CDC at Loyola University in Chicago - for national replication.

As founder and CEO of the AmASSI Centers for Wellness, Education and Culture, and founder and national organizer of the Black Men’s Xchange (BMX), a human rights, educational, anti-oppression and advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling barriers to well-being; dignity; self-respect and protection; responsive public-policy and the prevention of health threats to diverse males of African descent, including same gender loving (SGL), heterosexual and bisexual males. BMX is America’s largest and oldest national, community based organization for this population.

Cleo Manago is also a community faculty member at Charles Drew University of Science and Medicine in Los Angeles and a former doctoral student at the California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco. His most recent endeavors include producing, writing and directing film and video. His two most noted works include the short films "I AM A MAN: Black Manhood & Sexual Diversity" and "Getting the Language Right: HIV Healing in Young Black America." His most recent film, In My Own Image, is a breakthrough documentary, featuring 40 Black men who collectively journey through self-discovery, historical knowledge, affirmation, relationships, unity and restoration.