Michael Belton is a Category Manager for generation at Consumers Energy. He is also a gay, black, and cisgender man. Listen as he talks about intersectionality and the impact of double bias toward him.
William Krieger
The views and opinions of the guests of the Me You Us podcast do not represent the views and opinions of Consumers Energy. Hello everyone and welcome to Me You Us, a wellbeing podcast. It’s another wellbeing Wednesday here at Consumers Energy. And I’m your host Bill Krieger. Today my guest is Michael Belton. He’s a Category Manager in generation here at Consumers Energy. So Michael, if you’d introduce yourself, we’ll get the conversation started.
Michael
Thanks, Bill, hi everyone, Michael Belton, again. Black gay cis male that currently works at Consumers Energy. I’m from Detroit, I grew up in the west side of Detroit, in city of Detroit, and not in the suburbs until later on. I went to Noble elementary again, that’s slightly down a street Livernois. And then went to St. Bead on 12 Mile in Southfield, which is unfortunately, no longer there. It got closed down, unfortunately, and then went to high school at Brother Rice, High School in Birmingham. And so I grew up, I stayed and grew up in a program called Boys Hope, Girls Hope, took at risk individuals, and gave them better chance at living. So it stayed in a formal house with other individuals, again, learning that skill sets to grow into the man I am today. And at the same time, I met my god family through that program, and very close to them, as well. And so again, I went to Central Michigan, I’m a fellow Chippewa chip fire up, and so fired up. And so again, from Central, I ventured my way into internship at Consumers Energy on the operation side, and then into supply chain in 2013. And so, I have moved my way around the state. I am currently in Jackson. And so definitely, Bill, it’s been a journey of getting here, being a Category Manager, and definitely understanding the insights and impacts of how I brought on and ventured on from my life as well, to this point.
William Krieger
So Michael, I have a whole bunch of questions just based on that few minutes. So I was going to ask you about what you do at Consumer, but I’m going to do that in a second. I want to hear more about this program that you were in for at risk youth. So you said you like lived in a, you know, like a group home with other kids that were in the program? What, what happened that kind of brought you to into the program? And it sounds like it did amazing things for you.
Michael
No, absolutely. So my grandma had custody of myself and two of my siblings. I come from two large families, my biological family I’m the second oldest of eight, and my god family, I’m the second oldest of seven. And so my grandma’s my biological eight, my grandma raised the eldest three. And so my grandma got sick at one point when I was seven years old. And we were being displaced until my grandma got better and got better. And so my uncle helped my grandma find Boys Hope, Girls Hope to take us where they go through IQ testing, school testing. And so unfortunately, I was only one that passed those tests, and were able to get into a program. But the reason why was because my grandma was, was ill and trying to get us and into a better environment so she can want to get better. And to that stress on us, education wise, etc. But without that experience and understanding I was a grandma’s boy, I was definitely attached to her hip constantly. And so that was a big change for me, branching me out to different people. And so the program itself, have three houses at the point when I was going there, there was two sets of boys’ houses, and one set of all girls’ house. And so we did different events with each other. And that’s how I kind of met Patti Poppe through that program. She was board of directors on that program but understanding how I can get understand other individuals and different experiences. But it definitely helped a lot, Bill.
William Krieger
I’m glad to hear that. And so the name of the program is Boys Hope, Girls Hope and it sounds like it’s probably still around.
Michael
Yes, yep. It’s a national program. And it’s different divisions across the states. And I believe there’s a one in Guatemala as well, but the, the branch I was in was Boys and Girls Club of Detroit. And so that is an organization that anyone can visit on online. Definitely, there’s a lot of events that happen on the east side of the state for that program. But there’s, there’s again, I don’t know what I would have done without that program.
William Krieger
Well, I’m glad you mentioned it. And you know like Michael said, for the audience, go onto the web and check out the program. It sounds like it does amazing things. And well, I mean, you graduated from Central Michigan? So, I mean, you’re an amazing person right there. Because that’s, that’s where I went to school. Fire up chips. So. So I want to go back, though, you talk about being a Category Manager in generation. And the other thing is you came into the company through an internship, and it’s I don’t know, I’m on a streak right now. Because a lot of my guests that come on, like, that’s the beginning, like I started in an internship at Consumers Energy, and here we are today. So from an internship to Category Manager, so could you in the simplest terms possible so that I can understand it? What do you do for a living?
Michael
Absolutely. So I look at strategies and contract strategies for renewables that are solar battery generation sites, our compression sites, and also some of our fossil fuel locations as well. But understanding how we can better strategize for future use on our long-term plan as a company. So either we look at the vendors management, or commodity management, and how we utilize those commodities for now and then to future state. But understanding what risks are outline and that category future state and try to mitigate those risks. And so my job for that role is, it’s very great. And I say that because I meet different types of project managers and, and cost engineers and I learned so much from them, because not all commodities are the same. And so definitely, it branches out my knowledge of understanding more and getting to know a lot more people. But another subset of my role, Bill is also the process enhancements on our supply chain side. And so I’m quite involved with a lot of the process movements and procedures within procurement, understanding the front end to the processing end of our business partners and helping our accounts payables group as well, of just making sure that things run smoothly with our vendors and systems.
William Krieger
So for anyone who is thinking about coming to work for Consumers Energy, but thinks that it just involves, you know, wires in the air and pipes in the ground, you’ve got another thing coming, we have a lot of a lot of support roles that make this whole this whole thing work. So thank you for sharing that Michael and appreciate it. Now, I want to kind of unpack your introduction, just a little bit for the audience. So if I got this right, you introduced yourself as a gay, cis, black man. Yes. And so some of that to understand in a completely just because of my role here. But I think maybe some in our audience might be confused by all of that. So can you kind of break that down for us?
Michael
Yeah, I do identify myself as a cis male, meaning I identify myself as a male born at birth. And again, I understand my sexuality, my sexuality is that I’m gay. And so I do identify myself as a gay cis male. And again, I am a black or African American. And so I definitely have a very spectrum of individualism of myself. And again, trying to understand how myself in view comes across others. And so definitely trying to express that and provide an explanation for everyone is crucial. When I try to introduce myself, my voice might not sound like how I actually present. And so that’s why I like to first say, who I am, what I present myself as and how you get introduced. How you can approach me as that person that’s well.
William Krieger
You know, it’s interesting. Recently, I interviewed a gentleman who is a state trooper, getting ready to retire. And he’s African American. And he talks about his first assignment was in this farming community in the very first call. He went to someone had stolen a tractor, but he showed up at the call and the first thing that a person said to him was, you didn’t sound black on the phone. Yeah. And I thought that was really like, I’ve never thought about it that way that was very interesting. And his comment back was kind of humorous. So he said, well, what does black on the phone sound like? Right and they had had this whole conversation. So, thanks for breaking that down for us, though I think that’s, that’s very, very helpful. I do want to ask, though, so, you know, you’re, you’re gay and when did you sort of come out as gay? And then, is this something like your whole life you’ve felt? Or is it something you kind of discovered as you got older? I think the audience might be interested in kind of hearing your journey there.
Michael
No, absolutely. That’s a great question, Bill. And so I knew at a very early age, and I want to say around nine that I knew I was different than my surrounding. And so I grew up again, in Detroit, west side with my biological family. And not everything that came out of certain individual’s mouths when I was younger, made me feel safe as coming out as a young age. And so at nine years old, I knew I did not prefer women as in to…had any interest in women. And so understanding what the surrounding individuals around me were saying, played a huge impact of how I presented myself until I was comfortable. I was literally close to 23 years old when I actually say I’m a gay and I’m proud. And I’m, and I’m out. And so it was a journey. And so nine years old, I honestly didn’t say anything, I think people kind of picked up on some keys because I didn’t hide who I was. But I didn’t allude to anything outright. And so again, going to an all-guy school, going to through middle school, elementary, it took me a while to be again, comfortable myself. So again, I didn’t really come out until later, even though I knew I was gay, maybe not identify the word gay, but I knew I liked was more attractive. I was attracted to men at a younger age. And again, trying to understand how my god family because they were, republicans and they are Italian. And so again, trying to understand how myself presenting myself out to others, again, kind of coming out to my family and individual’s basis, again, until I felt comfortable with certain individuals, that’s when I came out. But when I knew my whole family was good with it, and again, I didn’t, I guess I didn’t really care if they weren’t good with it, but I still came out to all of them. And that’s why I felt like I was more free after my 20s, then be more open about it. And so I know some people, some individuals don’t know I’m gay, until they start, I will say something about it. But it’s definitely something that is dear to my heart that I don’t think people should hide who they are. But I know the struggles of trying to understand your environment. I know some people may be financially reliable on others. And that’s why they come out; they wait to come out. I wasn’t in that situation until I, well I kind of was but I wasn’t feeling threatened about my life. But it was definitely at a younger age, in certain male groups, it was harder to be accepted for who I am. And so that’s why I kind of avoided the conversation if I could, and sometimes code switch. And so, Code switching is just me changing who I was unfortunately, to fit the surroundings that I was around. And so it definitely helped me in certain cases to get through certain situations my life, not even though it kind of hindered who I was, and who I want to present myself to be.
William Krieger
You know, when you talk about being younger, I remember, you know, when I was probably nine or 10 some things that I said to people that, you know, reflecting back, I mean, I was I was nine or 10. I was I was, you know, maybe not the sharpest tool in the shed at the time. But something that some things that I said to people, you know, reflecting back, probably made people feel uncomfortable and not able to be who they were, you know, around me and around others. And so I understand how that can be very difficult. And you talked about your family. So when you finally came out to your family, though, it sounds like they were very accepting of this.
Michael
Yeah, I think it took I had to approach each individual different and so both my biological and my god family. I took two different approaches. I started off with the older ones on my biological family down and then mid age in my god family down then back up, because it was definitely, I had a different connection to each family member. And that connection meant so much to me before I went to my god, mom and god dad, and then my grandma before their passing, and so sorry, my god mom passed in 2018. So did my grandma pass in 2018, I just happen to tell them in the same year of my sexuality. And so it took me a while to again, I knew how they felt about it. But again, being still on 100% with them and being my authentic self, trying to make sure I did explain that to them, prior to their passing. And so my approach was different. And so again, everyone accepts me and loves me for who I am today. But it was definitely a journey of coming out to each and every single one of them was again, no one likes to be outed, no one likes to be put on the pressure from because everyone’s on their own calendar and schedule of their coming out. And so it was definitely, even when I joined PACE, it was it was it was a big change for me. Because, again, I was always secluded, I was always to myself until I became more open, and then just be more open with people.
William Krieger
Isn’t it interesting, Michael, that if you have had this conversation before, if I went home, at the age of 23, or at the age of 14, or whatever age, if I went home and announced to my parents that I was heterosexual and that I’m really attracted to women, and that’s just who I am. They wouldn’t bat an eye; they would wonder why I was telling them that, but they wouldn’t bat an eye. But then, you know, other people have to kind of almost help frame it and walk carefully in, you know, have different approaches and all of those things. And so I just find that very interesting. And in, do you see that there may be a time a day or a place where this isn’t, it’s not something that you feel like you have to do so that you’re not outed, that it’s just we accept people for who they are.
Michael
I feel that there could be times, there’s a lot of times we can accept people who we who we are, but there’s sometimes I still won’t present myself as full as possible, especially if there’s…I’m uncomfortable, or I feel uncomfortable in a room that not surrounded by my peers. And so definitely trying to understand not to get hit by a double bias. Again, understanding people will see me as one way, and they may perceive me a different way if I do, even though my sexuality doesn’t impact them decision makings or on my work. But sometimes I can understand that people’s ignorance or ignorance about the situation, or who I am for like gay people or black people is definitely trying to understand how I can fit in that room or how people shouldn’t have to fit in the room. They should just be themselves. But it’s definitely a push and pull trying to figure out how do I present myself in this room? How do I present myself to others at this point of time? Do I bring my whole self to this meeting or not? But it’s definitely, we shouldn’t have to feel that way. Everyone should just be themselves. But again, I know there’s so many political things to think about. There are so many other attributes to think about when you’re going to a something new. And so it’s definitely like its curiosity is fine. Asking questions is fine. But definitely, it’s it could be different for everybody. I know that for a fact.
William Krieger
Well, and I want to go back for just a second too because I want to talk about bias. But I want to talk about a little bit different way that I’ve talked about it before. Yeah. And that was you said before kind of coming out to your god family. You were a little concerned because they’re Republican, conservative Italian. And so this is it. To me, this is kind of a different way to ask this. But how do you feel that your own personal biases impacted your ability to come out to certain people because you maybe anticipate them acting a certain way because of who you thought they were?
Michael
Yeah, so I, my own personal biases are again, I always feel a little conservative with my personality and feelings since I could be very emotional person. And so feeling rejected hurts, and so I tried not to be as rejected as possible. And so that’s why it took me so long to get over my own biases towards individuals, again, trying to come from a side of where they’re thinking rather than just my selfish feeling to want to just feel loved. And so it took me a second, a while to get over the fact that not everyone will think the way that I think, definitely understanding how others will perceive me once I do tell them, and I have felt people just stop talking to me because the reason why other will probably because I came out to them. But as mostly just, they just, it’s just that talking. So I have been working on my own personal biases to make sure that again, I hear someone hearing people will reciprocate that information internally. And then trying to seek that to see the information internally sorry, and then try to work on a way that I can help them bridge that gap of my own personal biases. Because I do get that I grew up with certain family members that had certain views, those weren’t my views. But those were what’s taught on me when I was younger, breaking those biases and views to understand people are people, I need to again try to break down things, what people perceive me or conceived me, my thoughts et cetera. But it’s definitely trying to do better and breaking those norms in my biases and any negative connotations I have towards people, because not everyone’s bad as what people seem. And it’s definitely trying to, again, figure out what gaps I do have and what gaps other people might have. And how can I bridge those gaps? Because we clearly are on same wavelengths. But we are definitely the messages are not always clear.
William Krieger
Well, you know, if we’re talking about bias if we think about the term intersectionality, right, so you’re a black man, who is gay. So there’s a lot to kind of bring together there. And you know, when I talked to one of our coworkers, Merv Webb, we talked about double bias is he is a black man who has certain disabilities. And so there was a certain kind of double bias there for him. Do you see that as being African American, and gay that in some instances, you could see a double bias there.
Michael
Yes. And so it’s definitely I can, yes. And so it depends on the groups and what I’m walking my situation into. Again, I can go running outside and someone will freak out that I’m running outside, and I do wear running shorts, and they’re semi above my knees and half the time but I can, I’ll get stares at I’ll get people yelling at me when I’m running. I’ll get being at the supermarket, people’s murmuring saying maybe I can’t afford, what I’m buying, etc. And they don’t even know who I am. So it’s definitely, especially from the black community, especially when I was younger, some of the, the male individuals will make comments on oh you’re acting too sissy, or you’re doing too much of this and, and another et cetera. And so, it can be a double whammy, when people may consider me weak or may consider me less of a male or may consider me less of an equal and so I, again, I know I shouldn’t have to think about this. But I do think of how I walk into a room, if I’m wearing anything that I have on that may be LGTQ supportive and so it’s, it’s I see the stares, I can hear the murmurs. It can be overwhelming at times. It could be a handicap at times, and at least on self-esteem, but again, I try to overlook that, but I know there are people who consider me that weak of a person just because I may be black or maybe gay, or they may see me one of those two and they may consider me weak of being one of those two. And so I have it either coming at towards me because of color of my skin or the sexuality of who I may like and so it’s definitely an impact that does put a lot of weight on someone who may have a double impactedbased on society norms.
William Krieger
So with all that said Michael, I think it’s, maybe I’m wrong, but it must have been just a little bit difficult to come onto a podcast and talk about these things out loud.
Michael
Oh, absolutely. Trust me. It’s definitely trying to word certain things. And it’s hard. But I feel like it’s more…the more we talk about it, the more people understand and that they realize what they, how you say things, or what you can say can impact someone’s day, even if there was a joke. And so I don’t mind talking about it Bill because again, it lets people think it helps them again, come from a different view. And if we don’t say anything about anything, it will never get done. And so I rather speak up and speak out about it, and then again, helping people where I can, and at least the experiences I’ve gone through because I rather not see any other person of color or any other LGBT individual going through the same things I have to go through if it can be avoided at all costs.
William Krieger
Well, I’m glad you said that. And you said something subtly, that that might not have been a major part of the whole conversation. But you said even if it’s a joke, and I think that sometimes people say things, that they really mean, but they phrase it as a joke, so that they have an out. And so this is me personally talking to the audience that, you know, it’s not a joke. Like those things that we think are jokes that are hurting other people, and then we play them off as a joke. That’s not really a joke. Um, the other thing is, we are in June, and it is pride month. So could you talk a little bit about what does Pride Month mean to you? How do you celebrate it, if you celebrate it? What are your thoughts on that overall?
Michael
No, absolutely. So there’s many events that I tried to attend, I, because June is so hot, I try not to go outside too much. And so I do go to a few parades that the weather is nice, but again, it’s celebrating who I am as a gay male. And so again, with Stonewall, there’s so much that Stonewall kicked off again celebrating the rights in what we have accomplished for so much with the community and again, acknowledging our community and their events and supporting anything I can. But it’s definitely, there are the June 19th, Juneteenth, that also falls in Pride Month against celebrating black history, in addition to celebrating LGBT history, history and accomplishments, but it’s it means a lot for even having allies at events or supporting events or helping co-chairs some of our ERG Employee Resource Group internally but helping grow communities and donate and provide an avenue for those again, are at risk or need support. And that just highlights the needs that we have across the country, even other countries as well. But celebrating who we are. And again, having a platform that is elevated, and provided. Again, more joy, I just feel like it’s a time for joy. And it’s a time for again, celebrating who you are. And that’s why I love the month of June because it has so much other meaning than just pride month for me, the Juneteenth the that’s multiple birthdays of people I love in that month, but it’s again, this is a great month for again, celebration.
William Krieger
Well, and thank you for pointing that out. Because sometimes we get focused on one thing and don’t realize that there’s a lot of other things going on and in for the audience. I’m not going to tell you what it’s all about. But I would challenge you to go out and look up the Stonewall Rebellion, I think is what it’s called. I’ve read a couple of articles on that and it’s a pretty amazing event that happened many years ago when people got tired of being oppressed. So I would challenge the listeners to go out and take a look at that. Well, Michael, we are getting close to the end of our time together here on the podcast. But before we go, is there a message that you would like to leave the audience with? Is there something that you would like them to take away from this conversation today?
Michael
No, absolutely. And we’ve talked about it multiple times, but again, be kind with your words, take them in consideration. Not everything is a joke. Again, it’s people you should be who you are and allow people to be themselves as well but definitely understand where people are coming from before making an assumption. And so I am who I am, and you will be who you will be. And but we all can be in the same place and be a be a collaborative group. And so I thank you all for listening. And Bill, I thank you for allowing me to speak as well.
William Krieger
Alright, thank you for those words, Michael, and I hope the audience takes them to heart. It was great having you on and I look forward to talking to you again in the future. Thanks, Michael.
Michael
I appreciate it, Bill.
William Krieger
Thank you to the audience for listening in today. The Me You Us podcast is proudly sponsored by Consumers Energy leaving Michigan better than we found it. Remember, you can find the me us podcast on all major podcasting platforms. So be sure to go out find us and subscribe. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. That’s 1-800-273-8255 If you are a veteran or know a Veteran who is in crisis, you can call 1-800-273-8255 and press one for the Veterans Crisis Line. And remember to tune in every Wednesday as we talk about the things that impact your personal wellbeing.
