June 30, 2025 | Ricardo D. Wynn

Montell Infiniti Ross: five years of power and pride

Frustrated by the silence of local LGBTQ leadership, Montell organized the March with Pride for Black Lives Matter.

Montell Infiniti Ross

"I was just the catalyst holding the torch; the community was the team ready to battle."

In June 2020, amid the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism, one voice echoed through Milwaukee with clarity, passion, and purpose.

That voice belonged to Broderick Pearson, also known as Montell Infiniti Ross, a Black, gay man who, frustrated by the glaring silence surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement from Milwaukee’s own PrideFest organizers, ignited a call for visibility, solidarity, and justice.

Ross knew from personal experience what it felt like to be unseen in spaces meant to celebrate identity and liberation.

Fueled by this frustration, Montell did what many leaders do in moments of crisis: He spoke from the heart.

He opened his laptop, went live on Facebook, and laid bare the realities that so many in his community were feeling, but hadn’t yet voiced. The live video wasn’t rehearsed or polished, but it was passionate, personal, and unfiltered.

And it struck a chord. Within hours, it began to spread. By the time the dust had settled, over 10,000 people had heard his message, a rallying cry that could no longer be ignored.

His candid words sparked a fire, and what happened next was nothing short of extraordinary.

In just four days, a grassroots movement took form. Without a blueprint, budget, or institutional support, organizers, artists, neighbors, and allies came together, compelled by a shared recognition that something powerful needed to happen.

Led by Ross, their efforts culminated in the March with Pride for Black Lives Matter, a massive, peaceful demonstration that brought together thousands of people from all walks of life, unified in purpose: To say loudly and visibly that Black queer lives matter.

“Being a Black gay man is the experience that motivated me to create this space,” Montell explains.

“My life itself is the experience. But I was just the catalyst holding the torch; the community was the team ready to battle.”

Rooted in the intersection of Blackness and queerness, the march was more than a protest, it was a turning point in Milwaukee’s queer history.

What began as a spontaneous expression of frustration became a transformative movement that challenged exclusion, honored legacy, and empowered a new generation of leaders.

Five years later, its impact continues to echo through community spaces, Pride celebrations, and public health advocacy, reminding us that liberation must be intersectional and that the most powerful movements begin with truth, courage, and a refusal to remain unseen.

Centering Black queer identity

Montell’s journey began in Racine. After attending Grambling State University, he moved to Milwaukee in 1998.

“I came out a year after I moved to Milwaukee,” he shared.

The relocation wasn’t just about career, it was about survival, about finding the space to be fully and safely himself. That distance from home allowed him to step into his truth, and eventually, into leadership.

While he formally began his community work in 2003, Montell’s passion had long been influenced by the people around him including friends and mentors already immersed in community work, many of whom were part of the House of Infiniti.

Ross formally joined the House as a Program Manager, and during that time, the Milwaukee chapter of House of Infiniti became one of the first publicly known Ballroom-based Black gay-led organizations to provide direct outreach and support in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis.

The work was deeply personal for Ross, having lost his father at the age of 14 to HIV-related illness, as well as his uncle and role model, an advocate for survivors of sexual violence, to HIV complications.

Another pivotal experience that shaped his worldview was being in a relationship with someone living with HIV during a time when HIV stigma was still pervasive and deadly.

Montell Infiniti Ross

Montell and Elle Halo

Mural honoring the March with Pride for Black Lives Matter

Montell grew up in Racine, Wisconsin.

Montell's 1995 class photo

Montell, 2003

People made cruel assumptions about his HIV status, but despite not living with HIV, he was open to serodiscordant relationships to show others that one’s status doesn’t matter.

He recalls the pain of attending funeral after funeral—seven in total at one point—all in the same location, each one another loss to the AIDS epidemic. The weight of being perceived as a statistic rather than a person with a story, a heart, and a purpose became exhausting.

Having made a silent promise to himself to change the narrative surrounding HIV, Ross worked to ensure that others didn’t have to suffer in silence or die from preventable diseases because of stigma, ignorance, or systemic neglect.

That promise became his life’s mission. Montell’s goal was not only to uplift Black lives, but to spotlight the intersection of Blackness and queerness, a lived reality often overlooked throughout LGBTQ+ narratives.

From moment to movement

The “March with Pride for Black Lives Matter” didn’t just resonate with seasoned activists or those already embedded in advocacy work, it ignited something deeper and more widespread.

It reached people who had never previously considered their role in racial justice or understood the weight of their silence.

When asked about it, Ross recounted an emotional encounter with a white, gay man who approached him years after the march.

The man described seeing Ross standing boldly on a van with a bullhorn, declaring the importance of Black queer lives. That single experience challenged his assumptions, sparked reflection, and shifted his sense of responsibility.

“It was something more than amazing,” the man told Ross. “It was something our community needed.”

In that moment, Ross saw the far-reaching ripple effect of the march: It wasn’t just a protest, it was a catalyst for transformation—personal, communal, and cultural.

This interaction reflects the broader legacy of the march: Its power to humanize, educate, and inspire.

By centering Black queer voices, the march created a space where empathy could thrive, where accountability could take root, and where allyship could move beyond performative gestures to genuine, sustained support.

It allowed people from all walks of life to see injustice more clearly and to see themselves within the solution.

Ross’s impact, therefore, isn’t measured just in the number of people who marched that day. It lives in the hearts and minds of those who were changed by it, in those who began to understand their privilege, use their voice, and stand in solidarity.

That is the true legacy: a movement that didn’t just raise awareness, but redefined what community, inclusion, and justice could look like for everyone.

Echoes in time

June 2025 marks the 5th anniversary of the “March with Pride for Black Lives Matter,” and its legacy continues to unfold.

The march was more than a single-day demonstration, it was a cultural shift. It cracked open longstanding conversations about race, representation, and exclusion within Milwaukee’s LGBTQ+ spaces, many of which had been dominated by white leadership and aesthetics for decades.

That impact took tangible form in “Montell’s Melanin Extravaganza Drag Revue Show,” the first Black-led, Black-centered drag performance to take the stage at Milwaukee PrideFest.

The show was Montell’s answer to a community yearning not only to be heard but to be celebrated. Featuring local Black drag performers and artists, the revue became a vibrant showcase of talent and a bold statement that Black queer art is not peripheral, it is central to the Pride experience.

The House of Infiniti

The House of Infiniti

Today, the Extravaganza is a cornerstone of PrideFest Milwaukee, drawing thousands of attendees and generating widespread acclaim. Its presence on one of the festival’s main stages represents a bridge between protest and policy, between community outcry and institutional accountability.

But those effects can be felt elsewhere too—in the policies being discussed in boardrooms, and in the young Black LGBTQ+ individuals who now believe their voices matter, in every hard conversation that happens because someone was brave enough to speak up, and in every ally who now listens more carefully and acts more boldly.

Montell's Melanin Extravaganza at PrideFest Milwaukee (June 6, 2025)

Looking forward

Five years from now, Ross envisions the 10-year anniversary of the march as something even bigger.

He dreams of a citywide celebration of Black queer culture, complete with media coverage, public recognition, legislative engagement, and full community participation. In his eyes, this milestone will not just be about honoring the past, it will be about expanding the impact, deepening the dialogue, and cementing Black queer visibility into the very framework of Milwaukee’s social and cultural identity.

But for Ross, legacy isn’t about the spotlight. It’s about empowerment.

Throughout his reflections, his passion for lifting others is unmistakable. You can feel that his sense of purpose extends far beyond personal achievement. It lies in opening doors for others to walk through.

For Ross, the true measure of success lies in how many people he can inspire to step into their own power. He is deeply committed to “passing the torch,” knowing that leadership is not about holding the spotlight forever, but about creating space for others to shine.

“If there’s a need, make a way,” he advises future organizers. “Don’t wait for perfect planning. Move with passion and integrity.”

It’s a call to action that centers courage over perfection, and purpose over performance.

This philosophy is especially critical for Black and Brown LGBTQ+ individuals, many of whom grow up in environments where their voices are silenced or devalued.

Montell’s message to them is clear: You are more than enough. Find your voice. Use your voice. Speak truth to power, not just for yourself, but for those around you.

The long-term benefits of this kind of advocacy are profound. Beyond the celebratory aspects of Pride or the visibility won through drag revues and marches, Montell’s work has helped lay the groundwork for structural inclusion where equity isn’t an add-on, but a core principle.

It’s a future where young, Black, queer people don’t have to fight to be seen, because they’re already centered. Where policy reflects diversity. Where institutions listen. And where cultural platforms reflect the full spectrum of queer identity.

This movement is not frozen in time; it is a living force.

In this way, Ross didn’t just organize a march, he changed the cultural blueprint of Pride in Milwaukee. He bridged the gap between grassroots activism and structural change, proving that when a community dares to speak up and organizers dare to listen, even the most exclusive stages can become platforms for justice, joy, and transformation.

Congratulations to Montell for being widely recognized for his community leadership!

In 2019, Montell was awarded a President's Community Engagement Award from the Medical College of Wisconsin, which recognizes exemplary community-academic partnerships, community-engaged research, and community outreach activities and programs of MCW faculty, staff, students and community partners.

In June 2025, Montell received special recognition from the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors for his honorable work at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Thank you for your commitment to equity, representation, justice, and action!

Note: this story will also appear in the July/August Pride in Color issue of Our Lives Magazine.