I have always been inspired by Ella Baker, a Civil Rights icon, and human rights activist, who worked on the frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement. I was introduced to Ella Baker through music, actually. "Ella's Song," by the group Sweet Honey in the Rock was one of my mother's favorite tunes. My mother LOVED Sweet Honey! There is a line in the song that is an Ella Baker quote: "To me young people come first, they have the courage where we fail." This line always resonated with me as a young person.  It actually emboldened me! Ella Baker worked among, and centered, young people throughout her entire career, and life. That is something that inspired me to work with young people, and to name my desire to do so.

Ella Baker was from the South, but lived and worked in New York City during her time working for the NAACP. That is another fact that inspired me, as someone who is from Houston, Texas, but has always dreamt of working and living in New York City. Ella Baker also discouraged "charismatic leadership" and preferred collective leadership within a truly abolitionist framework, which seeks to empower and "free" all oppressed people. These are principles that I hold dear and work every day to embody within my life, and work. 

Which local Black-led nonprofits do you admire?

I admire Groundswell, led by my dear friend and sister-in-artivism, Robyne Walker-Murphy. Groundswell is doing some powerful work with young people, and they hold similar space as viBe, in terms of creating and sustaining an uncensored environment for young people to express themselves, and create art informed by their lived experiences. I also admire Black Feminist Project, because Tanya Denise Fields teaches Black women how to show up as your authentic self, unapologetically, and then get the WORK done. Her organization has fed a lot of hungry people during the pandemic. I also admire organizations like Girl Vow, Black Feminist Future, and of course Brooklyn Community Services, run by my friend Janelle Farris. 

How do you work to achieve equity at viBe Theater Experience?

At viBe, we are particularly proud of the fact that our organization is not only Black and woman-led, but three-fourths of our staff are under the age of thirty. That's pretty much everyone except for me! We also operate with a "true-cost" budget which factors in the true cost of supporting our young staff, providing full benefits to all administrative staff, and we have created a leadership pipeline that has resulted in two senior staff positions being filled by viBe alumna. Lastly, we work with philanthropic partners (like Brooklyn Community Foundation!) to hold space for viBeGirls to speak out about the issues that are impacting them, and their communities most, like school pushout, misogynoir, and adultification bias. At viBe, equity is a core value connected to our mission and vision to create and hold intentional space for Black girls, young women, and gender expansive youth to get their "nugget of free" and create an artistic response to the world around them. 

Learn more about viBe Theater Experience​ here.

Black Philanthropy Month (BPM), observed every August, is a global celebration and concerted campaign to elevate African-descent giving. Created by Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland and the Pan-African Women's Philanthropy Network (PAWPNet), BPM launched in 2011 to commemorate the United Nations Year and Decade of People of African Descent. The theme for this year’s Black Philanthropy Month is “TENacity: Making Equity Real”.