I was raised to believe that giving back to the community is part of the reciprocal nature of living in community. My commitment to social justice is fueled by both my positive and negative experiences. I have wanted my positive experiences to reverberate in the lives of those who come after me. While I deeply desire that no one knows that pain of my negative experiences, I know that many people will. Thus, I want to create and participate in organizations that can offer the comfort and advocacy I may not have had.
I became a brownie Girl Scout in second grade, and I am still proud to be a Girl Scout. I stayed active in the Girl Scouts, and earned the gold award , the highest award in Girl Scouting. The gold award involves a service project. For my service project, I coordinated a six-week seminar for middle school students called, “Getting the Most Out of High School.” I can barely believe I ran the whole project on $300.00 funded by Bethel AME Church in Ann Arbor, MI and the Ann Arbor branch of the NAACP . Some of the young people from that program are now in (and out) of colleges across the country.
While living in Nashville, I developed what I understand to be a lifelong call to fighting sexual and domestic violence. More by accident than plan, I became an active volunteer with the Rape and Sexual Abuse Center of Middle Tennessee. After benefiting from the counseling program, it seemed natural to return a small portion of their grace to me by becoming active in speakers’ bureau program. While I did everything from stuff envelopes to hospital accompaniment, most of my time was spent giving presentations at Take Back the Night rallies or being interviewed by the local media for promotional purposes. Akin to working in the field of sexual violence, I also worked to fight against domestic violence. I was a women’s advocate with Ujima House, Inc. , a domestic violence program targeting the needs of women of color and their children. Working in the field of advocacy against domestic violence is the hardest job I’ve ever loved.
As many of you know, I’m really into health and fitness. I’ve been a vegetarian for over 16 years, and a vegan for more than 12 years. At Harvard, I could often be found cooking in the co-operative housing where I lived, Jordan W Co-op. If you are wondering what it is I eat, check out my favorite vegan website . I’m become especially interested in grassroots health education. After graduating from Vanderbilt, I helped to found the Nashville chapter of the National Black Women’s Health Imperative . The sister circles had great fun as we supported each other in our individual lives and educated ourselves and others about nutrition, fitness and other important health information. I’m becoming increasingly interested in educating the public about the lives and rights of people living with physical disabilities and mental illness .
I’m also proud to say that I’ve received additional training and support for my activist-self at the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership . It’s both boot-camp and safe haven all at once. I also serve on the advisory board of an excellent non-profit, Civic Frame, that uses documentary media and intellectual work to encourage civic dialogue about pressing social issues.
It should come as no surprise, that I am an undercover greenie. I spent some time helping the residents of trailer parks improve their communities with the Neighborhoods Resource Center in Nashville, TN. I share the commitments of the Green Party , I recycle (reduce, reuse, recycle everyone!) and try to be conscious of my impact on the environment. If I can pull it off, I’d love to live in an energy-saving round house.
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