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Painting a bigger picture: Senegal’s pioneering ‘first lady’ of graffiti

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Artist, poet and singer, Dieynaba Sidibé, AKA Zeinixx, has made her way to the top of the country’s male-dominated hip-hop scene and wants her messages of hope to inspire young women

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I'm Alexis! I forage out in the VERY untamed wilderness of scenic Ohio. Stick around and find out how we're all surrounded by amazing plants you just haven't gotten to know yet! ...and i also sing my feelings a lot

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He is a Visionary Artist and Musician.

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Lonnie Holley was born on February 10, 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama. From the age of five, Holley worked various jobs: picking up trash at a drive-in movie theatre, washing dishes, and cooking. He lived in a whiskey house, on the state fairgrounds, and in several foster homes.

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Acres of Ancestry. Run by an SWS Parent Alumni

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Acres of Ancestry. Run by an SWS Parent Alumni

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Acres of Ancestry Initiative | Acres of Ancestry/Black Agrarian Fund

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The 400-year Black agrarian liberation struggle in the United States is inextricably bound to the European construction of racial identity, hierarchy, and domination enshrined in American jurisprudence and societal custom. In her seminal work, "Whiteness as Property," Cheryl Harris examines how the origins of property rights in the United States were ingrained in the racial subjugation of Africans and Native Americans through the parallel systems of slavery and colonization.

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Until Freedom | Fighting for Social Justice

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TAMIKA D. MALLORY
MYSONNE LINEN
ANGELO PINTO, ESQ.
LINDA SARSOUR

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#UNTIL is a campaign from Until Freedom, the definitive non-profit organization for community activism, education, and rapid response around tragedies resulting from injustice. The #UNTIL campaign was designed to protect the lives, build the wealth, and protect the votes of people of color living in underserved communities. Invest in justice today!

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Until Freedom | Fighting for Social Justice

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UNTIL is a campaign from Until Freedom, the definitive non-profit organization for community activism, education, and rapid response around tragedies resulting from injustice. The #UNTIL campaign was designed to protect the lives, build the wealth, and protect the votes of people of color living in underserved communities. Invest in justice today!

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Atoy Wilson is a retired American figure skater. Coached by Mabel Fairbanks and then Peter Betts, he represented the Los Angeles Skating Club. In 1965, he was the first African-American skater to compete at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, placing second in the novice division

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Tai Reina Babilonia is an African American former pair skater. Together with Randy Gardner, she won the 1979 World Figure Skating Championships and five U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The pair qualified for the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics.

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Debra Janine Thomas is an African American former figure skater and physician. She is the 1986 World champion, the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S. national champion.

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Joel Savary- US National Figure Skating Coach based in DC

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Joel Savary- US National Figure Skating Coach based in DC

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Joel Savary is the Executive Director and founder of Diversify Ice Fellowship and Foundation (DIFF) and Savary Movement LLC. He is an International and U.S. National figure skating coach in the DMV area. He has worked with a number of skating shows and coached skaters of all ages and ability.

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OUR MISSION The Diversify Ice Fellowship and Foundation (DIFF) was founded in 2017 by the D.C. based figure skating coach and author, Joel Savary. As a figure skater of color, Joel recognized the racial disparities in the sport and the systemic barriers for minorities to be successful at an elite competitive level early on.

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Kadari Taylor-Watson started her position as the first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion director at U.S. Figure Skating. She will work closely with the DEI Task Force and U.S. Figure Skating staff to set goals necessary to achieve the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

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On February 25, 1837, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania became the nation’s first Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The University was established through the bequest of Richard Humphreys, a Quaker philanthropist who bequeathed $10,000 — one-tenth of his estate — to design and establish a school to educate people of African descent and prepare them as teachers.

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I THRIVE...

At Cheyney, Your Health and Safety Are Our First Concern

Cheyney Made is a promise, an invitation, and a call.

Join the rich legacy and dynamic future of the nation's first HBCU - established in 1837 - and one of its most prestigious members. Here you will find your voice within a select community and develop the character, intellect, and talent required to succeed. You will also discover how to leave your mark on the world by sharing our inherent sense of social responsibility and passion for excellence.

Who can turn "I wish" to "I will"?
Cheyney can. Because for over 180 years, Cheyney has.

Embrace the Life of a Cheyney Student

Cheyney's vibrant campus life provides exceptional opportunities to gain a greater understanding of the world around you, take on new responsibilities, and broaden your perspective.

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With 10 major courses of study and 6 minors, Cheyney builds an exceptional foundation for career opportunities in the modern world.

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Keystone Honors Academy is a far-reaching program that seeks to foster intellectually enriching experiences for the entire campus community.

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Our Research Center

Getting to the Heart of the Solution

The CU Institute for the Contemporary African American Experience serves as a catalyst in developing solutions to complex issues.
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Home - Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

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I THRIVE... Join the rich legacy and dynamic future of the nation's first HBCU - established in 1837 - and one of its most prestigious members. Here you will find your voice within a select community and develop the character, intellect, and talent required to succeed.

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https://www.kapharstudio.com

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| Chantel M. Walkes | (@chantelwalkes) • Instagram photos and videos

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The Legacy of Food at Southern Gas Stations Is Rooted in Black Survival

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History of eating while traveling in the South for Black folx

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History of eating while traveling in the South for Black folx

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Scanning the aisles of small, locally owned gas stations in the South is like taking a step back in time. Few other places stock old-school Necco Wafers, Mary Janes, Bit-O-Honeys, and Chick-O-Sticks alongside foods like pickled eggs, pickled sausages, gizzards, barbeque, and pound cake. At Dodge's Southern Style, a gas station between Ravenel and Johns Island, South Carolina, you'll find fried chicken, biscuits, fried hand pies, and country ham on the menu next to a variety of nabs (crackers with peanut butter or cheese) and all the chips you can imagine. At Spinx, a gas station chain with locations across the South, there's rice and beans, mac and cheese conveniently contained in an easy to carry bowl, or loaded biscuit sandwiches with all the fixins to pick up and take on the road.

In the South, you can have a full-on Sunday meal while you fill up your tank. But as much as the gas station seems unchanging, this convenience - specifically, the accessibility of this kind of convenience - has evolved. What seems so conventional to us now, to be able to stop at almost any gas station and have a good, inexpensive meal, is rooted in Black survival and entrepreneurship. And, of course, the standout foods you'll find at Southern gas stations have their roots in African American culture.

In the first few pages of her book, Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs, Psyche A. Williams-Forson writes that in the decades after emancipation, and before most people could afford an automobile, Black women would bring food from their homes, including biscuits, hot coffee, fried chicken, and boiled eggs, to sell to weary travelers at train stops. These entrepreneurs would walk on the train platforms outside of each train car, and travelers of all backgrounds would open their windows to grab a bite of homecooked food; they came to be known as "waiter carriers," for the long distance many had to travel between their kitchens and the stations where their customers waited.

For Black people, any means of travel through the South was an uncertain prospect.

In the South, these travelers weren't free to patronize just anywhere for food and lodging. In Traveling Black, author Mia Bay notes that a Black traveler by the name of Joseph K. Bowler told a reporter that he never traveled to the South without a "Jim Crow traveling kit" that included food and a small stovetop to cook. Making use of the dining car on the train was out of the question; Bowler noted, "the dining car is a closed corporation as far as our people are concerned." The traveling kit would become commonplace for Black travelers on trains and outside of them, especially in the South. In that same interview, Bowler told the Chicago Defender, "White people below the Mason Dixon line maintain that we are animals, virtually camels, and can go without food or water for several days."

As industrialization took over in the early 20th century, train cars became more modernized, and with the addition of air conditioning and dining cars, the need for waiter carriers came to an end. But they were an early example of how Black women achieved economic security through the New Era, and they provided a literal lifeline for both the food sellers and the Black men who traveled for work opportunities during this time.

For Black people, any means of travel through the South was an uncertain prospect. Airlines used special codes to keep Black people off of flights or to give their seats to white passengers. Planes that stopped in the South would allow white passengers to depart the plane for food in the airport's restaurants, while, according to Bay, "Blacks were instructed to stay on the plane and eat boxed lunches." Not even popular Black public figures were exempt from being racially targeted while traveling. Flying from California to Florida one summer, famous baseball player Jackie Robinson and his wife brought along a large supply of food (including sandwiches) made by his mother for their trip. Robinson may have been embarrassed that his mother packed his lunch, but the food came in handy as Robinson and his wife entered the Jim Crow South. Removed from their flights in New Orleans and Pensacola to make space for white passengers, they weren't allowed to eat at any of the roadside restaurants or gas stations they came across.

Even after the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 and "Whites Only" signs disappeared from public spaces, the blatant racism of the Jim Crow South persisted, especially at restaurants, hotels, airports, and bus and gas stations. While Black people could travel in the comfort of their own cars, trips were often exceptionally long, because the most direct route wasn't always the safest; a stop in the wrong town at any time of day could end a family vacation quickly with Black travelers being run out of town or even worse. And the places that were safe for Black people to stop for a quick bite, or even to use the restroom, were few and far in between. So, many families carried on the traditions of packing food that traveled well - baked goods, foods preserved with methods like pickling or curing, and foods like those the waiter carriers once sold, such as chicken and biscuits. It was important that these foods could hold at room temperature for hours at a time, because while some families could pack a cooler to the brim, before easily accessible and affordable cold food storage, most Black folks were packing food in brown paper bags and shoeboxes to have a meal on their trips.

The foods packed in these makeshift lunch boxes are the same foods that you'll find at Southern gas stations today: fried chicken and pork chops, good eaten hot or cold, hard-boiled and pickled eggs, and slices of sweet potato pie that don't require forks. Many Black families used the funds they saved from selling their foods as waiter carriers to open up their own lodges, inns, gas stations, and small eateries for Black travelers who lived or moved along the newly created roads and railroads that connected the South to the rest of the country throughout the Great Migration.

During the civil rights era and beyond, Black-owned fill stations also served as restaurants - one-stop shops for Black patrons who would frequently come across restaurants that would serve them but forbid them from using the restrooms, and gas stations that wouldn't allow them to fill up. For the owners of these roadside businesses, serving food was just as important as providing gas. Food was the primary moneymaker for Black-owned gas stations across the country and, specifically, those in The Negro Motorist Green Book, Victor Hugo Green's published list of safe places for Black travelers across the United States. By providing food that was as easily transportable and profitable as in the train car days, gas stations were able to serve travelers who were already used to tea towel-wrapped chicken and biscuits and appeal to others who had begun to travel more.

Two years after the Civil Rights Act, The Negro Motorist Green Book ceased publication, and as time went on, Black people were less subjected to the overt racism they once dealt with while traveling. It's not to say these acts don't still occur; over the years we've seen many examples of Black men, women, and children being treated poorly (arrested, beaten, and even killed) because of the color of their skin, especially at hotels, restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores. But as states struck down discriminatory practices and the national highway system grew, Black communities and economic opportunities spread, and Black ownership of gas stations and roadside eateries declined. Currently, there are only 29 Black-owned gas stations across the country compared to the dozens that were listed in the Green Book in its heyday.

But the Black-owned gas stations that remain are reclaiming the narrative of the food they once served to build businesses and community, keeping the roadside one-stop shop - and the spirit of Black entrepreneurship - alive.

Black-owned gas stations and restaurants are keeping that entrepreneurial spirit alive today.

Rural areas, where most people rely heavily on traveling by car, still blanket the South, so it would only make sense that the tradition of gas stations serving multiple purposes, including serving food, cashing checks, and selling household goods, would continue in the area. Often, these spaces, like 61 One Stop in Fayette, Mississippi, and Roy's Grille in Lexington, South Carolina, also become places of community, where family and friends might see each other as they grab a bite to eat or fill up their tanks.

Roy's Grille, off of Main Street in the small town of Lexington just outside of the state's capital of Columbia, serves up Southern food and convenient meals like barbecue and burgers at an Exxon station. Owner Chris Williams carries some of the foods you'd find at many Southern gas stations, but when he opened in 2014, he also wanted to bring other less typical dishes to the proverbial table, like ribeye steaks. However, he quickly found out that his gas station patrons were looking for familiar foods that were inexpensive and fairly easy to eat. "People are reluctant to come into a gas station and buy upscale food," says Williams. "They were used to things such as gizzards, bologna sandwiches, and chicken that has been sitting out for two hours."

Still, Williams added twists on those familiar dishes to his menu: He makes his food from scratch, and added shrimp and grits, barbeque, and bacon made right outside - items that aren't as suited to eating on the road, but are welcome comfort if a traveler has time to spare to sit and eat. "A lot of people who hear about us say, 'A gas station, get outta here. I'm not going to eat out of there,'" says Williams. "I knew that would be people's response going into it, but I wasn't worried because I knew we had a good product."

Roy's Grille is also part of a longer history. Esso stations (the predecessor to ExxonMobil) were once known to be one of the only national gas stations that employed Black people in addition to allowing them to stop, shop, and dine during the Jim Crow era. That continues with Williams's business, a testament to the long-standing tradition across Southern gas stations of offering food and respite to their communities and hungry travelers alike.
is chef and writer from North Charleston, South Carolina. is a Miami-raised, Brooklyn-based multimedia illustrator and designer.
Fact-checked by Andrea López-Cruzado

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The Legacy of Food at Southern Gas Stations Is Rooted in Black Survival

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Scanning the aisles of small, locally owned gas stations in the South is like taking a step back in time. Few other places stock old-school Necco Wafers, Mary Janes, Bit-O-Honeys, and Chick-O-Sticks alongside foods like pickled eggs, pickled sausages, gizzards, barbeque, and pound cake.

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https://www.tawnychatmon.com/

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Black Women Astronauts!

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KT Gorique

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Mibsy is a singer and songwriter from Switzerland.

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Paul Van Haver, better known by his stage name Stromae, is a Belgian musician, rapper, singer and songwriter.

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Born Manuela Barbara Kamosi Moaso Djogi, Ya Kid K is a Congolese-Belgian hip hop artist best known for writing and singing the lyrics to "Pump up the Jam" by Technotronic.

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Black dance of Washington, D.C. originated in the 1930's. With many African-Americans living their lives as service men and women, factory workers, maids, and laborers, the arts were "out of reach" for most; a privilege for the educated and social elite. Image: Scurlock Photography Studios. Mrs.

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1st Black President of Major League Soccer
DC United

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2016 Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (NBA)

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Congolese painter

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Microbiologist who discovered the Ebola virus

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Vashti Harrison

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Cruiserweight World Boxing Champion

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Nobel Peace Prize winner

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First African woman to become president of Liberia.

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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made history as Africa's first elected female president, but also faced accusations of corruption and nepotism. How will she be remembered?

Mrs Sirleaf's story is pitted with remarkable feats of defiance and courage, entangled with accusations of corruption and nepotism.

Just days before she was due to step down from 12 historic years in power, she was expelled from her own political party. Some people hold her up as their saviour; others say she's just like all the rest.

"The best thing she did is the peace she kept for us," said 22-year-old Jenneh Sebo, who was sitting lazily in the scorching sun drumming down on the capital Monrovia when I saw her ahead of the country's election in October last year.

Who is Liberia's 'Iron Lady'?

How a footballer became president

This is not an uncommon answer. Liberians went through 14 years of barbaric, drug fuelled, chaotic war, where child soldiers carried out the most unspeakable crimes. Myriad rebel groups reigned over towns and cities with terror, stripping the country of any semblance of infrastructure.

Hospitals, schools, roads and even lamp-posts were destroyed; the latter out of a belief that enemy soldiers could turn themselves into one. So to be thankful for peace is not a flippant response.

However, 15 years on from the end of the war people have long begun demanding more from their government. Jenneh, too young to remember much of the fighting, was sitting in the sun because she did not have a job and had not been in education since high school.

The same month, on a grassy field opposite President Sirleaf's house in the more affluent Sinkor area of Monrovia, hundreds of women dressed in white danced to music blasting from massive speakers. The musicians sang "we want peace in Liberia, peace in Monrovia", the song Ivorian reggae star Alpha Blondy wrote about their country during the war in 1992.

Many of these women launched a mass peace movement in 2003 that helped finally end war. They organised sex strikes, until their men put down their arms. They forced a meeting with President Charles Taylor, getting him to agree to go to Ghana for peace talks. Once there, they surrounded the room threatening to take off their clothes until some sort of peace deal was reached.

It was these women who then rallied the country to vote for Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005.

"We don't want no problem again," said 73-year-old Kula Freeman, who remembers the war in all its graphic detail. "We don't want no wahala," her friend, 65-year-old Kwa Sheriff said, chipping in over her shoulder. Wahala is the Liberian word used to describe anything from an argument in the street to a full out war. They are both happy for the peace President Sirleaf brought to the country.

Behind them, activist Leymah Gbowee, who won the Nobel Peace Prize alongside President Sirleaf in 2011, began rallying the ladies together. She was one of the key figures who led the peace movement at the end of the war.

Ms Gbowee said Mrs Sirleaf will always be remembered for becoming the continent's first elected female president. But for Ms Gbowee, that is all she has achieved.

"In terms of delivering a women's agenda we really didn't see that," she said.

President Sirleaf is not a warm, cosy character and she certainly didn't focus on women during her 12 years in power. However, the Harvard-trained economist did erase nearly $5bn (£3.2bn) in debilitating foreign debt after three years of being in office, paving the way for foreign investment and boosting the annual government budget from $80m to $516m by 2011.

But Ms Gbowee expected more for women.

"She's said she's not a feminist, that feminism is extremism," she exclaimed. "I say, well, if it is I'm a proud extremist."

Under President Sirleaf's tenure a new, tougher rape law came into force but was then amended, reducing the tough sentences and making it a bailable offence.

During her final week in office, President Sirleaf signed an executive order on domestic violence, protecting women, men and children against "physical, sexual, economical, emotional and psychological abuses".

She is however disappointed that a key part of her proposal, the abolition of female genital mutilation (FGM) against young girls under the age of 18, was removed.

"It undermines the very essence of the law and leaves it incomplete", Mrs Sirleaf's spokesman said of the amendment by the Senate and House of Representatives.

Many thought a female president would pave the way for more women in politics. Yet, not unlike the Thatcher era in the UK, Mrs Sirleaf's departure also marks the departure of women in power. Of 19 presidential candidates there was only one woman, 40-year-old Macdella Cooper, a former girlfriend of incoming President George Weah.

"She didn't have enough women in the house of parliament to help push bills to support women initiatives," said Cooper.

"Economically she didn't have enough women to approve budgets or at least create and craft budgets that will support women. So, she had her limitations."

Despite sharing the title of Nobel Laureate, Mrs Sirleaf and Ms Gbowee haven't spoken since Ms Gbowee said she "criticised her government for corruption and nepotism".

Mrs Sirleaf has long come under fire for appointing three of her sons to top government posts, something she has always defended. Up to 20 members of her family have had government positions at some point. As for the charge of corruption, in 2006 Sirleaf declared corruption "public enemy number one" only to be hit with a flurry of scandals.

Civil servants routinely went unpaid; most notoriously health officials in Lofa County in the north west of the country just as Ebola crept across the border from Guinea. The devastating virus killed nearly 5,000 people, leaving the country reeling and its health system in tatters.

Despite all this, Mrs Sirleaf was a history-maker. Her presidency may have been riddled with corruption and nepotism, but she proved to the world that a woman can dismantle the patriarchal seat of power.

"One thing we can brag and boast of, she broke the glass ceiling," said Ms Gbowee.

"That's a huge inspiration for women."

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Did Liberia's first female leader make a difference?

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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made history as Africa's first elected female president, but also faced accusations of corruption and nepotism. How will she be remembered? Mrs Sirleaf's story is pitted with remarkable feats of defiance and courage, entangled with accusations of corruption and nepotism.

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Rachelle Adkins, MS Sports Management

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Kenniyah Parsons, BS in Early Childhood Education

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Cynthia Copeland, Masters Degree and Devon Dunn, Alumni

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Bianca Burton / Monica Lee, Alumni

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The following staff members are all Alum of HU: Celeste Polk, Bonita Toorie, Raphael Bonhomme, Lashonda Scott, and Anise Abernathy

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Jamine Stowe, BS Psychology

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DCPS Teacher, Community Hero, Mentor
https://www.capitolhillhistory.org/interviews/john-peterbug-matthews

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NyKeisha Bradley, BS Sports Medicine: Athletic Training

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Nyesha Cain, BA Management

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Sophie and Marie, Alumni

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Comic book artist: Archie Comics & currently Sonic the Hedgehog

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2015  Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (NBA)

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SWS graduate and scholar

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Guest post by Olivia Johnson. Olivia completed her MSc in Migration Studies at the University of Oxford. She is interested in the intersection of migration regulation and penal regimes. This post is inspired by recent events and based off of her dissertation titled 'From Convict Transportation to the Deportation of Foreign National Offenders, Britain's Carceral Project'.

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Professor, Pastor, Author

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Theaster Gates is an American social practice installation artist and a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works.

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Radcliffe Bailey is a contemporary American artist noted for mixed-media, paint, and sculpture works that explore African-American history. He is currently based in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Alison Saar is a Los Angeles, California based sculptor, mixed-media, and installation artist. Her artwork focuses on the African diaspora and black female identity and is influenced by African, Caribbean, and Latin American folk art and spirituality. Also daughter of Bette Saar.

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DescriptionSanford Biggers is a Harlem-based interdisciplinary artist who works in film/video, installation, sculpture, music, and performance. An L.A. native, he has lived and worked in New York City since 1999.

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The women of Gee’s Bend—a small, remote, Black community in Alabama—have created hundreds of quilt masterpieces dating from the early twentieth century to the present. Resembling an inland island, Gee’s Bend is surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River. The some seven hundred or so inhabitants of this small, rural community are mostly descendants of slaves, and for generations they worked the fields belonging to the local Pettway plantation. Enlivened by a visual imagination that extends the expressive boundaries of the quilt genre, these astounding creations constitute a crucial chapter in the history of American art.

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10 year old skater that performed on Black Lives Matter Plaza last summer.

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The Skate Kid on Black Lives Matter Plaza

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John “Crazy Legs” Pearson (DC Go-Go Inspired Dance)

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John “Crazy Legs” Pearson (DC Go-Go Inspired Dance)

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Beat Ya Feet Dancer/ Director

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A circus that represents black culture all around the world

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CO-FOUNDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

BLACK BELT JUSTICE CENTER (and SWS alum parent) Dedicated to the preservation and regeneration of African American Farmlands.

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Roots music
Valerie June Hockett, known as Valerie June, is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Her sound encompasses a mixture of folk, blues, gospel, soul, country, Appalachian and bluegrass.

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A cappella South African musicians, singing, composing, performing for almost 50 years worldwide.
https://mambazo.com/

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(DC) Entrepreneur, shop owner, and incubator for Black business Women. Her Takoma Park shop merges food and fashion, with spices, oils, cookware, housewares from around the world. https://www.thespicesuite.com/

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Larry F Houston

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Jazz Vocalist/ Director of DC Jazz Festival.

(She also performed at one of the SWS Jazz Gala/Auction fundraisers)
After hearing Sarah Vaughan on the radio at the age of 9, Washington, D.C. native Sunny Sumter knew that the life of a jazz singer was her future. After attending Washington's renowned Duke Ellington High School, she went on to Howard University to earn a music degree. Private studies from pianist/composer Geri Allen and drummer/vocalist Grady Tate were the icing on Sumter's educational cake. While at Howard, she worked at local clubs and in 1992, took a short tour of Europe. Sumter shared the stage at the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival with David Sanchez, Jason Marsalis, Mimi Fox and Pamela Williams. 1998 was a break through year. She opened for Shirley Horn and Dee Dee Bridgewater at D.C.'s Lincoln Theater, toured Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg), performed at Camelot Jazz Club in Tel Aviv and at the LaVilla Jazz Club in Paris. Returning to the US, Sumter was at Sanford University with modern trombonist Wycliffe Gordon. Sumter was also a guest on a BET Jazz Central show hosted by Ramsey Lewis. Sumter's debut recording was Getting to Know You and her latest Sunny, on the Mapleshade label, features an eclectic program of ballads performed and/or composed by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Stevie Wonder. With influences as disparate as Sarah Vaughan, Phyllis Hyman, and Kate Bush along with a warm, deep and soulful voice, Sumter has all the musical tools to become a legitimate jazz diva.

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Chris BradshowFounder and Executive Director Dreaming Out Loud

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Chris BradshowFounder and Executive Director Dreaming Out Loud

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. in 2008 to help provide opportunities to the underserved, low-income communities in Washington, DC. Their work began with leadership and employment training opportunities for youth (ages 14-21).  The organization recognized that people living in the poorer parts of Washington, DC lived in what are called ‘food deserts’ where they could not easily buy fresh nutritious food. Dreaming Out Loud, Inc. believes that all communities deserve equal access to fresh, healthy food choices.  They work to promote urban farming using sustainable methods and local farmers markets.  They also provide training for people who want to develop their own businesses in the food industry or work in community gardens and food distribution.They manage the Organic Garden at Blind Whino and The Farm at Kelly Miller where community members work together to grow nutritious food for their neighborhoods.

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Klancy is a writer and pastry chef deeply fascinated by all things French. After graduating from Columbia University and working in international development in French Polynesia, she earned a Diplôme de Pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu Paris.

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Culinary Instructor at CIA / Author
"Gluten Free Baking"
https://www.glutenfreeliving.com/author/richard-coppedge-jr/

(**Also Ms.Fineran's chef / instructor/mentor and all time favorite person at culinary school - Johnson & Wales)

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In addition to her culinary life Therese is the founder and culinary curator of Black Culinary History, an organization she founded in 2008 as a way to connect chefs of color to preserve black heritage throughout the African culinary diaspora, to promote and share the work of her colleagues, and to preserve the legacy being constructed by black chefs for this next generation.https://www.blackculinaryhistory.com/home#bch

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Peter Bug was born and raised in Washington DC and was a DCPS
teacher for many years. He opened his Shoe Academy and taught kids how to repair shoes. He is an amazing member of our community.
Read and listen to an interview with him: https://dittodc.com/peter-bugs-shoe-repair-bbq/

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Queen of Green,
DC Native, private chef to many celebrities and Michelle Obama's "Let's Move Campaign"

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Chef/ Author
"Senegalese Recipes from the source to the Bowl"

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Chef / Author
"The Rise, Black Cooks and the Soul of American Foods"

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Poet who lives, writes and works in Harlem.

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DC Hunger Solutions
https://live-dchunger.pantheonsite.io/about-us/

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Sous Chef, The White House

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Author: "Soul Food" and "The President's Kitchen"

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Cookbook author

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Upper Marlboro MD
Farmer/ Entrepreneur

Gale loves growing fresh, organic produce for her community that includes a number of FoodPrints schools in DC, including SWS.

Farmer Gale feels she is very lucky to be a farmer. It's an honor, privilege and her passion to feed her community.

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Edward P. Jones (born October 5, 1950, Washington, D.C., U.S.), American novelist and short-story writer whose works depict the effects of slavery in antebellum America and the lives of working-class African Americans.

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Local historian, professor, and author. Wrote "Chocolate City" and just launched a new site "Black Power in Washington DC"

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The marching 100

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Sonya Renee Taylor is the Founder and Radical Executive Officer of The Body is Not An Apology, a digital media and education company promoting radical self-love and body empowerment as the foundational tool for social justice and global transformation. Sonya’s work as a highly sought-after award-winning Performance Poet, activist, and transformational leader continues to have global reach.

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also Business & Interior Design

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Lenny Kravitz Fronts YSL Y Eau De Parfum Campaign

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When it comes to French fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, 2020 is the year of Lenny Kravitz. In addition to fronting the fall campaign for Saint Laurent menswear, Kravitz lands a fragrance campaign as the new face of YSL' Y Eau De Parfum.

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Poet, artist, author, illustrator

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Director | Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C.

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On July 27, the National Gallery of Art (NGA) announced a major appointment. Sheila McDaniel joined the museum as administrator, leading teams critical to the museum’s operations: administrative support, architecture and capital improvement, facilities, horticulture, personnel, procurement, and security. Her appointment is historic. McDaniel is the first Black woman to hold an executive officer post at the museum on the National Mall since its founding, nearly 80 years ago. McDaniel previously served as deputy director of finance and operations at the Studio Museum in Harlem, dating back to 2004. Her tenure at NGA began Sept. 14.

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Executive Director and Curator | Greater Reston Arts Center in Reston, Va.

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Dean, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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Guest Curator | The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

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Associate Dean, Fine Arts | Howard University, Washington, D.C.