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HOST
Takarra "KariJay" Johnson is a nationally recognized spoken word & Hip Hop artist from Sacramento, CA. Her art is infused with messages of truth, liberation, and healing. Kari has shared stages with Sista Souljah, Nikki Giovanni, Fiveology, and most recently: Common. She is currently attending the University of California, Davis as a 3rd year undergraduate student and aspires to use music and poetry to educate
the youth of these time.
speakers
Lyricist, speaker, dj, pioneer, icon, veteran and entrepreneur describe one of the most prolific and well-respected female Hip Hop artists of all time: MC Lyte. She has consistently found ways to reinvent herself musically, while expanding her resume and gaining new fans. Many are familiar with her music skills, but over the course of her extensive career, she has ventured out to other avenues that have allowed her to show the world just how talented she truly is.
Alicia Garza is an Oakland-based organizer, writer, public speaker and freedom dreamer who is currently the Special Projects Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the nation’s leading voice for dignity and fairness for the millions of domestic workers in the United States. Garza, along with Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors, also co-founded the Black Lives Matter network, a globally recognized organizing project that focuses on combatting anti-Black state-sanctioned violence and the oppression of all Black people.
A renowned cultural critic and writer with a focus on issues of race, gender and sexuality, Jamilah Lemieux is a leading millennial feminist thinker and new media maven. She is also the Vice President of News and Men’s Programming for iOne Digital, where she helped spearhead the creation of CASSIUS, a progressive digital lifestyle platform powered by
young, Black content creators.
Artist, organizer, scholar, and public speaker, Patrisse Cullors, is a Los Angeles native and Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter, an online forum that builds connections between Black people and allies to fight anti-Black racism, to spark dialogue, and create connections that encourage social action. In 2013, Patrisse co-founded the global movement of #BlackLivesMatter which has since grown to an international organization with dozens of chapters and world-wide activists fighting anti-Black racism. She produced and directed a series of theatrical pieces titled POWER: From the Mouths of the Occupied.
Blair Imani is an author and activist based in Brooklyn, NY. Living at the intersection of Black, Queer, and Muslim identity, Imani is the author of Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History. She is the founder and Executive Director of Equality for HER, a nonprofit educational platform for women and nonbinary people.
Valerie Spencer has worked in the arena of Social Services, focusing on health disparities as it relates to Transgender persons and others within LGBT communities for over
two decades. Over time she has worked with the federal government, health departments, universities, conferences and community based organizations around the country ranging from capacity building training, national advocacy consultation, and of
course those key note addresses she is famous for.
Lyvonne “Proverbs” Picou, a New York City native, is a preacher, poet, educator, and creative social entrepreneur. Lyvonne is the Founder of beautiful scars, an online platform for Black women survivors of male sexual violence. By harnessing the power of narrative, she is aiding survivors (and communities, at large) to shift from silence to storytelling to put an end to gender-based violence. She currently resides in Oakland, CA .
Cat Brooks is an artivist and mother who has spent her life working on many social
justice issues. Cat is also the Executive Director of The Justice Teams Network. The JTN is a project in partnership with Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors that supports organizations and individuals across the state who are working to rapidly respond to state violence in their communities. She is currently running for Mayor of Oakland.
Lyric Watts is a 10 year-old, self-proclaimed "cool kid" and is an avid reader. Lyric loves pizza, Disney movies and especially going on adventures! Lyric has been writing stories since the age of 5 and loves to inspire kids with her stories and her faith. She authored her very first book at age 8 called "Say It" which is a book of daily positive affirmations and inspiration for children.
Pleshette Robertson is the CEO & Founder of Sacculturalhub.com and Chief Editor of THE HUB Magazine. The website and magazine are leading sources of Black urban media that celebrate the lifestyle of African-Americans in the capital region & throughout California serving as the information hub for black-oriented movies, concerts, theatrical performances, art, exhibitions, sporting events, festivals and black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.