Rizpah Amadasun

An Afrocentric artist in paint and spoken word, a British Queen, descending from Benin City; my work is inspired by the on going resilient joy among the African Diaspora in the face of hate and trauma worldwide. Positivity and happiness is a choice that doesn't negate the validity of pain through experience, the self-generation of joy influences the longevity of our fight to thrive. Concepts and perspectives are integral in all of my creativity. Challenging the logic of hate and contributing to Black representation is fundamental in my poetry and art.

Ascension in the Queendom is an acrylic painting inspired by the Black woman as the creator; breathing life into everything that has the privilege to be in her path, through her freedom to love herself and everything around her other Black women realise their power and also ascend.

Chanel Jaali Marshall

Chanel Jaali is a sexologist, mental health professional, entrepreneur and both a visual and performance artist. Her goal is to create art that uplifts. Her latest project, Glow Photo Series, aims to highlight the beauty and strength that naturally occurs in Black and Brown women. When she isn’t capturing images, she is teaching sex ed through her business Jaali Co., or crocheting fashion items through her shop, FAMEousJ. Her photography work can be found on IG @chaneljaaliphotography, and on Facebook at Chanel Jaali Photography.
www.glowphotoseries.com

The work being submitted is a combination of two series: Always in Bloom and Glow Photo Series. Glow Photo Series is a traveling photo project aimed to highlight the beauty of Black and Brown women. Women of all hair textures, body types, ages, abilities, and complexions are asked to pose in a predetermined color in an attempt to shift the perspective of what the standard of beauty should be. It was important to create something that wasn't seen while scrolling through social media. Everyone deserves to be represented and everyone deserves to know that they are beautiful. So far, the project has been to DC, MD, Atlanta, Harlem, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, New Orleans and more. Always in Bloom was created to show that there is beauty in you as you are, even as you are growing and evolving.

Laya Wig

LAYA WIG is a self-taught music producer, Spanish speaker, and multi-instrumentalist who has studied folk music across the Americas through various travels and spells of vagrancy. California born artist moved to the bay area at the age of 18 to attend University, and there developed an affinity for language study and ultimately travel. After several years of learning Spanish through music, being a street musician in multiple countries, and participating in various bands based in Oakland and abroad, Laya began the journey of creating a personal sonic signature that has thus far been expressed through live performance. After 4 years as a founding member of the Afro-Latin inspired band Calafia Armada, Laya created BOMBSNAX(X); a musical project that promotes black femme liberation, diy skill acquisition, and empowerment through collaboration. Through this journey of self-teaching, Laya seeks to establish a production style informed by the Black diaspora and inspired by the ingenuity and innovation of Black and Indigenous peoples. Laya is currently writing and recording a debut release of all new music and is working with several members of the Black Banjo Reclamation Project to create a co-operative style label structure that focuses on the creativity and collaboration of Black womxn and queer people.

“I Allow Myself to Dream” (Pura Presencia), is the second title off the first recorded release by BOMBSNAX(X) and the first official visual release from the project. The song was written, produced, arranged, and recorded by Laya Wig in a diy studio setting. The “on location” visuals and all editing were also done by Laya in a first attempt at self-taught film making. This song was written to capture the experience of allowing oneself to succumb to sleep and the subsequent dream world thereafter. Much like the act of creativity, sleep cannot be forced, and the act of it is not an act at all but an allowance. Through participation in the first cohort of the Black Womxn Dream Lab, Laya first learned of the idea of sleep reparations, and the disparity between the quality and deepness of sleep that Black people experience compared to others. To explore these themes visually, Laya uses images of an ethereal sleep realm alongside the unique and otherworldly landscape of Yosemite Valley. The sleeping figure awakens in a dream of a distant ancestor, where images constantly shift, change, and overlap to submerge the viewer in a stream of subconsciousness and self-love. Adorned in a 3 piece garment all made of chains, the figure represents an imagined ancestor of the Black American in California; Calafiana, the descendant of Queen Calafia. One who has native roots to California but carries the memories of the chains broken through fighting colonization.

Dom Jones

Photo by Ariff Danial

Dom Jones, from Oakland, CA, is an artist and creative entrepreneur. The Founder and Principal Artist at Dom Empire, she weaves her passion for music, media, and social justice through various projects. An International Songwriting Competition Winner in 2014, Dom released her first album, Wingspan, that same year. She graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2019 as a dual major in Songwriting and Music Business. Her music has been lauded as a beacon for social change through recognition from Berklee’s Songs for Social Change, BAMS Fest, and she is a 2019 Composer for the Hear Her Song project. Dom’s recent single, “Crazytown,” was featured in the 2020 Grammy U Conference by the Recording Academy. She is a 2020 Bakanal de Afrique Artist Fellow and will produce a new musical body of work to be presented at the Virtual Afro Urban Fesival in November 2020.

Dom Jones weaves social justice issues into messages of healing, meant to serve as alchemy, healing the masses. Her original song "Heaven" is no different, discussing a better tomorrow just beyond humanity's fingertips, if it would only embrace its differences and heal its land.

Mimi Tempestt

Mimi Tempestt is a multidisciplinary artist and poet. She is a daughter of California, being born and raised in Los Angeles and currently lives in the bay area. She is a graduate of Mills College with a MA in Literature. Her debut collection of poems, The Monumental Misrememberings, is forthcoming with Co-Conspirator Press in November. She’s currently a creative fellow at The Ruby in San Francisco and was recently selected for participation in Lambda Literary's Writer’s Retreat of emerging LGBTQ voices for poetry in 2021. She looks forward to beginning the Critical/Creative Ph.D. in Literature at UC Santa Cruz this fall.

"Homecoming Queen" is the second single off of the EP 'Radio Imagination'. by Mimi Tempestt. This visual was created by the award-winning animator, Jenny Jokela. The concept and direction was spearheaded by Mimi Tempestt. This video is dedicated to the legend of Queen Califia, the blessings of Goddess Energy, and the traditions of sacred magic through the Divine Feminine. Being a Los Angeles native, whose ancestral roots have been established here for nearly 100 years, it was important for Mimi to showcase monuments, locations and land that truly embodies the west coast. This video is a display knowledge of the magic of this land and mythology of Queen Califia into an amazing animated phenomenon.

Kharyshi Wiginton

Kharyshi Wiginton is a dancer at heart, but an artist in nature. She has a BA in theatre arts/dance from Cal State San Bernardino and an MFA in Creative Inquiry from California Institute of Integral Studies. Kharyshi’s an interdisciplinary artist that has worked on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, For Colored Girls, Pippin, and Godspell.
She was Artistic Director for Equal Opportunity Productions, and in 2003 she took 12 youth and 7 mentors to South Africa for the cultural exchange project SOZE II. In 2005, she went back to South Africa as a member of Colors of the Diaspora where she participated in an adult cultural exchange project and presented a show in the 2005 National Arts Festival in South Africa.
In 2008, Kharyshi established P.R.I.S.M. Dance Company. In 2012, she was part of the Black Choreographer’s Festival AMP program where she was commissioned to produce a 15-minute dance piece. In 2012, she traveled back to South Africa for Colors of the Diaspora II performing at the historic Market Theater Lab in Johannesburg. She’s a powerful artist with intense goals, and her personal identity and life experiences continue to fuel her creative process.
In 2009, Kharyshi received her MFA in Creative Inquiry from the California Institute of Integral Studies. For her final project, she created a one-woman show entitled "Too Much Woman For This World," and later spent several years honing that work under the tutelage of Master Teacher Ayodele Nzinga. Kharyshi has performed her solo show in 2018's Ubuntu Festival, in 2019's BAMBD Festival, in 2019's Iya Iya's House of Burning Souls, and in 2018's Vavasati International Women's Festival where she performed at the State Theater in South Africa. This is probably her biggest accomplishment to date!
More than anything, her art seeks to effect change. It tells stories of those rarely mentioned, empowers the broken-spirited, gives voice to those who cannot speak, and tackles difficult issues such as self-esteem, body image, and sizeism. Kharyshi is a fierce dancer, writer, spoken word artist, and hopes to one day become a dynamic, world-renowned choreographer.

Too Much…Too Little…Too Late!
“BLURB”
Too Much Woman for this World is the most recent creation in the world of “one woman shows.” Blending an entertaining mixture of theatre, dance, spoken word, and storytelling, this wonderful work of art is a new twist on an old tradition. It tackles uncomfortable issues such as body image, self-esteem, and family criticism in a way that will touch your heart, allowing you to laugh, cry, be proud of and become empowered with the main character.
This play is a brilliant look at identity through the lens of an adolescent girl who struggles with her weight, social pressures to be different, and finally coming to terms with being “Too Much Woman!” It is funny, provocative, honest, sexy, emotional, and sure to be a hit! Too Much Woman for this World is a “must see,” guaranteed to leave audiences asking one question… “Why wasn’t this play out sooner?”

Venus Morris

Venus is an Oakland native who aspires to inspire others. She is dedicated to pushing the agenda of "Radical healing" forward into communities across the nation through art, cultural empowerment, self-awareness and experimental workshops, activism, advocacy, and philanthropy.

She had always taken pictures with her eyes. Before she ever even touched a camera. She saw the beauty that nobody else could see. Moments in time that she had frozen in her mind, saved to only her memory. As she got older, Venus knew that she had the gift of vision. It took her a while to say that to herself aloud. However, since then She has been in several art exhibitions and Is blessed beyond measurement to be able to share the frozen moments in her memory with her beloved community.

Traci Bartlow

As an Oakland native Traci Bartlow has traveled the world as a performance and visual artist and returned home to currently be the owner and operator of B-Love’s Guest House. She is a dancer, choreographer, poet, photographer, and cultural archivist who documents and preserves African American art and culture through dance and visual art.

Traci @ 50 is a series of nude portraits artist Traci Bartlow commissioned PhotoVangelist Saddi Khali to shoot for her 50th birthday. Ms. Bartlow is an aging athlete; a dancer and choreographer who has presented her dance works on local and international stages for decades. These images were shot at Salt Point National Park in Northern California. Here on the coast of the Pacific Ocean Ms. Bartlow, an eco-feminist, activist, and healer vibes with her natural surroundings in the nude. This spectacular natural environment is a location she frequents for hiking, camping, and healing rituals. Traci Bartlow states, 'Turning 50 was a profound moment in my life full of introspection of the many ways my body has served me in my purpose. Being naked in nature is liberating, empowering, and heightens the experience of connecting with mother earth.' The photographer Saddi Khali is a Visual Alchemist/Philosopher who photographs black women in the nude in the act of what he calls 'decolonizing beauty'. Styling is by Chun-Mui Miller.