A big thank you to all the guest speakers who participated in this summers virtual BYA. Thank you for all you have done, taught us and pushing forward with us during this pandemic. The following guest artists worked with our publications group this summer.
Jen White - Johnson
Jen White-Johnson is a Designer, Photographer, Art Activist, and Art Educator. She also serves as an Assistant Professor of Design and Visual Culture at Bowie State University. Jen’s work explores the erasure of black disabled children in digital and literary media.
The visuals she makes using photo and design are her own reflections that amplify conversations with the Disability community. It ignites the continued need to develop anti-racist, anti-ableist media. Her photo and design work have been supported by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Museum of Women in The Arts, The Baltimore Museum of Art, and her features include The New York Times, AfroPunk, Teen Vogue, Washington City Paper, and Maryland Public Television. Jen was Born in Washington DC and currently resides in Baltimore, MD, She holds an MFA in Graphic Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Dwayne Lawson - Brown
Dwayne Lawson-Brown aka the “Crochet Kingpin” is a DC native poet, activist, breakdancer, and CEO of Crochet Kingpin LLC. After the 2019 release of his long-gestating collection of poetry “One Color Kaleidoscope”, Dwayne stepped into his purpose, curating art/performing space for Whitman-Walker Health’s RealTalk DC, The Kennedy Center REACH, and The Strathmore. In 2020, Dwayne joined the Board of Directors for Split This Rock, helping amplify the voice of youth across the Washington DC Area.
Savannah Wood
Savannah Wood is an artist and cultural organizer with deep roots in Baltimore and Los Angeles. As Director of Afro Charities and Archives Director for the 128-year-old Afro American Newspapers, Wood is creating programming and infrastructure to increase access to the Afro's extensive archives. She is the editor and creative director of the newly released To the Front: Black Women & the Vote, which celebrates Black women's contributions to the suffrage movement, and connects their activism with that of their 21st century counterparts. Learn more at www.savannahwood.info.
Amir Khadar
Amir Khadar is Sierra Leonean-American multidisciplinary artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota whose main mediums are poetry, fibers, and digital art. For them, art is a space to rationalize their feelings as a marginalized individual, address oppression, and facilitate healing. Afro-futurism, beauty, liberation, and spirituality are cites for exploration within their work. Currently, Amir is freelancing, teaching, and working on personal projects.