Reimagining What It Means To Be Black In America
Join us on Saturday, February 25 at 1pm at the Angelika Film Center in Mockingbird Station for a live screening of Making Black America and a panel discussion, Reimagining What It Means To Be Black In America, to follow.
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: 1 – 3pm
Location: Angelika Film Center – Mockingbird Station
Moderator
Mia Street
Educator, Activist, Author and Founder of Kidada Education Design
An award-winning educator whose journey in education led her to teaching and developing culturally responsive curriculum for special needs children for nearly 20 years. Previously, Mia worked with Georgia State University and The King Center to assist in student led events for the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. She is the founder of Kidada Education Design LLC and Bridging The Gap Mentoring Program, a 501c3 non-profit organization.
Mia specializes in leveraging partnerships with educational agencies and industry professionals to create and develop unique educational initiatives serving marginalized student populations. She is a proud member of ACLU Texas, American Speech and Hearing Association, National Alliance of Black School Educators, Urban League of Greater Dallas Young Professionals and The Golden Circle.
Panelists
Aicha Davis
State Board of Education Member (District 13)
Born and raised in Decatur, Mississippi, Aicha understood early in life the inequities in our schools. She used her experiences as a student to motivate herself to become the change she wanted to see. Using her experience teaching in Louisiana and North Texas, Aicha decided to run for the State Board of Education and ran on a platform of empowerment and education equity. She spent the entire campaign talking with parents, students, teachers, and community leaders about their concerns and what they hoped our schools could be for all Texans.
Aicha’s message was well received by voters, and she received over 300,000 votes in a landslide election in 2018 and in 2022. Since her election, Aicha has worked tirelessly to address the concerns of the communities she represents. She led the movement to have Texas adopt and approve formal curriculum for a new African American studies elective course. She worked to amend the Texas elementary science standards to ensure that Black, Brown, and LGBTQ scientists and their accomplishments are taught to Texas students. She is currently working on her PhD in Education Policy and Administration at the University of North Texas
Rev. Danielle Ayers
Pastor of Justice at Friendship West Baptist Church
Rev. Danielle Ayers serves as the Pastor of Justice at Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas, TX, a 12,000-member house of worship under the leadership of Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III. Ayers uses her gifts and talents to mobilize and organize around justice issues and movements. Ayers gives liberating leadership to the public policy and social activism initiatives at Friendship West. Ayers also serves as the Co-convener of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, a delegate of the Transatlantic Roundtable on Religion and Race and serves as a board member to the Faith Cooperative Federal Credit Union and Texas Impact.
Ayers gives direction to the Justice Ministry which consist of the following essential impact areas: economic development, education, employment, legal, political action, environmental justice, technology, and youth. In addition, she provides leadership to the Village Co-op which consists of a community garden, a Fair-Trade Justice program, and a supply chain support for farmers. Ayers holds a B.B.A. in Marketing from The University of Memphis and a Master of Divinity at Brite Divinity School. Ayers is the co-author of “To Serve This Present Age: Justice Ministers in the Black Church”. Ayers is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Al Nolan
Head of Technical Consulting – Bottle Rocket and Digital Transformation Architect
Al Nolan is a business-minded technologist with 20 years of hands-on digital commerce experience in areas of enterprise architecture, product management, IT operations, API design & large-scale solution delivery. At Bottle Rocket (Ogilvy Experience), Al heads up a team of CTO-minded digital transformation architects focused on Healthcare, FinTech, Retail, Restaurants, and Automotive. His team’s contributions have recently been awarded business growth recognition & innovation awards from Sitecore & WPP.
Previously, Al served as (interim) Director of Cloud Applications for the Museum of Modern Art (New York, New York) as well as launching high-performing commerce practices for Weight Watchers (New York, New York) and Michaels Stores (Dallas, Texas). Al attended the University of North Texas (Denton, Texas) for Computer Science and enjoys mentoring startup leadership for FounderGym (Oakland, California) and the accelerator Impact Ventures (Dallas, Texas).
Daisha Board
Owner of Daisha Board Gallery
Daisha Board is currently the owner of Daisha Board Gallery, a contemporary art gallery representing emerging BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and artists with disabilities in Dallas, Texas and throughout the United States. Daisha Board Gallery is the 1st Black Woman Owned Contemporary Art Gallery in Dallas in over 30 years. Voted BEST ART GALLERY IN DALLAS by D MAGAZINE 2022
In 2017 Daisha Board founded Black Sheep Art Culture Inc., to ensure representation of marginalized artists and advocate for increased visibility for BIPOC artists in traditional and non-traditional art spaces. Daisha Board has curated for The City of Dallas, Artspace111, Dallas Mavericks, Goldman Sachs, Fort Worth Art Fair, Prizm Art Fair, 500X, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Latino Cultural Center, Moody Performance Hall, South Dallas Cultural Center, Bath House, Booker T. Washington High School, West Edge Design Fair, Denton Black Film Festival and the African American Museum of Dallas.
Kimberley Yancy
City Councilwoman – La Marque, Texas
NAACP State Education Chair
Kimberley was elected in June 2021 as the first African-American woman to serve in any district seat in the History of La Marque, TX, a city of 19,000 people, located 10 minutes from Galveston, TX within the Houston-Galveston Metroplex. She serves as a vocal advocate for American Democracy and true equity for all citizens.
She is the director of New Vision CDC, she led the Historic George Floyd Dickinson, TX Protest, and has served on a Community Action team to get the first African American course in Public Schools in Galveston County. She is a Charter Member of New Vision Baptist Church Founder of First Friday Fellowship and Mikasenoja Ministries, CEO of Crimson Vision Enterprises, and the NAACP Texas State Education Chair.
Dr. Lathardus Goggins II
Social Entrepreneur & Owner, Saint Rest Publications and Applied Academic Solutions
Dr. Lathardus Goggins II has been an advocate for youth and education for more than 30 years, and is the author/creator of several books, articles, and prints, his latest publications are African-centered Rites of Passage and Education: Culturally Responsive Social Emotional Learning (2022) and Facing the Rising Sun: Lessons for the Authentic Self (2021). As a scholar, Dr. Goggins is examining the relationships between socialization, learning theories and academic achievement.
Dr. Goggins has worked with “at-risk” youth as a Prevention Specialist and has worked more than 20 years in Higher Education. Dr. Goggins has been responsible for admissions, academic advising, community outreach, directing an Upward Bound program, student activities, programming, campus climate assessment, and setting campus policy on diversity and civility. As a professor, Dr. Goggins has taught leadership, cultural diversity and multicultural competency, and African American male development courses. Dr. Goggins is a certified trainer of Social Emotional Learning, Trauma-Informed and Restorative Practices, and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion strategies.
Closing Remarks
Dr. Jaime Kowlessar
Executive Director – Faith in Texas
Dr. Kowlessar has relentlessly pursued community activism and involvement, challenging the church to heed the call of Christ to be relevant and present in the lives of those in need. Being a voice for the communities he serves has compelled him to become a student of people and the scriptures. He has an undergraduate degree in theology from Atlantic Union College, a Master of Divinity from Andrews University, a Doctor of Ministry degree from the United Theological Seminary and is currently working on his PhD in Public Policy and Social Change.
Dr. Kowlessar served as the Senior Pastor of Dallas City Temple, a congregation that gathers at the doorstep of injustice in the heart of Southern Dallas. He is currently the Executive Director of Faith in Texas, which leads and appoints a diverse band of faith leaders to fight against injustice. He is also the founder of Raise Your Voice Academy.
Partners
