I was born and raised in South Minneapolis. The fourth of seven children, my parents built our home through a Bryant Neighborhood program where neighbors came together and put in the sweat equity to keep the home affordable. I learned how to play on the hot sands of Phelps park back in the day when the slides were metal, the swings made of black rubber, and the 2-foot kiddie pool provided joyful relief from hot summer days. I was a beneficiary of free lunches, government food, and the Fare Share program run out of Pillsbury House & Theatre. For most of my childhood, my mother was a stay-at-home mom and an ordained Christian minister. My father, who passed away after a cancer journey, worked for the State of Minnesota and also served as an ordained Christian minister. He believed in youth and education so much that he would give every kid on the block 50 cents for every A and a quarter for every B earned on our quarterly report cards. I was raised with strong moral values rooted in justice and community service.
I started my leadership formation as a youth. I served on committees, councils, and student government for 8 consecutive years. It was in those early years that I learned how much I love government because government is about people. In 2007, I moved to Pasadena, CA to attend graduate school at Fuller Theological Seminary where I earned an MA in Intercultural Studies and an MDiv in Christian Ethics. After graduating, I worked at the seminary engaging students and the broader community, always serving as an advocate to help people improve their circumstances. While in Pasadena, I started expanding my leadership into civic engagement, helping plan political forums, creating spaces for civic dialogue, and engaging with City officials on issues pertaining to racial justice.
In 2018, I moved to Austin, TX and launched my own small business named Racial Agency Initiative in 2019 to offer racial justice leadership coaching. In 2020, George Floyd was lynched blocks away from my family home, and my family asked me to return home to do my work here in Minneapolis. So, I pivoted my plans and returned home in May of 2020 to serve the community that I grew up in. I reintroduced my self to Minneapolis by tending to the memorial of George Floyd and picking up garbage in the streets because the community was saying that the intersection was sacred, and sacred spaces is something that I understand. I am now the Executive Director of Rise & Remember.
Over the past 6 years I have served our community as faithfully as I know how. I have coordinated mutual aid, answered the call to support our youth, raised funds to support our neighbors, spoke out against injustice, and stood on the front lines with my neighbors to protect us. I have spoken across the country and in multiple countries to testify to the kind of community we have built in Minneapolis because we have chosen to love our neighbors. I am proud to be from Minneapolis, and I am ready to run for State Senate District 62 to make a better Minnesota for our youth.