“Medicine is great, but theatre can heal people too.”
These are the words of a high school mentor that expanded my ideas about health and wellbeing.
Researcher | Artist in Healing | Arts in Health Educator | Cultural Worker
Born in North Hollywood, CA and later raised in Buena, NJ, I am a [San Fernando] Valley Girl with a fringe rural identity retrofitted in teenhood. Home is where my people are and where we come from. In recent years, when people ask where I’m from, I say: “The Future.”
My interest in home and community euphoria is grounded in the discipline emerging as “Arts in Public Health”. I believe just as art can heal, art can harm, and there are specific aspects of culture that hinder us and our collective healing — i.e white supremacy, ableism, sexism to name a few. I’ve been inspired to use theatre and storytelling as a tool for liberation in order to examine and address these complex issues with a critical race public health praxis. Through the lens known as health justice, my central focus is to conduct research on how social connectedness and creativity translates to improving health literacy and overall well-being. The steady balm in my life has been my faith in Love and justice — this has come most alive in the celebration of Black culture in and across my communities, and in my service as a Deacon at Double Love Experience Church. Achieving health equity for personal and public health is critical for us, therefore imagination remains a collective health challenge and opportunity.
I wouldn’t be where I am without my incredible support system — beginning with my family and friends. I also have the prestigious privileges of being a Gates Millennium Scholar, as well as being awarded the RWJF Health Policy Research Scholars Award . Participation in these programs along with incredible mentors across my industries have especially aided me in carving out this path as a both an artist and academic. Through writing, I’ve garnered over $500,000 to pursue my education, but I am unable to estimate a numeric value for what I’ve learned beyond the academy and as a lifelong learner.
Though I spend a great deal of time in the books, I’m a proud union member of Actors' Equity Association (AEA). Whether in the classroom, in a rehearsal hall, or the stage, I remain on mission to dream up ways arts and culture can better make health a shared value for all. I do this by listening for and creating #HealthfulNarratives as an artist scholar and public health creative.