2020 Fannie Lou Hamer Leadership Program

City/State: Fort Wayne, IN
College: Emory University
Major: Linguistics & Human Rights
Website: http://countusindiana.org/
Instagram: @awoken_nova
Twitter: @awoken_nova

Bio

Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jalyn Radziminski is fueled by their passion to unite education, non-profits, government, political and grassroots community initiatives to promote equity both socially and systematically.

Jalyn graduated from Emory University with a bachelors and linguistics and interdisciplinary studies with a human rights concentration. As an undergrad, Radziminski co-founded Emory University’s Black Mental Health Ambassadors Program as well as served as a founding council member of Mental Health America’s National Collegiate Innovation Council and Students for Prison Education and Resistance.

After graduation, Jalyn has advocated for diversity and voter equity in Georgia by serving as a Fair Fight Action Political Fellow, conducting research about jail voting for grassroots initiatives, volunteering for disability inclusion initiatives surrounding employment and transportation advocacy, and by serving as a Communication Director and Legislative Aide for the Georgia House of Representatives. Jalyn saw the need to encourage more diverse voter turnout and political participation in her home state as well. Thus, Jalyn founded Count US IN, an Indiana based initiative to uplift, educate, and empower local voices as well highlight Indiana’s relevance in the national political conversations.

Jalyn is grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow in a space that centers Black and Disability rights, and will actively work towards making sure every vote counts!

City/State: New Orleans, LA
College: University of California, Berkeley
Major: African Diaspora Studies/New Media
Website: http://blackfeministstudy.org/
Twitter: @blackityblk

Bio

Ra Malika Imhotep is a Black feminist cultural worker from Atlanta, Georgia, pursuing a doctoral degree in African Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley with a designated emphasis in New Media. Ra’s intellectual + creative work tends to the relationships between queer articulations of Black femininity, vernacular culture and the performance of labor in The Dirty South. Currently living, practicing and dreaming in New Orleans, Louisiana, Ra works across mediums to apply principles of disability justice and the long tradition of Black feminist world-making to collaborative efforts that “make revolution irresistible” through innovative and inclusive approaches to political education and cultural production. Ra is co-convener of an embodied spiritual-political education project called The Church of Black Feminist Thought, and a member of the curatorial collective The Black Aesthetic. Ra is currently being politicized in community with the organizers, scholars and cultural workers of Southerners on New Ground, Gallery of the Streets and Sister’s Action Team.

City/State: Cheltenham, PA
College: Albright College
Major: Business Administration and Communications Track in PR and Advertising
Website: https://shaylagaither.wixsite.com/createink
Instagram: @cuteshaybay

Bio

Shayla Gaither is a fun and lively woman from a small town outside Philadelphia. She is currently 20 years old and attends college at a liberal arts school in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ever since Shayla was little, she had a passion for media and advocacy. As a little girl, Shayla would record events with her family’s camcorder and wrote letters to state representatives. Now, Shayla is a Business and Communications major, who wants to create entertaining commercials in her career. In Shayla’s free time, she also advocates for minority and disability rights. Shayla is extremely excited to participate in the Fannie Lou Hammer Leadership Program. Not only does the program combine all of Shayla’s passions, but the program also helps support minorities across the country.

City/State: Los Angeles, CA
Instagram: @toluwase019

Bio

Tolu was born in Nigeria and moved to the United States in 2017. He is highly interested in public policy, and often participates in a lot of volunteer and community service projects. He is also a human rights advocate with special interest in disability rights.

Tolu’s interest in the Fannie Lou Hamer Leadership program stem from his passion for public policy, leadership, and advocacy, with special focus on disability rights. As a college student, he has been actively involved in leadership activities both on and off campus through the Student Government where he served as the sophomore representative, and was on the Speech and Debate Club. In his community, he has been an active member of the Nebraska Youth Leadership Council (NYLC), a self-advocacy leadership organization for youth with disabilities in Nebraska. Through this organization, he has teamed up with other members on how to create a more suitable environment for people with disabilities, by creating awareness and advocating for their rights.  In his leisure time, Tolu likes to watch YouTube, play video games, or just hang out.