Afrotopia Bios
ACTIVATORS
Alberta
Sound Healer
Alberta identifies as Black, Indigenous/Seminole, Queer & Androgynous. She was originally raised in the midwest in a musical household rooted in Jazz and has maintained an ancestral relationship with sound and meditative healing.
Alberta graduated with an A.O.S. in massage therapy from the Swedish Institute in NYC. She was licensed in New York State and is now licensed in Oregon. They have worked in Portland, NYC, Colorado, and Costa Rica in a range of settings including integrative wellness centers, yoga retreat, spaces, homes, and in the outdoors. Alberta constantly keeps in mind the sensitivity of working with trauma in the body and spirit whenever approaching any person, and welcomes folks to express their needs before, during and after any session. Clients have most frequently described their touch as warm, fluid, focused, attentive and intuitive.
Alberta offers group and individual sound baths all around Portland centering the collective rest and healing of BIPOC, Queer and Trans bodies who constantly navigate oppression, chronic pain and trauma. In her free time she enjoys hiking, working with plant medicine, attending cultural events, singing and day trips.
Toyin Oyemaja
Floral Artist
Toyin Oyemaja was born and raised in Portland, OR. and began her early career in the floral industry at the age of 19. She has over 11 years of combined experience working in the floral industry and education + social services. She is passionate about youth education, community development, and equity. Several years of her career along with flowers has been spent working with underserved students of color/their families, serving for AmeriCorps, and mentoring first generation college students.
Friends of Noise
Restorative Justice Non-Profit
Friends of Noise is a non-profit organization built on the values of collectivism and restorative justice. We seek to transform the culture of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth access to the music industry. We foster a healthy ecosystem for all ages to thrive by providing youth-focused programs, teaching industry skills, developing resources, mentorship and professional development. We meet young people where they are by facilitating opportunities for immersion into a safer arts community while uplifting youth voices.
Grandma's Hands
Cultural and Family Food Traditions
Grandma’s Hands have always been there to pick us up, lift us up, and guide us to the right path. The Grandma’s Hands story begins with Vanessa and Willie Chambers, who reached out to Chuck Smith and the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition to help work on developing the concept of grandmothers actively passing on their cultural and family food traditions to younger generations. The first Grandma’s Hands project was funded in 2020 through a grant from the Oregon Department of Agriculture to serve the Rockwood community. The Black Food Sovereignty Coalition and Rockwood CDC turned to the Black Grandmas in our community to have their Hands bring this project to life. Over 1,500 people received home cooked meals and learned recipes from local Grandmas. The Grandmas who participated in launching the first project included: Vanessa Chambers, Rhonda Combs, Mildred Braxton, Martha Lewis, Laurie Palmer, Marchane Lawson, Latasha Carter, Lisa Mathis, Mary Frison, Shaderra Stevens, Sa’Niya Willingham, and Shantae Johnson. BFSC has respectfully accepted the honor of being caretakers of Grandma’s Hands on behalf of Vanessa and Willie, recognizing that Grandma’s Hands have always been there holding them, sustaining them, and encouraging them . The Grandma’s Hands program today is the collective gift that Black Grandmas from our community have given us.
Latoya Lovely
Visual Artist
Latoya Lovely works in Special Education for Portland Public School District, she is also a professional dancer. She has been drawing ever since she was a kid. When her heart would skip a beat to find a clean, blank space on the back of her school work, even if it meant being reprimanded because she wasn’t doing her “school work.” Her dream house will have a bay window for her and her baby boy to curl up in and read whilst listening to the rain. Photo: Darrell Grant
Intisar Abioto
Explorative Artist
Intisar Abioto (b. Memphis, TN. 1986) is an explorer-artist working across photography, dance, and writing. Moving from the visionary and embodied root of Blackgirl Southern cross-temporal cross-modal storytelling ways, her works refer to the living breath/breadth of people of African descent against the expanse of their storied, geographic, and imaginative landscapes. Working in long-form projects that encompass the visual, folkloric, documentary, and performing arts, she has produced The People Could Fly Project, The Black Portlanders, and The Black. Co-created with her four artist sisters, The People Could Fly Project, was a 200,000-mile flying arts expedition exploring realities of flight and freedom within the African diasporic myth of the flying African and Virginia Hamilton’s award-winning book, The People Could Fly. Photo: Ifyani Bell
Si’nai Clemons
Visual Artist
Si’nai Clemons was born in Los Angeles California. Her and her mother moved to Oregon in 2018. She is 15 years old and in her second year of high school. She began drawing at the age of 9 years old and found a passion for creating original characters, digital art, and recreating fan art. Although art is her first interest, she also enjoys learning about the universe. She also enjoys playing video games and she loves cats. Her future goal is to attend college and to obtain a degree in Art or Engineering creating character designs.
La Toya A. Hampton
Spoken Word Poet
La Toya A. Hampton, MSW, (she/they) a native of Portland, Oregon, is a former mental health therapist, educator, entrepreneur, and poet, who began performing spoken word poetry in 2008, using the stage name Lady Rose, in memory of her late father, Roosevelt. She has performed in venues and platforms based in Portland, Los Angeles, Memphis and New York City. Her poem “Brown Knows” is featured throughout the acclaimed documentary Black Girl in Suburbia. Just this year, she has been a featured performer for Community Alliance of Tenants, City of Portland’s DEEP’s 2022 Juneteenth Celebration, ACLU of Oregon and Apano’s “Every One of Us,” Portland Parks Foundation’s Paseo Festival, Corvallis-based The Arts Center’s Arts Alive Celebration, AList’s Women Supporting Women Founder’s Meet-Up, and more. Several of her pieces were displayed in the University of Oregon’s recent exhibit “Unceded Kinship: Land, Place and People, and she had the special honor of being chosen to be the opening and closing poet during New York Times Bestselling Author of My Grandmother’s Hands and The Quaking of America, Resmaa Manekem, during the Portland stop on his book tour in June. Her short film, “Petals and Thorns: A Spoken Word Journey,” in partnership with Portland Playhouse debuted this September. And in 2013, she spearheaded her one-woman show, “Holes of a Piece of Me: An Introduction to Lady Rose,” at Headwaters Theatre in Portland, Oregon and self-published a zine of the same name that will undergo an expanded re-release as a full-length book due out in 2022.
Christopher McMurry
Visual Artist
Christopher McMurry was born in Portland, Oregon in 1970 where he has lived all of his life. A self-taught multi-disciplinary artist, Christopher has explored his passion for art through different mediums which include painting, illustration, photography, music and poetry. Throughout his life, Christopher has always been fascinated by visual art and how the world is expressed through the eyes of others. Chris utilizes various forms of media in his work balancing the line between abstract and realism, expressionism and minimalism, incorporating abstract writing and mark making. Each creation is an act of self care, restoration and celebration. Christopher believes that creativity is our most valuable form of currency and that art has the ability to enhance and enrich lives as well as inspire social change. Growing up as a Black kid in the 1970’s in Portland, Oregon, Christopher did not see a lot of art that reflected and honored his rich heritage. Whenever Christopher did see works of art that represented his culture, his eyes would light up with excitement which inspired him. Christopher decided at an early age that he would become an artist with a mission to celebrate his culture, share his experiences with the world through uninhibited and unapologetic self expression, inspiring young and old people through his creative works, honoring and continuing the legacy of his ancestors.
TaNesha
Hair Haven, Natural Hair Artist
Born and raised in Southern California, TaNesha has made her home in the hair industry. She started with braiding her niece’s hair in her early teen years which exposed her hidden talent. TaNesha now has over 15 years of experience. She came to Portland to better herself with an educational opportunity. In 2006 she earned her bachelor’s degree at Portland State University and still found herself doing hair on the side. Coming to the realization that this is her passion, heart, sweat and tears, TaNesha decided to get her Oregon hair license. Not only will you find that she is extremely talented in all hair types and styles including signature braids, extensions to natural style, TaNesha thrives on healthy hair! TaNesha promotes healthy hair by educating her clients with an after service hair care plan and helping them decide upon hair care products that suit them best.
Debbie Blackmon
Hair Haven, Natural Hair Artist
Debbie Blackmon is a Certified Natural Hair Care Stylist who specializes in protective styles, braiding, crocheting and Locs. She enjoy learning new trends and building my skills.
Hair Haven, Natural Hair Artist
is 24 year old natural hair stylist, specializing in braiding. They have been braiding for two years, and loves their clients & community.
Marcus
Zen in Black Skin
Marcus is a former collegiate and professional football player, coach, and Director of Player Development. After retiring from the NFL and earning his Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Marcus became the wellness director for Select Health of South Carolina, a Medicaid provider. He and his team conducted wellness camps across the state serving over two thousand youth during his 8-year tenure. Marcus attributes finding zen to the wilderness of the great Northwest, exercise, writing, and his spiritual practice of yoga.Miranda graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Public Health and a minor in Women and Genders Studies. With the goal of bringing healing and wellness to communities of color, Miranda enrolled in a 200-hour yoga teacher training at the beginning of the pandemic. She believes “every body is a yoga body,” and brings this approach to each class through a de-colonized lens. Miranda finds her version of zen through the the practice and study of yoga, the stillness of nature photography, journaling, and therapy.
Miranda
Zen in Black Skin
Marcus is a former collegiate and professional football player, coach, and Director of Player Development. After retiring from the NFL and earning his Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Marcus became the wellness director for Select Health of South Carolina, a Medicaid provider. He and his team conducted wellness camps across the state serving over two thousand youth during his 8-year tenure. Marcus attributes finding zen to the wilderness of the great Northwest, exercise, writing, and his spiritual practice of yoga.Miranda graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Public Health and a minor in Women and Genders Studies. With the goal of bringing healing and wellness to communities of color, Miranda enrolled in a 200-hour yoga teacher training at the beginning of the pandemic. She believes “every body is a yoga body,” and brings this approach to each class through a de-colonized lens. Miranda finds her version of zen through the the practice and study of yoga, the stillness of nature photography, journaling, and therapy.
