About
Warning: Code switching will happen a lot on this page. I was raised in the hood and I attended a PWI – it’s to be expected.
“Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.” - Dorothy Height
So, boom. I spent my childhood moving from one housing project (aka the “hood” y’all love to glorify) to the next. My family and I struggled with evictions, homelessness, violence, etc. (Like seriously, why do y'all glorify this. Yay, poverty?) I probably shouldn’t joke about it, but that’s what black people do sometimes. We have to find the comedy in our circumstances to survive out here. Not the healthiest coping mechanism, but we’re getting by.
I was always a curious child, often questioning everything that happened in the world around me. Through my inspection of my life, I noticed I was confined to and by things I had no control over - whether it was the color of my skin, my gender, money (or lack thereof). When this fact became obvious to me, I didn’t know how to express my frustration over being policed by society due to inherent genetic and socioeconomic characteristics that I couldn’t change.
I channeled my frustration and confusion into my creative passions, into poetry and music and literature. I escaped my circumstances by getting involved in my community however I could and by burying my head in my books. Because of the lack of control over my circumstances, my focus on my academics gave me a sense of pseudo-control over my life. I couldn’t control not having a consistent place to live or what we had for dinner, but I could get an A on a test if I studied hard enough. And so, knowledge became my power.
Education & Involvement
I attended James Madison University and graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences in Communication Studies, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a concentration in Public Relations, and a minor in African, African American, and Diaspora Studies. After 5 years of struggle, the degrees were secured (in my head there's a tiny crowd clapping for me).
During my time at James Madison University, I’ve been the founder and executive member of various on campus organizations relating to creativity, diversity, and body positivity. My involvements have included founding the Creative Passions Coalition in 2018, refounding Women of Color in 2017, chartering a chapter of the Good Girl Movement, working as a Diversity Educator, studying abroad in Ghana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, becoming a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and volunteer work up to my eyeballs on behalf of the academic scholarship I was on.
My college experience was defined by the spaces I allowed myself to become a part of. My GPA never did and never will reflect the knowledge and experiences I was able to be a part of as an undergraduate student.
Entrepreneurship
While at JMU, I also worked at a variety of shitty part time jobs. I’m grateful for those shitty jobs, however, because they gave me the courage and ambition to turn my passions into profit. My education has given me powerful tools to create a better life for myself and my work history has emboldened me to never work for anyone else ever again (fingers crossed). That’s a dramatic-sounding declaration, but I’m also dead serious. My passions have led me to start and develop a few small businesses.
But, Jada, why a website?
“When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde
For a long time, I was scared of my voice - both scared of its power and scared of the consequences of using it. I allowed myself to believe other people when they told me I was doing “too much” or “the most,” resulting in my shrinking myself to fit the version of me that society could accept. I would try to be more friendly, less blunt, more happy, less emotional, more agreeable, less standoffish, more palatable, less me.
But I’m not doing that shit anymore. The lovely Audre Lorde also said, “Your silence will not protect you.” And mine never has. So… here’s me speaking out and putting me, ALL of me, out there for the world to see. I hope you like the view. If not, feel free to look elsewhere. I promise I won’t try to stop you.