IMANI RASHID
Imani Rashid, a Yoruba priestess, has been a leader and an agent for promoting change for more than four decades. Rashid has worked as a teacher, entrepreneur, writer, motivational speaker, performing artist, event planner and an institution builder. Now a retired NYC Board of Education teacher, she is the founder of the organization Kwanzaa in the LGBTQ Community and the author of “Kwanzaa in the Lesbian and Gay Family.” At 76, she shows no signs of slowing down. Her community work includes The Imani Rashid Retreat Center for Healing in the Hamptons, while her newest initiative, LGBTQ Kwanzaa Storytelling for Children is co-chaired with its board members, Cassandra Grant and the African Folk Heritage Circle. Working with the Kwanzaa Kids of NYC’s LGBTQ Kwanzaa Community is what she finds most rewarding. “They range in ages 5 to 15,” she explains. “They are learning the art of storytelling… Now some of the older children are starting to win writing awards and write their own pieces. We are currently raising funds to take the Kwanzaa Kids to Philadelphia in November [to attend] the National Association of Black Storytellers Festival and Conference. To date, this is my best work, of which I am most proud.” –SLO
What Do You Think?