Posts by WEPOWER
Support Black Owned Businesses Today and Every Day
June 18, 2021 Support Black Owned Businesses Today and Every Day One excellent way to celebrate Juneteenth today and everyday is to support local Black-owned businesses such as these. Each was chosen as a member of the WEPOWER Accelerator, and they’d greatly appreciate your support! A&C’s Wine Boutique Chantelle Nickson-Clark Apiary at the Park…
Read MoreChoose the Change that Transforms St. Louis this November and Beyond
Choose the Change that Transforms St. Louis this November and Beyond As autumn greets us with brisk winds, falling leaves, and porches with pumpkins, there is one thing we are reminded of, especially in a year like 2020, that change is inevitable. It is the only constant. Yet, how change manifests itself and the outcomes…
Read MoreMy World Has Changed Its Face
OCTOBER 21, 2020 My World Has Changed Its Face By Dr. Jodi with Joey Saunders Dr. Jodi Jordan is a Power Builder in St. Louis, MO. Photos were taken at her early childhood center by Joey Saunders. Sister Carmen probably loved many things, but two stick out in my memory: The Wiz and affirming her…
Read More‘Let’s Rise Together!’ Why I Stand with Rise 189’s Call for Education Justice
OCTOBER 20, 2020 ‘Let’s Rise Together!’ Why I Stand with Rise 189’s Call for Education Justice By Shontay Ford Shontay Ford is a power-builder in WEPOWER’s East St. Louis Education Power-Building Academy, a seven-month community-based leadership and policy change program for residents of the area. Photo by Kristen Trudo. I’ve lived throughout East St. Louis…
Read MoreThe Most Important Vote You Cast This November Might Not Be for President, but for Our Children. (Brought to You by the Letter ‘R’)
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 The Most Important Vote You Cast This November Might Not Be for President, but for Our Children. (Brought to You by the Letter ‘R’) In many ways, the fight ahead seems impossible; and yet, so many of us have achieved things deemed impossible that we aren’t even flinching at the thought of…
Read MoreWhat if…? An unwavering story of possibility.
AUGUST 21, 2020 What if…? An unwavering story of possibility. WHAT IF? What if our courage outweighed our fear? What if our belief in a better tomorrow guided our actions more than our complacency with the dangerously inequitable region as we know it today? What if we were more comfortable with the potential of our…
Read More‘I choose growth’: My story of transforming an abandoned lot into a thriving urban farm, offering fresh food and jobs for my community.
JUNE 17, 2020 ‘I choose growth’: My story of transforming an abandoned lot into a thriving urban farm, offering fresh food and jobs for my community. By Tyrean ‘Heru’ Lewis I’ve always had problems with fighting in school. The first time I got suspended for fighting in middle school, my mama told me, “You gonna…
Read MoreLearning to Sing
One afternoon in grade school my teacher made up a new rule: each student must finish reading a section aloud from their book before leaving the classroom that day. I couldn’t make it through a page. I was stuttering so badly. Then to add to my embarrassment, I caused my classmates to miss their bus.
Read MoreMoving towards a measurably different St. Louis
APRIL 30, 2020 Moving Towards a Measurably Different St. Louis What are we moving towards, together? Because there is no turning back from here. We can move towards a new way of co-existing, screaming and kicking, clinging and grasping to the toxic behaviors and beliefs that are killing Black people, OR we can choose to…
Read MoreCoronavirus Resources + Note from WEPOWER Team
Coronavirus Resources + Note from WEPOWER Team “Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dear community, I am writing to you today to share resources, updates, and reflections as…
Read More