BIOS
Friday workshops
Veronica Agard (Ifáṣadùn Fásanmí) is a poet, writer, abọ̀rìṣà, community educator, and connector working at the intersections of Black identity, wellness, representation, and culture. For more than a decade, she has created spaces for healing and ancestral connection. Her debut book is Ancestors in Training: An Abọ̀rìṣà’s Guide to Beginning Your Ancestral Healing Journey, from North Atlantic Books.
Kleaver Cruz (they/them) is a Black queer writer and educator whose work spans the African Diaspora. They facilitate The Black Joy Project, a digital and real-world affirmation that Black joy is resistance. Kleaver is the author of The Black Joy Project: A Literary and Visual Love Letter to How We Thrive and a 2024 NAACP Image Award nominee for Outstanding Debut Author.
Saturday workshops and community experiences
How to Like Your Friend Again!: Navigating Non-Linear Friendships
Seyhandra Benjamin is a Bronx native who values education, time with loved ones, and creating from a place of authenticity. They have participated in the Literary Freedom Project’s One Book One Bronx book club since 2023.
Folake Aina is a Nigerian American Bronx native whose work centers cultural expression, community advocacy, and climate awareness. They have participated in One Book One Bronx since 2023. Folake and Seyhandra facilitate together as Soil Sistas.
Making the Mundane Sacred: Black Joy, Movement & the Stories Our Bodies Carry
Sabrina Frómeta is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, movement-maker, cacao farmer, and founder of YAYA, a creative studio rooted in art, community, and liberation. Her work combines dance, film, ritual, and storytelling to explore Black and diasporic memory and joy. Her supporters include Weeksville Heritage Center, Netflix, BAAD!, The New School, Lincoln Center, and The Black Joy Project. She is a 2025 Flaherty Film Seminar Fellow and Bandung Resident.
Addressing Quiet Loneliness: The Critical Key to Unlocking Joy
T. Francis, moderator, is the founder and CEO of The Collective Social Lab, a Harlem-based social wellness company. She created In Podcast Mode, a conversation card game designed to encourage authentic, in-person connection, informed by more than a dozen focus groups and 125 participants. An educator for nearly two decades, she holds an MA in Educational Psychology and an MS in Childhood Education.
Donna Marie is a mindset and accountability coach whose work centers Black women through intuitive leadership and community-centered programming. A tech and art enthusiast, she also teaches emotional intelligence to young people, helping them build relationships and navigate community.
Dalaeja Foreman is a union carpenter, self-defense educator, speaker, and social practice artist. She founded Metamorphosis Movement, a martial arts and yoga school rooted in liberation-centered self-defense and holistic wellness. Her practice brings carpentry and martial arts into conversations about community, protection, and confidence.
Candace Johnson is the inventor of TOUCHY/FEELY, a talk-and-touch intimacy card game, and founder and CEO of GOOSHY CANDY LLC, a relationship wellness company. A former television producer, she now works as a relationship wellness facilitator and intimacy coach, helping couples, groups, and brands practice communication that builds connection.
Tanya D. Jones is an award-winning executive producer and creative leader with more than two decades of experience across television, digital media, branded entertainment, and live events. She founded Mama Bear Media Group and Your Life Coached and co-founded Can We Kick It, a live storytelling experience, and the Harlem Creative Exchange.
In Honor of June Jordan & Other Black Literary Ancestors
Trace Howard DePass, moderator, won the Poetry Society of America’s 2024 Emily Dickinson Award and is the author of BOOTless → from Diode Editions. His work has appeared in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series. He has held fellowships with Poets House, Obsidian, and Teachers & Writers Collaborative.
Ehime Ora is a Nigerian writer, artist, and priestess of the Ifá and Orisa tradition. She is the author of Ancestors Said: 365 Introspections for Emotional Healing and Spirits Come from Water: An Introduction to Ancestral Veneration & Reclaiming African Traditions. She founded IWOKI, an initiative connecting ancestral intelligence, research, and space education.
Laney Jade is a Haitian Jamaican teaching artist from Orlando, Florida, based in New York City. Her work uses poetry for literacy intervention and self-expression, emphasizing anti-imperialist literature and collective liberation. Her submitted bio identifies her as an NYU Gallatin senior studying “Decolonial Poetry” with a minor in education. She has performed across the United States and internationally.
X Olamina (they/them) is a poet, writer, cultural worker, and community organizer living in Harlem by way of Oak Cliff, Texas. X is a steward of HoodSchool NYC, an autonomous collective rooted in the Black Radical Tradition, and a founding facilitator of Youth2Power, supporting radical youth leadership and creative development in Dallas and New York.
The UnGrateful Black Artist, also known as UGBA, is a queer poet, rapper, playwright, actor, and activist based in Brooklyn. UGBA served as script assistant for the Broadway production of Fat Ham and participated in The Public Theater’s #BARS and Emerging Writers Group programs. Their recognition includes fellowships and awards from Broadway Advocacy Coalition, New York Stage & Film, and Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Marcus Stokes is a songwriter, performer, poet, actor, and producer at The Modern Poet NYC. A multiple-time Nuyorican slam champion, he won the 2025 Nuyorican Grand Slam and a February 2026 BRIC slam. His work appeared in the spring 2025 edition of Milk Press. His poetry explores spirituality, mental health, love, grief, and heartbreak.
Black Men Read: Turning the Page on Joy
Matteo J., moderator, is the voice behind The Literary Cyph, a book community connecting literature, liberation, and meaningful conversation. Combining his love of books with social justice and collective action, he approaches reading as a tool for reflection, resistance, and community building.
Leslie “Buttaflysoul” Taylor is a poet, actor, playwright, and educator. Known to many young people as “Uncle Butta,” he uses direct conversation and healing humor to support their social and emotional growth. His teaching combines authenticity, compassion, and a commitment to helping young people transform their lives.
Anthony “Da Kidd P.G.” Bagle founded Black Kidds Read Too, the book platform under A Kidd From New Haven. He creates videos, hosts book discussions, interviews authors, and develops original series, campaigns, and community experiences. His conversations have included Troy Millings and Rashad Bilal of Earn Your Leisure and Tamika D. Mallory.
Clarence A. Haynes is the author of The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery and The Broken Hearts Agency. With actor and producer Omar Epps, he co-authored the YA Afrofuturist books Nubia: The Awakening and The Reckoning. He has worked as an editor with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, and Amazon Publishing.
The Black Joy Project: A Conversation with Kleaver Cruz
• Moderated by Branden Janese
Kleaver Cruz (they/them) is a Black queer writer and educator whose work spans the African Diaspora. They facilitate The Black Joy Project, a digital and real-world affirmation that Black joy is resistance. Kleaver is the author of The Black Joy Project: A Literary and Visual Love Letter to How We Thrive and a 2024 NAACP Image Award nominee for Outstanding Debut Author.
Branden Janese is a writer, cultural curator, and community engagement professional whose work connects literature, culture, public health, and collective experience. She founded Public Pages, a New York City literary and cultural platform centering Black intellectual life. She also serves as a Project Manager at CUNY School of Medicine, developing community-centered initiatives connecting research, health, and culture.