Leadership Philosophies

 

April has led using the application of several African philosophies and ways of being.

 

1.) Village Life: As a teenage mom April learned it most definitely takes a village to raise a child, sharing stories, resources, skills is at the core of QPOCC's work and we have whole heartedly embraced a village mentality. The QPOCC tribe consists of collaborators, community members, chosen family, and friends alike. April affirms," It is in my community where I found my strength."

 

2.) April embraces the African philosophy "Ubuntu" from which she understand to mean, "I am because we are" and applies it to the handlings of QPOCC, as it is the essence of the collective.

 

Ubuntu: "I am what I am because of who we all are." (From a definition offered by Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee.) Archbishop Desmond Tutu offered a definition in a 1999 book:[7] A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

 

Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:[8] One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

 

Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows:[9] A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food and attend him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve." (Quotes from Wikipedia)

 

3.)April as a spiritual practice, organizing strategy, and personal and community healing work lives the ideas of Sankofa, which translates to, "Sankofa can mean either the word in the Akan language of Ghana that translates in English to " reach back and get it" (san - to return; ko - to go; fa - to look, to seek and take) or the Asante Adinkra symbols of a bird with its head turned backwards taking an egg off its back, or of a stylized heart shape. It is often associated with the proverb, “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi," which translates "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten." (Wikipedia)

 

QPOCC seeks to fill the gaps in information available and depose the deficit model that has defined LGBTQ histories and service provision, the collective works to employ a more holistic lens that works to explicate the extensive and often omitted narratives of queer people of color. Sankofa encourages us to pay homage to our predecessors and ancestors as they share with us tangible gifts as we look back into our history, our true history of greatness and large contributions to society we can acquire tools that we can use in our present day revolution. Knowing our rich histories that is filled with strategies, heroes, use as a sense of self empowerment and we can then be transformed to be social change agents.

 

April earned a Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of North Carolina in May 2013. As a bi-racial, queer, single mother she has felt and acted upon an innate responsibility to add her unique perspective to the discussion regarding diversity, gender, race, and power. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Kean University in 2010. April was an ACE (Academic and Cultural Enrichment) scholar. Throughout her coursework and beyond she has been deeply invested in conducting research that investigated barriers to access, and the accessibility of information produced for, about, and by sexual and gender minorities; particularly, individuals of color. April specializes in special collections/libraries that hold marginalized literature. April has worked as a library consultant and project manager at Elsewhere Living Library and the UNCG Women and Gender Studies Department Library.  April has curated exhibits, built collections, created programming and is now a business owner of Queer Cutz (an lgbt owned, operated, and servicing Barbershop to open spring 2014). For full CV go here.