Who is The Creative Abolitionist?

I grew up in the small town of Farmersville, Texas, where the name is not at all misleading. The former onion capital of the country is where my family has lived for more than four generations on both sides.

I’m multiracial. My mom is white and Mexican, and my dad is Black. My single mother raised me while my father battled addiction and experienced bouts of incarceration. We grew up in the country, in a mobile home at the end of a family compound. While we weren’t overflowing with material resources, I feel incredibly lucky to have grown up in an abundance of love, community, and joy, surrounded by a community that always took care of me.

Apparently, I didn’t take or save photos from middle school. Not surprising. This was the era when my mom moved us from Farmersville, Texas, to a bigger small town, Sachse, Texas, for a better education. I remember feeling uncomfortable a lot during this period—about my body, Blackness, poverty, and sexuality. Hence, there is a lack of photos readily available!

Of course, this move ended up being the best decision. I attended a classical center, which was somehow still a public school, and began expanding my horizons, as they say.

For high school, I attended a pre-law magnet program where I was able to learn about political thought, courts, and case law. There, I had the fortune of being guided by a powerful teacher, Ms. Hershenberg, who saw something in me and started pushing me to see it too. My pre-law magnet had a mock trial courtroom that I spent most of my high school years in. I participated in the YMCA’s Youth & Government program as a mock trial attorney and ended up as the President of our chapter and state delegate to the National convention. I was only able to attend college because of a scholarship from YMCA Youth & Government.

Outside of pre-law, I began filming vlogs of my friends and became a photographer to make extra money. This is when I got the storytelling bug, spending nights and weekends editing videos and photos in my room.

I went to college at George Washington University in D.C. I had never visited D.C. before, and couldn’t afford to attend the 'regular orientation smack dab in the summer, as if I had the money for a one-way flight from Dallas to Washington, D.C., let alone a round trip.

Right after college, I started as an Account Coordinator at a public affairs firm, where I went on to serve issue-advocacy clients on press relations, crisis communications, social media, messaging, and really anything else they needed. This was a formative time in my life, where I was exposed to dozens of issue areas, including youth incarceration, sex education, and abortion access. I grew into a senior account executive role and led client work for organizations like Advocates for Youth and Youth First Justice Collaborative, until I eventually left and went full-time at Advocates for Youth.

This is also the era I met my husband, Amirio Freeman, writer of PLANTCRAFT, who has been a major influence in my political education and praxis, especially regarding the more-than-human world, climate justice, care, and accountability.

Ah, that happened fast! In 2023, I began my career in Philanthropy when I joined the Surdna Foundation and the Andrus Family Fund as a Program Officer. My husband, Amirio, and I moved to Philly to be closer to the AFF office in NYC, which I commute to weekly from Philly.