As a part of our RE·Imagine blog, we want to highlight the wonderful people who we work with, and who make the work possible. Facilitator of the Month is a series dedicated to shine light on all of our per diem staff and supporters, and the work that they do both inside and outside of RE·Center.
Meet Aqua, our first Facilitator of the Month! Aqua has been working with RE·Center since 2017. “I started working at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in November 2014 and that was the beginning of my journey to woke, if we’re still using that phrase.” Aqua’s time at the Stowe Center has had a large impact on her- she has been a part of salon conversations on topics around race, gender, and class. At first, Aqua recalls being horrified to see mixed race audiences talking openly about race, gender, and class. “I said to my boss, ‘These are conversations that Black people have, around the kitchen table and it’s not in mixed company.’ Eventually Aqua got more comfortable, and began leading the salon conversations.
Aqua started working with RE·Center after two of our staff members came to facilitate a program at the Stowe Center. “…I recognized that if I was interested in doing this kind of work that I needed more training… I went to the [RE·Center] facilitator training, two summers ago at this point, and it was a great experience, I met really cool people, and from then on that’s when I started working on the E.I.S.C.A. [Equity-Informed School Climate Assessment] surveys. And I did that for like, a thousand surveys.” Aqua has facilitated multiple types of programs, completed classroom observations, assisted in surveys, and overall has been a great team member for RE·Center.
When Aqua isn’t working with us, or at the Stowe Center, she spends most of her time, ‘geeking out’. “I am a geek…I’m really passionate about science fiction, and cosplay.” Aqua is a regular participant in the New York Comicon as well as other comic conversations throughout the year. “I’m not going to say there aren’t a lot of black women who cosplay- because there definitely are- but traditionally the ideas around cosplay are… what the traditional ideas are around everything. So, you know, you really have to make room for yourself in the community.” Aqua not only cosplays and attends conventions, but she has also started her own brand called Good Morning Geeks. “…It’s my geeky black girl brand, and I’ve gotten a lot of support with it. And I’m really excited about it… It is a really big part of my personality and I really love focusing on geekery.”
Aqua also spends a lot of time thinking about her place in the universe. “I believe that we are not alone…It’s like Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space, said, the only way to survive is to start seeing ourselves as earthlings.” She talks about the tension between seeing ourselves as both “citizens of Earth” and also recognizing the importance of honoring our identities and how they can take up our time and brain space. She also urges the importance of learning about who we are. “Read about the fact that carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and all the things that make up our bodies and our atoms also make up the entire universe. I think that would give us a lot of peace.”
RE·Imagine
In the spirit of reimagining, we asked Aqua what she’s reimagining in the world.
We at RE·Center are beyond grateful to have passionate and creative people like Aqua on our team, and look forward to having her facilitate future workshops and conversations.
