The Workers’ Opera is like therapy for me. It gives me the balance I need to be able to use my creative gift and connect with social issues in my community.

In my work with Bread and Roses, performing poetry with Saint Louis Story Stitchers, as Saint Louis Poetry Ambassador and as a published author, I offer my authentic self to uplift affected communities and invite them on a journey of self-discovery. It’s exciting to see where it will take us!

As a member of Workers’ Theater, my artistic expression is informed by my job as a union shop steward of the Communication Workers of America, Local 6300 and active Organizing and Legislative Committee member. My first venture into theater was when I joined the Bread and Roses Workers’ Theater Company in 2016, and it was thrilling to perform in the role of Jenkins in Jailbird, an original play about social justice hero, Eugene Debs.

I have drawn and painted since I was a child. I would draw in phone books such as the white pages and on cardboard boxes. I have always been fascinated with faces and used the funnies from the newspapers as my studies. But this is my very first acting gig, and I am loving it! I credit my artistic gifts to my earthly father and to the creator of the Universe.

As a young person, I was strongly encouraged to study the sciences. But, you cannot take the artist out of the person, no matter how hard you try. At Bread and Roses we invest in finding – and bringing out – the artist in everyone who is involved in our programs. Watching them express their dignity and aspirations is extremely rewarding.

My earliest experience with Bread and Roses was attending the first Workers’ Opera performance directed by Agnes Wilcox and Freeman Word for a few dozen people in the basement of a church. It was a small group and new troupe of actors. It was raw. It was powerful.

Soon enough, I realized that being a member of the board opened a path for me to both give my support – and gain something I was looking for: the opportunity to directly influence hearts and minds.

Now our performances reach hundreds at a time – and thousands in the course of the year. We are making a big impact on important social justice issues through the arts.

Working with Bread and Roses Missouri has opened my life to creative possibilities as a playright, musician and actor. But more importantly, it has given me a family of artists, actors and supporters that are laser-focused on social change. This is important work and work I love.

As a very happy Black woman, I’m trying to help make a way so my grandchildren can have a better chance of getting a good-paying job with a union to represent them. I joined the Workers’ Theater Company in August 2016. After that first theatrical experience, my goal was to be part of the next production, and here I am still!