bold idea
Build the collective power of survivors of European and Euro-American colonial terrorism by training proximate visionary youth leaders to design and facilitate liberation-oriented learning communities.
organization overview
Building Opportunities & Opening Minds (BOOM) cultivates visionary youth to co-construct communities of affirmation, decolonization, organization, and innovation in aims of liberation. BOOM mobilizes Black and Brown youth leaders (SPARKS) to host six-week intergenerational, interdisciplinary, identity-rich, project-based learning experiences for Black and Brown K–12 students (FLAMES) that equip them to be revolutionary solutions-thinkers who build POWER for their people. BOOM provides space and support for resilient young people to reimagine the world beyond the restrictive fears of status quo society, to retreat from the psychological violence they endure in schools, and to redefine genius and truth.
Personal Bio
Jamie LeShaé Jenkins (Ms. J) is a cultural strategist, education activist, and herstorian designing platforms that preserve and activate Black memory, imagination, and innovation. She is the founder of Daughter of Dallas, an archival initiative that celebrates Black cultural architects; Ms. J’s Classroom, a ritual learning space where curriculum meets ancestral wisdom; and BOOM (Building Opportunities & Opening Minds), a liberatory education ecosystem that supports visionary youth. Her work weaves pedagogy, story, and spiritual praxis to build infrastructures that nourish both people and movements. With roots in education, organizing, and narrative design, she is committed to shaping a future rooted in love and liberation.
Ms. J’s work has been recognized through the Echoing Green Fellowship, Teach For America’s Social Innovation Award, and 4.0 Schools’ Tiny Fellowship. Her voice and vision have been featured in “Natural Hair: The Movie,†the Positively Gam podcast, and the African Ancestry Live series. Her creative works have been exhibited at the African American Museum of Dallas, the Abrons Arts Center (NY), and The Black Woman Is God showcase (CA).
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