Iris Jacob: Profile of Empowered Leadership

Anytown came at just the right time for me. I was fifteen and fresh out of my first year of high school longing for something to be involved in. The seven day intensive institute was exactly what I needed. My week at Anytown allowed for me to set the foundation for my new knowledge about all kinds of oppression. I was given the opportunity to participate in exercises designed precisely for me to not only expand my knowledge about oppression, but also to learn how to put it into action.  I was also able to participate in many different identity groups aimed for me to feel comfortable and talk about the issues at hand.  My favorite of these groups was the one made precisely for women of color. The group gave me feelings of empowerment and love as I was around people just like myself and I was able to relate on a level I had not done before. By the time I left Anytown I felt uplifted and ready to tackle oppression head on.

Going back into my community was some what harder than I expected.  I wanted to be able to make a difference immediately and affect as many people as I could, just like Anytown had done for me. But to be completely honest, I just really missed Anytown. I wanted to be in the same reaffirming, anti-oppressive environment again. I longed to sit again with those women of color and talk about our experiences as they relate to our identities. After completely realizing my frustration, having help from my mother and taking the lesson of activism I received from Anytown , I decided to do something about these feelings. I decided to create a means by which I would be able to feel that connection again and again. I decided to write a book.

My next two years were spent collecting pieces from girls of color across the country, writing my own stories and finally compiling all of it into a book. In April of 2002 my book, entitled My Sisters' Voices; Teenage Girls of Color Speak Out, was published by Henry Holt and Company. Following the release I went on a national book tour, was in numerous magazines and television programs and finally got a chance to make my dream a reality.

Now I am a student at Wesleyan University in Connecticut still working for what I learned at Anytown. At school I am a member of both the Black Women's Collective and the Women of Color Collective as well as one of the Co-Chairs for the Black Student's Association.  I am incredibly involved in my community both at school and at home, as I bring the lessons that I learned at Anytown with me every where I go. This summer will mark my fourth year being involved with Anytown and my second as one of the Co-Directors.  Anytown will always be a part of me,and as long as I can I will try to be a part of it, and give back what I received.  Anytown has changed my life, formed it and helped to mold me into the person I want to be.

NOTE:  In May, 2003, Iris received the What's Right With the Region Award from FOCUS-St. Louis in the category of Racial Equality and Social Justice:   Award from FOCUS