About
Our Background
Our Mission
To cultivate literacy, leadership, and social justice through the study & application of Spoken Word and Hip Hop culture.
Our Vision
To foster a global community of diverse voices committed to advancing justice and equity.
Our Core Beliefs
Story
We believe in story as a bridge, a shared method of communicating and a vehicle through which history is kept, told, shaped, shared, challenged and re-imagined.
Community
TruArtSpeaks reflects diversity and fosters a community of artist who reach across rigid lines of identity, demographic boundaries and other social constructs toward authentic relationship building, self-exploration and expansion, by providing safer spaces to explore, articulate and navigate differences while simultaneously creating deeper connections.
Hip Hop as a Tool
We believe that Hip Hop culture provides the community that we serve with a means to express themselves through afro-centric and culturally relevant methodologies rooted in gaining an understanding of self and the world around you, while also providing them with positive tools and avenues to study, challenge and critique through liberatory pedagogy, community and youth development.
Intergenerational Spaces and Mentorship
In a society in which it is rare to learn about craft from an experiential or practitioner-centered space, outside of an institution, we are committed to providing mentorship, intergenerational exchanges, and contributing to the legacy and continuum of these artforms and practices.
Quality & Craft
We believe in quality productions, instructions, and craft. We create space for participants to discover their creative voice, study, shape, practice, and apply it and from there publicly present and transform the world around them.
Meet The Crew
Executive Team
Founder & Executive Director of TruArtSpeaks, Tish Jones is a poet, narrative strategist, cultural producer, and educator from Saint Paul, MN, with a deep and resounding love for Black people, arts & culture, youth development, and civic engagement. As a performance artist her work has been shared in venues throughout the United States. Her writing can be found in We Are Meant to Rise (University of Minnesota Press, 2021), A Moment of Silence (Tru Ruts and The Playwrights Center, 2020), the Minnesota Humanities Center’s anthology entitled, Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2015) and more.
Currently serving as a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow and an Arts Matters Artist2Artist Fellow, Jones is grateful to have been supported through grants, fellowships, and awards from The Intercultural Leadership Institute, Springboard for the Arts, Minnesota State Arts Board and more. The generous support that she has received over the years has allowed her to excavate the kind of stories that chart new worlds— she is eternally grateful.
Currently serving as a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow and an Arts Matters Artist2Artist Fellow, Jones is grateful to have been supported through grants, fellowships, and awards from The Intercultural Leadership Institute, Springboard for the Arts, Minnesota State Arts Board and more. The generous support that she has received over the years has allowed her to excavate the kind of stories that chart new worlds— she is eternally grateful.
Staff
Desdamona is an international award-winning spoken word and hip-hop artist who has been performing, teaching and producing solo and collaborative work for over 20 years. She has opened for distinguished artists including Wyclef Jean, GURU, Bahamadia, Black Uhuru/Sly & Robbie, and Rhymesayers artists. Desdamona has worked in over 200 schools throughout the Midwest and has visited schools in France conducting workshops as artist in residence.
In 2012, a collaboration between Desdamona and beat boxer / MC Carnage the Executioner was released on French label Nato Records. Since then Des has been featured on a number of French releases. In 2014, Des was featured in a national ``Back to School`` ad campaign for Kmart, as a rapping lunch lady. In 2016, Desdamona released her 4th solo release entitled, No Man's Land featuring a cast of women from the Twin Cities. Currently, Des is developing her next solo offering that will incorporate collaborations with women from across the globe.
Click link below to listen to her music.
Board of Directors
Migizi wiin odoodeman. Bapashkominitigong gii-tazhi-nitaawigi miinawaa go gii-ondaadizi imaa. Ojibwe-Anishinaabe aawi. Ojibwemowin Project Manager (FDL Gegaanzongejig Ji-Aabadak Ojibwemowin) noongom dananokii. Nawaj 20-biboonowin gaa-kino’amaaged anooj dinowa ezhi-anokiid, mii noongom Naawakwe owiikwajitoon da-wiidookaazod mii ini-nisidotameg cultural responsiveness. Awashime dash ozaagitoon iw zhooshkobagisagoonsibizowin, mii dash geyaabi go ini-jiikendam gaa-ako-maajiitaad 36-biboonowin!
Naawakwe is Eagle clan. He grew up in the place where he was born, the Bald-headed Island village of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation. He is Ojibwe and currently works for the Fond du Lac Band in the Language and Culture Program as the Ojibwemowin Project Manager. Serving as an educator for over 20 years in several different capacities, Naawakwe is working today to provide support and resources in cultural responsiveness. Naawakwe’s first love is skateboarding, and it still brings him joy after 36 years!
Reverend Anthony Galloway holds a BA degree in Ethnic Studies from Metropolitan State University and is a Senior Partner at Dendros Group, a firm dedicated to cultural change in organizations towards equity.
He is also the Executive Director of the ARTS Us Center for the African Diaspora and a founding member of the Award winning ``Counterstories`` Podcast and “Bearing Witness with Anthony and Georgia,” part of the Racial Reckoning project with AMPERS radio.
While studying abroad in South Africa during the 10th anniversary of the end of apartheid, Anthony developed a passion for critical discourse pedagogy leading him to become the co-founder of “Dare 2 Be Real” an anti-racist student leadership framework with a growing network of over 27 sites and 1200 students engaging nationwide.
This work deepened when his highschool classmate Philando Castile was killed by a police officer 6 blocks from his house and further still when George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis reminding everyone that we have a lot of work to do in regards to racial reconciliation and justice.
In addition to his company and community work, Anthony currently serves as pastor of St. Mark AME Church in Duluth. In his free time, he enjoys pc gaming with his family and anything involving fishing and camping.