Black Women’s Leadership Initiative
Co-Founded in 2020 by Shakia Barron and Jamila Jackson
The Black Women’s Leadership Initiative (BWLI) is a Black woman-led, community-rooted initiative dedicated to honoring, studying, and advancing Black dance heritage and dance futurism. Founded in 2020 by artist, educator and choreographer Shakia Barron, and somatics practitioner and educator Jamila Jackson, BWLI is a visionary space for creative research, cultural preservation, and community-based leadership, shaped by the lived experiences and priorities of Black women. BWLI curates conversations, creative projects, and public programs that celebrate the cultural contributions of Black women dancers, choreographers, scholars, and community leaders. Our programming is open to all, inviting participation across race, age, gender, and experience, that centers values of belonging, connection, healing, and empowerment.
In partnership with The Embodied Leadership Project (ELP), a community organization led by Jackson and rooted in trauma-informed somatic practice, BWLI provides accessible, culturally responsive programming that bridges academic and community spaces. Together we uplift the voices, stories, and leadership of Black women.
Our Foundation
At the heart of BWLI is the ritual of the community dance circle, or cypher. This is a practice of rhythm, testimony, witnessing, and healing with deep roots in African cultural traditions. Across the African continent and throughout the Diaspora, the circle has served as a sacred space for communal expression, storytelling, and transformation. At BWLI, we view the circle as both a methodology and a metaphor. It shapes how we gather in community, how we move through creative and healing practices, how we learn from embodied wisdom, and how we lead with collective care and intention. It is the root of our research and a sacred site for transformation, joy, and embodied knowledge
Core Projects
Archival Storytelling Project
Led by Barron and Jackson, the Archival Storytelling Project documents the oral histories of Black women dancers through filmed interviews and conversations. Each video serves as a living archive, preserving cultural knowledge, artistic lineage, and personal narratives that are often underrepresented in dance education. These archives are made publicly accessible and are designed to inform coursework, community dialogue, and broader public engagement.
Black Women’s Solidarity Circle
Co-facilitated with ELP, the Solidarity Circle is a virtual, trauma-informed space for Black women and girls from the Five Colleges and the greater Pioneer Valley. Participants gather for reflection, movement, rest, healing. Together, they cultivate resilience, leadership, and connection.
Community Events & Programs
BWLI curates public events that elevate Black women’s contributions to dance and movement-based practices. These range from panel conversations, repertory reflections, workshops, and interdisciplinary gatherings. Events are designed to build intergenerational dialogue and deepen the public’s understanding of the cultural, political, and spiritual dimensions of Black dance traditions.
Our Vision
The Black Women’s Leadership Initiative (BWLI) reimagines what leadership can look like by centering the creative and cultural intelligence of Black women. Our work challenges the notion that dance is only for trained or formally educated dancers. Instead, we affirm movement as a powerful tool for community-building, cultural storytelling, and collective liberation. We are proud to contribute to the growing landscape of dance scholarship, creative research, and community engagement that uplifts the voices and visions of Black women locally and globally.
Launching Fall 2025 | Pause and Flow: Daydreaming through the Body
Pause and Flow: Daydreaming through the Body are workshops grounded in the creative research of Shakia “The Key” Barron and Jamila Jackson. Emerging from their ongoing work through the Black Women’s Leadership Initiative (BWLI), this experience integrates authentic movement and House dance to explore the transformative and healing potential of the community dance circle. Rooted in African diasporic traditions, this workshop investigates how rhythm, presence, and affirmation in community can create space for emotional expression, embodied liberation, and cultural connection. Through the synergy of movement and stillness, we explore the balance between rest and action, building a deeper awareness of rhythm, timing, and self-awareness. As participants are invited to follow the body’s natural impulses, they enter a space of shared witnessing and personal restoration. We hold the circle as both a space for healing and a powerful site for renewal. It is where past and present come together, and where the body becomes a vessel for joy, release, and transformation. Pause and Flow invites participants of all identities, experiences, and backgrounds to explore movement as a tool for self-discovery, community-building, and dreaming forward.
Follow APE Arts at 33 Hawley for more information this Fall 2025
This program is supported in part by a grant from the South Hadley and Northampton Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.