Collectivists

Avery Franklin is a mixed race African American actor, artist, and graphic designer. Avery had been seen at the Ogden Arts Festival and has been awarded "Best emerging artist" for the work presented under Dizmo7. Avery has performed as an actor at Good Company Theater and The Ziegfeld theater for several years. Avery is also a certified graphic designer who received his documentation from the Ogden Weber Technical College.

Everett Spencer is an Actor, Musician, and Model with a long list of credits in Los Angeles, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah. He received his training from the Los Angeles City College School of Performing Arts and the Michael Flynn Actors Workshop in Utah. Everett is a highly skilled African Percussionist who has performed numerous times under the group Mel Soul and The Messenger.

August Akada also known as Awegust the great is a rapper, a model, an activist, a songwriter, music producer, lyricist, poet, and a theatrical hip-hop performing artist. When he performs he does not just perform his music, he makes sure everyone in the audience has an entertaining/educational experience, something he likes to refer to as edutainment. Awegust the great music has a focus on uplifting others and an array of topics. He also received an award from Ogden city mayor as an emerging artist. Awegust the Great uses his musical gift to inspire youth in schools and detention centers, as well as recovering addicts, giving them hope that their shortcomings in life do not define them.

KingCyborg is a singer-songwriter and producer born and raised in Luanda Island. This wild spirit and talented Angolan artist lures her listeners into a multifaceted musical world, carried by a voice tinged with soul and nostalgic influences, creating a unique brand of music that penetrates and heals. It's fair to say that Cyborg was born singing. Her passion for music and the arts, in general, was always palpable. It was common to find her singing and dancing to old school Kizomba, Semba, Rebita, Rock & Roll, and the good old school raw Blues and Jazz. Growing up in African culture, Cyborg always found herself in extremely artistic environments from food to music, dance, fashion, paint. KingCyborg started writing and composing at the age of 8, where she would recreate songs by other musicians, often adding her own melodies and lyrics. At the age of 14, KingCyborg collaborated on a song with Patrulha Secreta, A rap group from Angola-Luanda. In the same year, King participated in a music video as one of the lead dancers for a hip-hop/rap group named Os Supremos (http://youtu.be/puDIwbbNMHA KingCyborg became well known in Luanda neighborhoods as the "girl who got the moves". She was often invited to parties where she had the power to attract and elevate people's vibrations. In 2006 KingCyborg joined a hip-hop dance group called Serpents, consisting of five women. Serpentes opened doors and allowed Cyborg to share the stage with other major and famous Angolan artists such as Yuri da Cunha, Heavy C, Ary, Yola Semedo, Anselmo Ralph, Zona 5, Kalibrados, and Perola. As her profile continued to rise in Angola, KingCyborg found herself forced to choose between living in the closet or being her authentic self, out and proud. Ultimately, Cyborg decided to leave the dance group. She chose herSelf. This is when Cyborg recorded Freeze The Moment and Hypnotic, a collaboration with the music producer Mari Timans. Something happened right there, at that moment: With broken English and a thick accent, the duo used every resource at their disposal to make things happen. They began recording in the safety and privacy of their own homes, using silk-stockings over microphones to buffer street noise. These two freestyle jams were created in a closet. Literally, in a closet. But with a ferocity that has become Cyborg’s trademark. Facing political persecution, Cyborg was forced to abandon her country (Angola) and seek refuge in South Africa. While often living in precarious conditions, KingCyborg remained positive and ambitious and always turned to her arts, to music. Writing and singing. Creativity never stopped flowing. Her work is infused by the pain, anger, and trauma she has endured. After attempts to settle in Cape Town failed, it was time to consider a leap of faith. With a student visa, Cyborg flew to San Francisco where she studied English and Business, and began the process of applying for asylum. The process took over three years but often felt like an eternity. Meanwhile, Cyborg faced the challenges of being a foreigner, an asylum seeker, an outsider to a new culture. No job was too small: she worked under the table as a cleaning lady, a house painter, a mover, and a teacher. All of these helped keep food on the table and a bed to which to sleep. Fleeing one’s home, leaving everything behind, while creating a new life in a foreign country is not easy. But there were silver linings: Cyborg became the main subject in a national documentary film directed by Tom Shepard and producer Jen Gilomen. Unsettled http://www.unsettled.film/ showcases Cyborg's real-life journey of being a person of color, gay, and an immigrant in the USA. Unsettled was filmed over 5 years and released in 2019 winning several awards, press coverage, and tours in many countries around the world. In 2020, KingCyborg released Been There with thousands of streams on multiple platforms, including Spotify. A song about self-discovery and connection, Been There recounts Cyborg’s journey. It's about embracing your good and bad sides: the beautiful and ugly. The angelic and the wicked. It's about everyone who is or was oppressed and is on a journey of healing and self-love. It's shadow work. Been There is a reinvention and continuation of her healing process through melodies: to not just help herself but to also help others find enlightenment and peace. KingCyborg is a very unique being with a very unique style. One must open one’s chakras to feel her art. Deep dive into the infinite waters and shadow work. Heal.

Daniel Salah Tomas has been an artist for as long as he can remember. Originally born in Sudan, Daniel has spent the past 21 years living in Utah, where he has transformed the challenges and obstacles he encountered into a life filled with creativity and purpose. Daniel combines his deep passion for art, sports, and music as a means of escape and self-expression. Through art, he has seen countless faces tell his story; through music, he hears echoes of his experiences in sound; and through sports, he conquers every battle, from the fields of Sudan to the landscapes of the Motherland. His roots continually remind him of his role as a protector and mentor to his younger siblings. One of Daniel’s earliest and most cherished memories of art involves sketching stick figures, a humble beginning that ultimately drew him to the profound love he now has for artistic expression. From oil pastels to watercolors and vibrant oil paintings, Daniel’s colorful works reflect the richness of his personal story. As an artist, Daniel has also honed the ability to tell stories through poetry and visual imagery. Using flash imagery and unique perspectives, he captivates viewers, inviting them to see the world through his lens. His art carries a universal message that transcends barriers, speaking to people of all walks of life. In the near future, Daniel intends to share his knowledge and educate others through his art, continuing to inspire and connect with audiences on a deeper level.

Throughout the course of his musical career, Shaddie has won over the hearts of music lovers from all walks of life. Performing at a variety of venues, making dozens of appearances, all the while recording new music, Shaddie has earned the admiration and affection of countless fans, serving as both an inspiration and role model. Rashaad "Shaddie" Nunnally is an entertainer from the Crestside streets of North Vallejo born on July 1st. Shaddie is a father, athlete, musician, comedian, entertainer, songwriter, performer and all-around fun character to know and be around. His name Rashaad Dominic, was given by Yahweh through a dream his father had when he was 16 years-old. Shaddie was raised as the only child by his mother with help from his grandparents after the divorce of his parents. At the age of two after an incident of almost being shot along with his father while in his arms during an altercation in a hotel, his mother left the County of Kings in the City of Lemoore. Shaadie and his mother were homeless with only the clothes on their back and had to move in with his grandparents on the 12 hundred block of Griffin Drive in the North Vallejo neighborhood of the Country Club Crest. While growing up in The Crest, he also spent a lot of time in Georgia and North Carolina which is the hub of both sides of his family by way of Trinidad-Tobago and Kingston, Jamaica. Due to his wide range of traveling to visit family he has seen and been a part of many different types of struggles. After living in Vallejo since the age of two, and traveling back and forth between California, Georgia and North Carolina he then moved to Sacramento due to his mothers job change in efforts of getting Shaadie in a better environment as well as a better academic and athletic school. After moving from Vallejo to Sacramento in 2002, and graduating in 2004, he would be the first in over 40 years to be offered and sign a full track and field scholarship UC Berkeley (Cal). While at UC Berkeley, he ran in to old child hood friends from the Pop Warner football days; Marshawn Lynch, Robert Jordan and Virdell Larkins and soon learned that by distant relatives they were all in fact cousins. He then found out that many others in their huge family were all collegiate athletes throughout the country as well. Once the cousins linked up, they all collectively made the patented "Twist-n-Hook" hand signal to represent the Fam 1st Family movement that they all created, believed in and lived. Shaadie attended UC Berkeley on scholarship until 2007 where he withdrew from the school to grow on his own accord and focus on his music and family full time. Since then, Shaadie has been a part of the co-op mFm; Music Family Money which consist of 5 of the Fam 1st Family members who are all relatives, ex-collegiate athletes and music artists who came together to showcase their individual and combined musical talents on stage and in recordings. He also co-founded and runs his own non-profit organization and record label along with his brother Brandon "KB" Henry called Mac Life which is an acronym for Mind's Achieving Change Living In Forgotten Environments. In 2016 Shaadie moved him and his family to the State of Utah in efforts to have a better living and growth situation for his wife and kids outside of the financial and environmental struggles they faced while being in the Valley and Bay Area of Northern California. By 2017 Shaadie connected with Carey "CJ" Drisdom of the Changing Lanes Experience Band. Since their joining of forces CJ Drisdom has not only become his personal music manager, but also hired Shaddie as a lead vocalist and MC in his Changing Lanes Entertainment Group as a member of The Lane Changers Band. He also signed Shaddie as the first artist out of the Lakehouse Studios facility in Downtown Salt Lake City.

Jazz Khai Bynum is a professional ballet dancer in Ballet West’s second company. She began training at the age of 5 with Hudson Repertory Dance Theatres after school program. She continued her training in Maryland where she danced at Maryland Youth Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlems’ Residency Program at the Kennedy Center. Jazz always knew she wanted to be a ballet dancer and has never let anything stop her from pursuing her dream. Some of the biggest obstacles she has had to overcome were the 4 major surgeries she recovered from, which she later learned were a result of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: a hypermobility disorder. Jazz has also received her B.F.A in Contemporary Performance with an emphasis in ballet from The Boston Conservatory. Her goals as a ballet dancer are to become a principal dancer, be a part of the change to normalize black faces in ballet companies and dismantle microaggressions in our workspace, be an example for young brown and black ballerinas that we do belong, and to create awareness and better care for young dancers and dancers in higher education to have the proper facilities to recover from injuries and daily care. She believes we are artistic athletes, and our care should be no different than the professional and D1/D2 etc. athletes. In addition to becoming a professional ballerina Jazz wants to publish a few books and open her own Wedding and Event Planning business. She is also an activist and protester so as much change she is striving for in the dance world she is actively working and fighting for black and brown people to receive the equality we deserve. Jazz lives her life passionately and will always strive to spread love and positivity.

C. Valenta, 23, Salt Lake City Cornelius was raised by a single mother of 6 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The adversity he faced left him with two options: follow those before him or deviate, despite the risk it carries. His question wasn’t where to start, but how to establish oneself while lacking direction. During his childhood, his mother would play music in a van that often served as their home. Unknowingly at that time, music would play a pivotal role in the years to come. His hardships changed his priorities, forcing him to place his education on hold, and focus on earning a stable income. In 2015, Cornelius obtained his GED before enrolling at Salt Lake Community College. There he would study two other degrees before he found himself captivated by the music. In November of 2018, music’s impact would allow him to become C. Valenta; Creating a mouthpiece for silenced adversities.

Growing up in African culture, Cyborg always found herself in extremely artistic environments from food to music, dance, fashion, paint.

J Williams is an Atlanta native who creates mixed media art that often reflects aspects of the stories she’s written. Her work comprises portraits of the faceless, voiceless, real, and unreal with hidden nods to Afrofuturism, folklore, and social issues.

Early Life Torris Fairley is a comedian, producer, and promoter born and raised on the Westside of Chicago. He grew up in a family that were fans of the stand up comedy and has expressed that the sound of his mother's laugh had a major influence on him: "My mom has this laugh that makes things funnier than they are. You can't fake her type of laugh. It's a laugh from the soul and hearing it growing up is what influenced me to want to make people laugh. I've always credited Richard Pryor for sparking my brain to become a comedian, but my mom was the first to spark my brain to make people laugh. I fell in love with laughter because of her." Career When Torris was 16, he watched"Richard Pryor: Live In Concert" , which he describes as "a life changing moment". This is when his love for stand up reached a new height, as he thought about what it would be like to be on stage performing a routine that made a huge crowd of people laugh for more than an hour. He also claims that after watching "Eddie Griffin: Dysfunctional Family", he knew for sure he wanted to give stand up a shot. On June 7, 2004 he moved to Las Vegas at the age of 19. His first attempt at stand up happened in late 2005. " The first time I went on stage I did pretty good for my first time. Then I went on a couple more times and thought I was getting the hang of it. Then one night I went on stage and totally died. Not one thing was funny and being on stage telling jokes and to have no one respond was the most uncomfortable feeling at that moment. I quit after that". Torris decided stand up wasn't for him. On March 10, 2010, Torris decided to give stand up another shot and since then has performed in many cities that includes hosting and headlining spots. Torris produced his first comedy show and called it "The Northside Comedy Jam". The show lasted for a little over a year. Since then, he has produced numerous shows in Las Vegas, Chicago, and Salt Lake City. In April of 2017, he moved to Salt Lake City, UT, where he currently hosts "A Fairley Good Open Mic"; a open mic event that serves as a showcase on the last Monday of the month.

Youri is a 25-year-old from Salt Lake City, Utah. Born in Boston, raised in Haiti until the age of 4, and landed in the Salt Lake Valley after that Youri has been exposed to different languages, people, cultures, and perspectives his whole life. At a young age, he began to write in an effort to talk himself through issues going on around him and within him and has never put the pen down since. He writes with a unique rhythm and cadence that comes naturally and adds a level of nuance to his art. He has a love for making others smile through his words and creates Portraits, poetry portraits when he gets the chance. When he’s not writing or working, he is playing soccer or connecting with friends and enjoying the day. He is excited to take this next step in his journey as a writer.