Daily Inspiration: Meet Shanae Sharon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shanae Sharon.

Hi Shanae, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
This year marks my 16th year of living in LA. I moved here from NYC on April 19, 2009, in search of sunshine and good times. I landed a role in corporate marketing for a healthcare company but found myself constantly volunteering for arts education non-profits doing everything from teaching acting to kids with HIV, and kids in transitional housing, to cleaning and organizing art supplies, and helping backstage or as an usher for youth arts events and productions. In August of 2014, I deciding to return to NYC to attend NYU. There, I obtained a MA in Educational Theatre for Communities and Colleges, while working as a teaching artist and directing educational theater for young audiences.

My undergraduate experience took place at the University of Pittsburgh where I studied Theater Arts, Political Science and African Studies. I aligned with a black theater company on campus called, The Kuntu Repertory Theater, it was founded by my mentor, Dr. Vernell A. Lillie. I also worked with other local black theater companies while attending PITT as both an actress and a director. My first year out of school, I stayed in Pittsburgh to tour schools doing educational theater about bullying, character development and drug abuse. I then set off to go to NYC as I was invited to take part in the prestigious Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors Lab of 2007. While in NYC my first go round, I worked with AUDELCO the Audience Development Committee to put together a newsletter promoting black theater, I also joined a multi-cultural group called The Riverview Players of Harlem, which directed staged readings, screened films and more. It was led by Laurence Holder, the playwright who put Denzel Washington on the map, as he wrote the play where he first portrayed Malcolm X before landing the role for Spike Lee’s film. I was always surrounded by artist no matter what city I resided in.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
When I returned to LA from NYC in August of 2015, I thought I was going to be able to start my career at a mid-level due to all of the expertise I had in marketing, arts, and education. However, it was a bumpy journey back. I traded my high paying marketing gig for a combination of teaching artist roles and part-time arts administration roles. I also launched my own program Empowered Young Artists and took on freelance work as a publicist and grants writer. It took about two years before I felt I landed something solid. In 2018, I became the county’s first Juvenile Justice Coordinator and I also took on a Program Director role at a children’s museum. In one role, I was helping to manage a $2.5 million contract to place arts programs in juvenile camps and halls and work with the various arts organizations under that contract. That is how I learned about Street Poets Inc. the organization I run today. In my other role, I placed programs in parks, libraries, and worked with teens to facilitate arts based youth participatory action research projects. Covid hit in 2020 and I transitioned into running Tina Knowles program, the Angels and Warriors, which focused on mentorship, filmmaking, animation and more. Around this same time, I joined a newly formed organization called The Black Creators Collective to help produce theater projects primarily in South LA but sometimes in the valley.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve dedicated 20 years to working in arts education and administration. I am currently the Executive Director of Street Poets Inc., an organization dedicated to harnessing the healing power of poetry, music, spoken word and ritual to save lives, create community and transform culture. I am excited to lead this organization as we move into the Street Poets Center for Community, Culture and Wellness in South Los Angeles which is slated to open in 2025. This new space will serve as a dedicated hub for youth creative expression, healing, and community building. This organization has a rich history and is well respected in the community. Since joining, I’ve introduced new programs such as Healing Horizon’s, a women’s arts healing circle and a hip hop theater program. I’m very passionate about workforce development and teaching young people how to have skills that they can use within the creative economy.

What were you like growing up?
I grew in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia. I came from a very big and loving family, our Christmas and Easter dinners, summer BBQs and family birthday parties always had 40 or more family members in attendance. I was a little on the shier side as a small child, but I always had a love for writing and visual arts. When I was a teen, I began doing theater. One summer while I was hanging around at home reading books, my neighbor knocked on the door and asked me if I wanted to go to Africa. I said yes, what do I need to do? She told me a place and time to show up with a monologue. I happened to have a monologue I performed for my churches drama group. I went and it changed my destiny. I got into a show called “Journey to Freedom 2ooo” for a program called Journey to Freedom. The show chronicled what happened after the slave ships hit the American shores up to the current day highlighting the Harlem renaissance, civil rights movement, Motown era and more. We performed at the Kimmel Center of Performing Arts, one of the biggest stages in Philly. Then we left for Nigeria and Senegal, where we performed for local audiences and experienced going to the slave dungeon Gorée Island in Dakar, Senegal and standing at the door of no return. I returned with a mission of wanting to give back to young people in the way that this program gave to me. Having experienced the transformative and healing power of the arts, I knew I had to commit my life to providing opportunities for others to do the same. I recently took my first trip back to Africa as an adult, I went to Accra, Ghana and Elmina, Ghana where I once again stood at the door of no return, and also re-entered the door of return.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://streetpoetsinc.com/
• Instagram: @Shanaebehinddascenes
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smsharon
• Other: https://www.the-black-creators-collective.com/about?pgid=l9azovx8-d36dd573-b7d5-4362-b6eb-2191087b2a19