Meet Dr. Jabani Bennett

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Jabani Bennett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Jabani below.

Hi Dr. Jabani , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I received my work ethic from my parents – my father and stepfather. My stepfather was the late Dr. J. Blaine Hudson, a civil rights activist, poet, educator and the dean of UofL’s College of Arts & Sciences. My father, James Bennett, is a retired chemical technician, self-taught artist, and community photographer who has visually captured more than forty years of my hometown’s history. My fathers demonstrated disciplined and tenacious habits in project management in an era framed by toxic work culture that valued production over wellness. I respect their journey and I followed their approaches in my own career path for many decades.

Now in my forties, I value my well-being, intuition and freedom more which closely reflects my mother’s life choices. She has a more uneven career path in community revitalization, wellness coaching and social justice youth leadership development. She also spent many years as a homemaker and freelancer. I have learned to respect that life path more now as a full time artist- mama. Living life on your own terms matter.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

As a visual artist, cultural strategist and educator, I am committed to increased visibility for underrepresented creative professionals in the American Midwest. As a visionary with development management experience, I love co-creating meaningful projects that support collective healing through the arts. My career as an award-winning public-school visual arts educator with over fifteen years of effective teaching practice informs my current projects in arts & culture. With a history of building strong relationships with diverse families in New York City and Louisville, KY, I deeply believe in the power of asset-based approaches in community development for systemic change in the arts. My latest project is leading the Center for Health Equity CREATE arts directory project – a citywide initiative for underserved arts professionals. I also recently served as the first Black woman and openly queer director of the Women’s Center at the University of Louisville with the aim to co-design affirming spaces committed to gender equity from an intersectional feminist framework.

Now as a full-time artist, I am thrilled to share my love for both visual storytelling, and research about equity-centered leadership strategies in the arts. My vibrant mixed media collage portraits aim to deconstruct the historical narratives about the land and brown skinned femme bodies living in Kentucky through versatile layering techniques that also delineate diverse representations of beauty. These image-making processes nurtures strength and inner peace for myself as an artist-mother, “water dancer,” and certified yoga teacher committed to radical joy as a liberatory practice.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three skills that I believe that support my journey this far are 1) my reflective practice for personal growth, 2) a practice of reimagining places as courageous spaces for belonging and psychological safety through collaborative planning and equity-centered facilitation , 3) learning how to be mindfully present despite any feelings of discomfort. All three skills support me moving forward with my life’s work in the arts. There is always something to learn about myself and others.

My advice to creatives of all ages is to follow your joy not as a destination but your pathway to discover the magic in your own humanity. We are in deep gratitude for your unique contributions toward our collective experiences on Earth.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

My community, the Higher Power, and ancestors have helped me realize the beauty in myself. I am always inspired by stories of resiliency and effective movement work demonstrated by strategic leaders in Kentucky’s history and beyond. How did he/she/they triumph over such grave challenges without modern-day technological tools that we have now? What kept joy in their spirits and bodies daily? For disabled, queer, Black, indigenous, immigrant, economically vulnerable folks – how did y’all do it?

I find peace in the recognition of my ancestors and ancestral wisdom through my daily rituals in African diasporic spirituality. I also marvel at the diverse ways of knowing and care practices that have historically helped black folks survive and thrive in this stratified society. I have three degrees and I still feel there is world of knowledge that I do not know to co-create collective wellness as a human species. Mother Earth is still teaching all of us. By actively listening, I feel I can find my own version of success – inner peace.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Dr.jabani
• Linkedin: Jabani Bennett

Image Credits

Jabani Bennett