visionary.
solutionary.
collaborator.
AS FEATURED IN
LATEST BOOK RELEASE!
Faith Made Flesh
The Black Child Legacy Campaign for Transformative Justice and Healthy Futures
Through timely and urgent case studies and personal reflections, Faith Made Flesh advances the need to address societal challenges through creative engagement with diverse institutional and individual stakeholders. The findings offer an innovative model to other regions aiming to cultivate thriving community-city-school partnerships that center the well-being of Black children and Black futures.
"learning is the soul of social change" ~ vajra
"learning is the soul of social change" ~ vajra
my purpose
Originally from Berkeley, CA, I was deeply influenced by my experiences in the Black and Xicanx Studies Departments at Berkeley High School in the mid-1990s.
In the 10th grade, my final exam questioned, “What are you doing to stop and/or curtail the spread of white supremacy in yourself, community, and this world?” This profound question continues to shape my path and purpose today.
The LA rapper and Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar teaches, If I'm gonna tell a real story, I'm gonna start with my name.
My full name is Vajra Mujiba Watson. My parents believe strongly in the meaning of names and so Vajra in Sanskrit means diamond in your heart. Mujiba in Arabic means hearer of prayers. While in many ways my names set me apart as a white woman, it is my last name Watson that delineates my DNA of white supremacy.
So, there’s a lot of threads just within how we come to be called, what we are called, and the lineages we represent that impact our life trajectories.
visionary.
In 2008, I founded Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS), an award-winning literary arts organization that reclaims and reimagines schooling.
solutionary.
My life’s work exists at the intersections of theory and practice, policies and pedagogies. I’m devoted to teaching and learning as vehicles for social change.
collaborator.
I am honored to serve on the Board of Directors for a number of community-based organizations.
hey vajra, i’d love to…
KIND WORDS
“Dr. Watson is extraordinarily amazing at inspiring and moving people, institutions, communities, and broken systems to a once unimaginable vision of collaborative beauty that can make the world better through education. She is a master architect!”
colleagues & mentors
Get to know some of the people I quote, reference, thank, and collaborate with!
Sara Lawrence-LightfootSara Lawrence-Lightfoot is an American sociologist who examines the culture of schools, the patterns and structures of classroom life, socialization within families and communities, and the relationships between culture and learning styles. In 1984, she was the recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Prize. She is currently the Emily Hargroves Fisher Endowed Chair at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Lawrence-Lightfoot has pioneered portraiture, an approach to social science methodology that bridges the realms of aesthetics and empiricism, which she continues to use in her own work.
Pedro NogueraPedro Noguera is the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the USC Rossier School of Education. A sociologist, Noguera’s research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions. He is the author, co-author and editor of 13 books. Noguera has received awards from the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford University), from the National Association of Secondary School Principals and from the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research (NYU) for his research and advocacy efforts aimed at fighting poverty.
Hodari B. DavisHodari B. Davis is the Artistic Director of Young Gifted and Black and a Partner at Edutainment for Equity. Hodari served as the National Program Director for Youth Speaks for over 12 years, including as the visionary and key organizer of the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Network. He is also a founder of the Life is Living Festival and Campaign. His extensive experience as an educator, activist, arts administrator, and community organizer have made him a leader in the field and a sought after speaker and pedagogue. He has presented his work and pedagogy in countries around the world including Iran, Malta, Spain, Ghana, and London.
Mark WarrenMark Warren is a sociologist and professor of public policy and public affairs in the McCormack Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Mark studies and works with community and youth organizing groups seeking to promote equity and justice in education, community development and American democratic life. He is committed to developing a new approach to scholarly work that is engaged and collaborative with community organizers and education activists. Mark is the author of several books that highlight organizing against systemic racism and creating models of public education that are empowering for young people and families.
Christopher ChatmonChristopher Chatmon is the CEO and Founder of Kingmakers of Oakland (KOO), an award winning nonprofit that supports school districts around the country to improve the educational and life outcomes of Black Boys. For 10 years Chatmon served as the first Executive Director of the office of African American Male Achievement (“AAMA”) for the Oakland Unified School District (“OUSD”). Chatmon is passionate about uplifting the African-American community and has dedicated his career and life’s work to creating pathways of success for Black Youth within Oakland and beyond.
Leigh PatelLeigh Patel is a transdisciplinary scholar who studies the narratives that create material realities in society. Her research focuses on both the ways schooling delivers inequities and how education can be a tool for liberation. She is a highly sought-after speaker and well-regarded scholar across the fields of education, ethnic studies, critical higher education studies, and literacy. Her work is based in the knowledge that as long as oppression has existed so have freedom struggles, including the black radical tradition, decolonization, and fugitive study groups.