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Growing up with a mother who organized in environmental justice and union organizing steeped in the black radical tradition, led to 15-year-old Ziquelle’s connection and involvement with a multitude of youth organizations. Thus, embracing their calling in community organizing.
Ziquelle came out of deep grassroots organizing community with movement formations in Boston. Ziquelle was an early member of the Roxbury Environmental Empowerment Project (REEP), supporting the organizing efforts to build the interdependence and self-determination of neighborhoods through the Grow or Die campaign in 2010. It was through revitalizing vacant land and creating sustainable food sources in neglected neighborhoods that proved as their site in creating change and possibilities for Black residents in Roxbury.
In 2012, Ziquelle furthered their facilitation and organizing work with The City School’s Summer Leadership Program (SLP). They had their start in the organization as a participant of the program, and grew into their leadership style as an organizer and emergent facilitator. Ziquelle has continued to steward a multitude of political projects, strengthen the practice of healing centered engagement and youth work experience. This was done through leading affinity spaces for Black, queer, and non-binary youth and student organizers to develop their leadership skills necessary for visionary campaign work. Growing through a variety of teaching and organizing positions in the organization, Ziquelle became the Executive Director of the program in 2017 and Co-Director in 2018.
They joined Youth Justice & Power Union (YJPU), which was vital to their development as an organizer. Ziquelle learned to develop a multi-issue campaign that demanded divestment from policing and investment in youth employment; through leading a series of direct actions targeting elected officials; and supervise and mentor other organizers.
Ziquelle has continued to work as the Lead Organizer of Base-Building at Youth Justice and Power Union. It was through their work over the past 8 years, that Ziquelle understood their queerness, working class status, gender nonconformity, and blackness as political statements needed to develop more complete stories about what’s happening to marginalized people and create transformative change.