Thursday, February 15 | 4:00 - 5:00 PM | Emerson Suites
One of our featured events during our 2024 MLK Campus-Wide Celebration Week, Ithaca College is please to welcome back Ithaca College alumnus Cyepress Rite ’22 and Eden Strachan '21 for a special keynote presentation entitled, "Amplifying the Voices of Womxn of Color." This event will include insightful remarks and speaker-led interactive activities for audience participation.
Cyepress Ifamayami Brathwaite '22 (they/them) is a Trinidadian-American multimedia artist and interdisciplinary scholar. Their creative-theorizing is rooted in ancestral memory-keeping, exilic exploration, and freedom dreaming. Weaving wisdom from their practice as a doula, herbalist, facilitator, and student of Ifá, their work serves to encourage themselves and others to reclaim the power of our bodies and imaginations. They create portals for people to re-channel our energy from production for the oppressor into creation for ourselves, our communities, and our lineages. Cyepress received their B.A. in Queerness and Black Identity Politics through Ithaca College's Integrative Studies Program. A poet at heart, Cyepress is their ancestors' baby.
Eden Strachan '21 is a national award-winning journalist and filmmaker whose work has been published by CNN and NPR alike. While completing her Bachelor’s Degree at Ithaca College, Strachan also trained at many major media companies including CBS Television Studios, VICE, and the Emmys.
In addition to her media work, Strachan is the Author and Founder of Black Girls Don’t Get Love, a book and multimedia coming of age brand for girls of color. Strachan was recently offered a book deal to re-release the originally self-published book nationally. Strachan is also working to develop the Black Girls Don't Get Love book into a television series.
Building upon the principles in her book, Strachan founded, and serves as the Executive Director of Black Girls WILL Get Love, Inc., the non-profit arm of Black Girls Don't Get Love. To date, Black Girls WILL Get Love, Inc. has served over 150 girls, secured over $70,000 in brand sponsorships, and has been recognized by the CNY Business Journal with a Rising Star award for its impact in the Central New York area. In 2023, Strachan was recognized amongst the "40 Under Forty," by the CNY Business Journal.