We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jillian Hanesworth a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jillian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

At one point while in college I decided to quit. It was all too much for me! I had lost my financial aid, I was working multiple jobs, my grades were low and I felt like the best thing to do for myself was to walk away and go back home to find a job. I went to visit with my advisor to get my withdraw form signed and he ripped it up. He refused to let me quit and aside from helping me reach my goal of completing college, he gave me my “why”. He helped me realize that I wanted to do the same for my community. When things feel too hard and the world feels like too much, I want to be the person to stop us from throwing in the towel so we can continue to demand better for ourselves. I didn’t know that I’d be an artist one day but I knew that who I was as a person was more important than what I do. My advisor gave me that gift and I’ll always be grateful to him.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a community organizer whose strongest weapon is poetry. I began writing at 7 years old when I’d write songs and teach them to my mom as she got dressed for work or church. After the murder of Michael Brown, I wrote a poem called “Little Black Boy” and was invited to read that poem at a community event and that one performance kick started my career. I realized that my community really connected to y work and I could use it to not only narrate the struggles of my people but to also educate and demand better. That’s been the mission ever since! Currently, I’m the first poet laureate in the history of Buffalo, a community activist and a literacy advocate. I put books into the hands of families throughout my community and it’s a blessing every day.

In addition to performing, I also write commissioned poetry, deliver lectures on social issues, community activation and art for advocacy. I run “Buffalo Books” which is a program used to bring literacy tools to the East side of Buffalo, I do features on songs and design/sell merch. I do everything with my community in mind. I ONLY speak life into my people and that is how I determine what opportunities to take and what words to write.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Anyone that’s trying to escape or avoid poverty understands the importance of hustle. As a Black woman I was always taught that my good had to be better, my ice had to be colder and my heat had to be hotter. That way of thinking got me stuck in hustle culture. I was almost proud of never using my PTO, contributing to the bottom line, waking up early and going to sleep never. After working myself sick multiple times I read a quote by Tricia Hersey that reads; “Rest, in its simplest form, becomes an act of resistance and a reclaiming of power because it asserts our most basic humanity. We are enough. The systems cannot have us.” That was a game changer for me… “the systems cannot have us” was one of the most powerful sentences I’ve ever read and it was like dumping cold water on myself. I’m still learning not to succumb to hustle culture but even when I find myself slipping back into old habits, I never forget the importance of taking care of myself.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I believe that the best way for society to support artists and creatives is by paying us. Everyone knows that art has value but when it’s time to pay for it, artists often find themselves short selling the art for the sake of the deal. I think simply stated, if you want to support artists, let us eat.      

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jillthepoet.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poet_jillian_hanesworth/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PoetJillianHanesworth/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/poet-jillian-hanesworth-57545115b/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJrwwm9G9HgYtEtXbJD4dkA/videos