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

Mannikka, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I credit my mom for so much of my success. I look back now as a mother of three kids (and a happy little pup!) and I wonder–how did she do this without any help? My father passed away when I was 8 years old, which meant my mom was alone to take care of her three children. One income. One chauffer to drive to every game. One manager to organize all the schedules. One cook to feed all the mouths.

My mother was at every practice, game, rehearsal, or event that I participated in. And as she tells it, “I did it all!” Basketball, soccer, track, dance…

She did this all the while being at every event that my siblings participated in too. She was always the loudest one screaming. She even would show up to my track meets and dance recitals with pictures of my face on her shirt. I was totally embarrassed. But now, when I am out and about doing any speaking engagement, I crave that encouragement. That honor. That endless belief that I am the best no matter what anyone says or who I am “competing against.” It is in the silence that I hear my mom the most. And now when I look back on my participation in youth sports I no longer roll my eyes. Instead, I have learned to tuck those memories inside of my heart somewhere safe. Those are the precious moments that I cherish in my youth.

Besides this, my mom had a lot of “isms” and sayings she would tell us on repeat. The one that echos the most is “GO PLAY!” I never really enjoyed hearing this, but after being given the directive, I always appreciated having the permission granted. Today, those words show up for me in major ways. In a world that puts so much emphasis on work and perfectionism, I need some play in my life. To engage in activities that require nothing of me but to be present, is the greatest gift I can give myself. To get lost in an activity or to do something just because it feels good is a part of my childhood that I lost somewhere along the way of growing up. It was only recently that I began to engage in PLAY again. And the benefits for my mental health have been phenomenal. I don’t have to wrap my worth up in likes, or hearts, or comments. I am good just dancing in my basement with some hip hop music trying to learn a tik tok. I never post it, but I have the best time pretending I should be famous!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am the youngest child and my siblings lie anywhere between 6-18 years older than me. My house was always full on the weekends and for holidays, but during the week, it was just me. My mom and siblings left early for work and school, so once they were gone the house got eerily quiet. To cure the loneliness, I would dance in my kitchen. I would tap dance to a cassette tape of Alvin and the Chipmunks and I would make up routines before school started. I eventually moved on from A&C when my family got cable. I started watching MTV and stumbled upon one of my older sisters VHS tapes of Paula Abdul. This is when my performances really began to elevate! I may not of understand anything about the lyrics, but I learned about the rhythm and culture of hip hop during these morning jam sessions. On the days I wasn’t kicking the boys butt in soccer– I would take my choreography to school and would teach my friends at recess. One year, I made up a nursery rhyme rap routine and performed it for the school talent show. My friends were my backup, keeping the beatbox for me in the background. I’d like to say this was my first ever spoken word performance.

While this was going on, I was also heavily involved in my church. My mom made my siblings and I ride into the city from the suburbs on Friday nights for choir rehearsal. We would then return back on Sundays, somedays all day. I am talking 7 a.m.-7p.m. It was during these interactions that I began to build the foundation of my faith. I began to understand what it meant to be a legacy. A descendent of enslaved peoples. I watched the anointing and listened to the sermons deeply. My grandfather jokes that I could always repeat back to him what I had just heard, verbatim.

While I was protected and taken care of in my childhood, I was always fraught with the agonizing pain of not belonging. Growing up in a predominantly white community while also frequenting the inner city and my black church family on the weekends, often times made me feel as though I was stuck in the in between. There is a line in the movie “Selena” where she talks about being too American for the Mexicans and to Mexican for the Americans. I feel in love with the movie after hearing that line. I could totally relate!

I say all this because the work that I do is centered around making sure students know they belong and deserve to be here. No one in my circle or family did anything to make me feel like I wasn’t worthy. But hormones and signaling from society can really confuse the teenage and preteen brain. My mission is to create spaces where students can openly express themselves in community. I work with children on showing up and affirming one another. I work on drafting and embracing what it means to suck at something the first time. And then together collectively we share our work and get it out in the open. One of the greatest weapons against isolation, confusion, and loneliness is storytelling. It is simple and requires little resources. All students have to do is have the courage and willingness to share their voice. So I use my wacky and quirky humor, hip hop background, past histories, and spirituality to build a space for them to do just that. Once the trust is set in place, then the vulnerability happens. And thats where all the magic exists!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I do not believe there are non creatives walking about this world. Just like many words, this one has been redefined and misinterpreted so much so that it has lost its essence and its true meaning. There are so many choices a person makes in their day that could be considered creative only if we allowed for this word to breathe and be what it is, which is in my opinion: beauty. And we all know the old adage about beauty…

Some insight? Break some rules. Give yourself permission to be non conventional in harmless ways. When I pivot from operating from a scarcity mentality (i.e. fear of being wrong, of loss, of upsetting someone else…) and focus on abundance, I am able to be more free–more imaginative–I see the possible in the impossible. My access to my genius is not blocked and I am able to find innovative ways to communicate with others in a variety of modalities.

The one thing you have to believe in order to receive the gift of creativity is that it is endless and it is for everyone.

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

For me, it’s limiting how much I put my faith in a system that measures success by likes and hearts. Training my brain to understand that building algorithms to measure the quality of my creations will only lead to the blues. I saw a quote the other day that I felt deep in my core:

“Know that the algorithm will never correctly judge you or your creations. It has no taste in art.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.educationalistmethod.com
• Instagram: the_educationalist_method
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mannikka-rosa-2674a798/
• Twitter: @Mannikka_Rosa
• Youtube: @the_educationalist_method
• TikTok: @the_educationalist

Image Credits
Emily Billington: Emily Billington Photography Julie Lieblich: Market street Studio Photography