Oro 5

Oro 5 was invited to emcee and be a speaker at the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27. This opportunity will support Oro 5’s continuous work in grassroots climate justice, centering marginalized voices and speaking about the importance of cultural strategy in the climate justice movement on a global stage.

This grant will go towards supporting Oro 5’s transportation, food, and board in Cairo cost as they travel to Sharam al Shiek, Egypt in November.

Jeannine Kayembe-Oro will attend South by Southwest (SXSW) held in Austin, Texas. SXSW is an international convening of the multi-genre, multi-medium tech, film, and music industries. Jeannine has been selected to be an official SXSW artist on behalf of Carefree Black Girl (CFBG, a brand that produces a well-known podcast and events.) As part of this convening Jeannine has been asked to emcee and perform in its artist showcase where she will be sharing a new body of work that connects to her environmental activism; the first SXSW showcase honoring black women in music. 

Jeannine “JBK” Kayembe is a painter, writer, musical performer and co-founder of LifeDoGrow Urban Farm in North Philadelphia. Most of her writing is rooted in her experience as a world traveler, land steward, and being a queer woman of color (QWOC). Jeannine chooses to paint portraits of people whom the world tries to erase in order to immortalize them, from Henrietta Lacks to her best friend Gizzle, a QWOC rapper. Jeannine describes co-founding LifeDoGrow Urban Farm as the foundation to her creative place-making practice. Through her leadership at LifeDoGrow, Jeannine aims to change the narrative of what environmental justice can mean by changing the environment of her neighborhood into a safer space using healthy food and public art.

JBK will facilitate three farm-to-table culinary workshops utilizing food grown at Life Do Grow urban farm and recipes collected from surrounding neighbors. Fresh ingredients such as herbs, vegetables, edible flowers, infused oils, and native plants will be used to make the meals, which will be served to neighbors, community members, and volunteers. JBK and a youth assistant will paint three 4 x 5 ft. acrylic portraits of these neighbors and their food narratives on wood sheets covered in resin for weatherproofing. JBK will use lumber and metal pipe to construct the stands on which the portraits will be attached, and they'll be installed throughout the farm to reflect the cultural connection to the food the farm grows and cooks.