I think it's like of the utmost importance
for artists to be involved in community work.
Honestly, music moves people.
It connects to people in a way that sometimes a speech can't.
So, I feel like it is our job to be involved in community work.
And if we're not involved in community work, then we failed.
My name is Fana Hues.
I use she/her pronouns.
You can call me Fana.
Right now, we're in View Park, California
where I would come to my Aim For the Heart meetings.
Basically, what we do is we teach emotional literacy through art.
My favorite part is when I see people discover themselves.
I was going into San Quentin prison for about a year
every other week.
It was life-changing for me just because watching the people in there
find new parts of themselves and find joy and things
where there shouldn't be any joy or light
where there shouldn't be any light
is the best thing that this program has brought to me.
Aim for the heart played a huge role in my life.
It's where I found my voice.
It's where I found my pin.
And it's where I learned how to be a community worker.
I still need time to wait.
If you could wait.
There's infinite inspiration for me when it comes to Black women.
I pull from my mom's experiences, my sisters', my best friend's.
Black women have been my point of inspiration my whole life too.
It's like my perspective as a kid
is like always looking up at a Black woman.
And also, there's so much love.
Like even just meeting you for the first time, there's bond in there.
- Right. - It's so easy.
There's just like this familiarity that comes with being a Black woman
in America, and also in LA.
In LA, for sure.
My name is Jazzi McGilbert, and my pronouns are she/her.
In my family, my mom is the person who shaped me the most.
Just watching her every day, that's what I wanted to be like.
I opened Rep Club nine months after my mom passed away.
I think growing up in South Central and then I was going to school
in West LA, I just wanted to shine a light on all of the beautiful people.
And that's why the space is so colorful
because the people I grew up around are so colorful.
And just to create a space for us.
There wasn't a lot of space for me in these predominantly White institutions
that I went to school at, I didn't feel represented.
I didn't feel represented on those bookshelves.
I didn't feel represented in the classroom.
I wanted to create a space where I felt really seen.
That's really important because we're not alone out here.
I think my mom would be unbelievably proud of everything
that I'm doing right now.
And I wish she was here to help me with it all.
She would have been my right-hand woman.
But I know this is only happening because of her.
I think there's so much power in sharing your story.
I think there's so much that comes with that
and so many people that will feel seen.
And I think there's something really cool about us, Black women
collaborating with Levi's, which has represented Americana
in so many ways.
And I think Black women have been left out of that definition.
And I'm like, "What is America without Black women?"
Exactly.
People need to see you.
Because when they see you doing these things
they can picture themselves doing it.
That's something that's really important in my writing and my music
and the work that I do.
You're giving permission to grow without those borders
of fitting into a box.
We as Black women are not given our flowers in real time.
Something has to change.
Giving permission for the next generation
or the people who are looking up to you to be them, their full selves.
VICE MEDIA GROUP