Meet The Tribe

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Omowale Adewale is a devoted father of two daughters and one son. Wale is a community organizer and an educator using his praxis Unapologetically Black Vegan Intersectionality. He is co-founder and executive director of Grassroots Artists Movement (G.A.ME) and founder of Black VegFest. Omowale is the author of "An Introduction to Veganism and Agricultural Globalism" a self-published piece focused on helping the international community navigate the food industry in search of ethical resources in food and nutrition. Wale is a former champion boxer and champion kickboxer who also fought mma. He loves teaching combat training, growing and making food and building long-term community support. 

Email Omowale at  omwale@gamenyc.org 

 Nadia Muyeeb is a Mom, Organizer and a Creative. The Vegan Mom of three loves hiking, camping and boxing. Nadia is a Black VegFest Organizer, who began first organizing speakers/performers and our volunteer team during 2018 and 2019. Nadia takes the lead on Black VegFest's first non-festival project Senior Food Demos, where we offer healthy and tasty options to our community's most vulnerable. Nadia belongs to a massive family of artists. Her artistry collection is a wide portfolio of paintings and handmade jewelry using gemstones, brass and silver wire and other materials. Her artworks are available on social media and Etsy. 

During 2020, you can find Nadia at solidarity and support protests and events for all Black People, laughing and creating or doing boxing mittwork to exercise and increase her focus and mental health. 

Email Nadia at  nadia@blackvegfest.org 

 Francis Peña is a Grassroots Artists MovEment (G.A.ME) – Black VegFest co-founder, organizing committee member, and friend residing in Harlem NYC. In college he helped establish G.A.ME to bring essential resources to artists and Black and Brown communities. In 2018 he played a vital role in launching the first annual Black Vegfest festival in Brooklyn, NY. Providing logistical and volunteer support to the festival and organization, he helps ensure that Black Vegfest programs and events operate successfully. As Treasurer, he is responsible for the fiduciary management and financial oversight of the non-profit organization. An organizer and volunteer who works in low-income & affordable housing, Francis’ advocacy is driven by the belief that we all deserve the best, dignified life.  

Email Francis at  francis@gamenyc.org 

Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, LoriKim Alexander has dedicated her life to working for social and environmental justice specifically organizing around justice for LGBTQIA+ Black, Brown and Indigenous Communities. LoriKim’s work in anthropology and as a trained biologist has facilitated her in centering initiatives against environmental racism and for the implementation of environmental education for People of Color around Indigenous ecological knowledge and decolonialism through veganism for the past 25+ years. 

Having lived in different parts of the US for three decades, LoriKim now resides in NYC where she continues her work as a facilitator and organizer in an effort to ensure the creation of spaces that center the most marginalized. 

As a core organizer at Black VegFest, LoriKim supports the work through grant writing, copy writing, project management, speaking, and teaching. 

Email LoriKim at  lorikim@blackvegfest.org 

 Born in Brooklyn and raised in Long Island, ADUM⁷ is a music producer, MC, and visual artist formerly known as MeccaGodZilla (via MF DOOM’s Monsta Island Czars),

Working alongside Omowale Adewale and m1 of dead prez, he got his start in NYC’s underground Hip-Hop scene as a founding member of the nonprofit Hip-Hop union G.A.ME (the Grassroots Artists MovEment) which made free-healthcare, free dental, free legal advice and show bookings available to independent Hip-Hop artists from New York and Philadelphia. 

Described by The Japan Times to have "...a style that brings to mind the likes of RZA and MF Doom,”  ADUM⁷ created music with artists and brands all over the world via NIKE, Capcom, Spike TV, Universal Japan, Warner Japan, Armani Exchange Japan, and Eric Bobo of Cypress Hill while moonlighting to model and secure sponsorship opportunities in Tokyo, Japan. 

As the designer of the Black VegFest logo, ADUM⁷ runs the graphic design department for Black Vegfest while being an extra pair of hands, eyes and ears to founder Omowale Adele.  

Currently, ADUM⁷ releases music through his indie label MANAFEST VISION and is an official United States cultural ambassador of Hip-Hop to Uzbekistan and Nepal via the U.S. Department of State, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Meridian International Center’s Next Level USA Initiative.

Email ADUM⁷ at adum7x@blackvegfest.org 

Stephanie Edwards first generation American born and raised in Washington Heights NY. An Afro Latina born to a Dominican mother and Trinidadian father.  Directly out of high school I joined the military and served eight years as a combat medic in the Army Reserves, the military provided foundation and structure however it stifled my passion for social justice, animal rights and societal reforms. Once out of the military I transitioned into wellness and for over 20 years I’ve worked in various roles in recreation and hospitality management.  

While my professional career is evolving and growing my passion lies with social justice and my civic engagement as a tenant organizer. Educating tenants on housing rights and encouraging tenant to form tenants associations is my goal. I have worked tirelessly with various organizations and individuals to help stop evictions. I believe housing is a right.

I joined the Black VegFest team in 2019.

Email Stephanie at Stephanie@blackvegfest.org

Emso Sobrido, was  born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in the Dominican Republic. Emso is a single mother and takes pride in helping and understanding the needs of building community by closing gaps that Black and Indigenous communities face. She holds a degree in Business Administration. Currently she works for a health care insurance company and she is one of Black VegFest’s core organizers. Emso engages with Black VegFest to give back to the community by creating awareness about Liberation not only for oppressed humans but also for all earthlings. The first time she volunteered for Black VegFest was Thanksgiving 2018 where in coordination with other Vegan organizations Black VegFest provided food for the homeless and anyone in need at the Lincoln Terrace Park in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. About 150 people or more were served in extreme cold weather in that event. After that she actively participated in organizing the second annual Black VegFest festival at Weeksville Heritage Center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in 2019. BlackVegFest creates health awareness physical and mental by showing people of all ages alternative sustainable nutrition to permanently substitute animal flesh from our plates.

Email Emso at  emso@blackvegfest.org 

Jillian Mariscal, was born and raised in the Lower Eastside (LES) in New York City, to a Puerto Rican mother and Panamanian father. At the age of 13, she developed aggressive benign tumors called myofibromatosis on her right leg, which prompted multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. Through her studies in biomedical informatics at New York City College of Technology, she discovered veganism and it’s links health. This prompted her to go vegan in 2016, in order to have the best chance in tumor prevention. Immediately after going vegan, as a single mom in Brooklyn, she noticed there was an alarming shortage of vegan options. Shifting focus to food justice as a source of After selling her vegan empanadas at Café on Ralph in Brooklyn, with positive customer feedback she launched Sabrosa Vegana in 2017. Sabrosa Vegana's mission is to revitalize the mental connections between cultural foods and a plant based diet. During this journey Chef Jillian has become involved with Black VegFest since 2017, from volunteering at our yearly festival to producing Break-Out podcast show for Black VegFest and assisting in food demos. Utilizing her passion for community and cooking through veganism by decolonizing cultural norms set by industrialization and capitalism, one plate at a time. 

Email Jillian at Jillian@blackvegfest.org