Understanding My Personal Power
My journey with Sadie Nash originally started in Long Island City High School in 2021. During a time when the world was isolated, Sadie Nash’s Sibling Circle at LIC High School provided me with a community. Before joining, I grew cold with the belief that I had to handle my fears alone in this world shaped by inequity, but I was awakened by a community that cares. Sadie Nash helped me understand that my identity and pride as a black queer woman are important; the stars are never out of reach. I decided to participate in Siblinghood Academy and the ELLA Fellowship as well and I continued to grow and shape how I think about leadership, community, and responsibility.
Now, as a Sadie Nash alum, I am the founder of BLAQ Reunited, an intentional space that celebrates Black Identity and joy. Our mission is to create intentional spaces, whether virtually online or in person that celebrate all facets of Black identity and joy. Our focus is to build an educational platform that reveals our history, stories and experiences. Every year culminates in our BLAQ Reunited’s Family Reunion. But, the beginnings of BLAQ Reunited were seeded during the ELLA Fellowship.
Heaven presenting the initial BLAQ Reunited Family Reunion Project during the ELLA Fellowship’s Final Celebration
The ELLA Fellowship had no restrictions on what I could do for my project, just limitless ideas. But vision is only the beginning—you have to be willing to reach out and bring people into it. After coming up with the idea for the BLAQ Family Reunion, a creative hub where people develop interdisciplinary works combining poetry, songwriting, and photography, I began connecting with organizations and individuals who aligned with my mission. ELLA taught me the importance of “shooting your shot.” I was sending emails, introducing myself, and clearly communicating what I was trying to build. At first, it felt unfamiliar, but it pushed me to grow more confident in my voice and in the value of what I was creating.
As those conversations grew, so did the vision. Collaborating with groups like Girls for Gender Equity, led to expanding my budget and making collaborative merchandise and workshopping. Building Beats connected me to students DJing, and Women Building Up donated their space. This helped me see how much more expansive the experience could be. What started as a single event began to evolve into something more intentional—rooted in creativity, community, and care. While connecting with these organizations I also learned the importance of clearly expressing the impact and purpose behind the work. This process taught me how to move from idea to execution with intention. I was building relationships, trusting my vision, and learning how to ask for what I needed.
Looking back, I see how Sadie Nash didn’t just give me a fellowship experience—it gave me the confidence to build something of my own and a community that supported my work. When I got accepted into the fellowship, I was arriving from Howard University as a transfer student at City College. I was carrying a lot of questions—about justice, about identity, and about how young Black people like myself could build spaces for healing and connection, and at the same time I was lonely and homesick for the community I had in D.C.
BLAQ Reunited Team Members
Through ELLA, I found ways to answer my questions and found new valuable relationships that I was missing. The people I walked alongside were single handedly the most meaningful parts of this journey. Faculty and staff advisors, Ariluz Quiñones and Ashley Johnson—who brought so much thought, passion, and care into the work we were doing together — taught me that action is inevitable when your vision is planted. Sadie Nash gave me the support and encouragement to act and surrounded me with people who were also committed to justice and community and reminded me that this work is never done alone.
I carry that with me every day, and I’m deeply grateful for the role Sadie Nash played in helping bring BLAQ Reunited to life.
Heaven Peoples (she/her)
is an alum of Sadie Nash’s Partnership Sibling Circles Program and Siblinghood Academy in 2021, and was an ELLA Fellow during the 2023-2024 cycle. She’s the founder and CEO of BLAQ Reunited and is also a freelance photographer at Unidaverse.