Shari Jones
Shari Jones is the creator of ASNEAA and a Laundromat Project Create Change 2022 Fellow. ASNEAA is an acronym representing the migration out of Africa. (A) throughout the global community, South America (S), North America (N), Europe (E), Asia (A), and Australia (A). The purpose of ASNEAA is to map the geographic migration of people out of Mother Africa with an emphasis on the devastation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (1400s-1800s) to the Diaspora; while collecting narratives around these shared community experiences.
As a brand, ASNEAA promotes unpacking the injustice of our collective past, and the preservation and legacy of the global BIPOC community – in commitment to a diverse and inclusive society in the 21st century.
ASNEAA Mission
1. Connect Black history and culture through holistic research on the human experience of the global Black community – with an emphasis on the devastation of Transatlantic Slave Trade and subsequent systems of oppression.
2. Compile a kinetic list of places dedicated to the preservation of Black history and culture to support “global mapping” of the African Diaspora.
3. Create educational programming and events to foster community and facilitate narrative collection reflecting on Black history and cultural connections, to the current advocacy for the African Diaspora and human rights- like the School Legacy Project (SLP) and Community Legacy Project (CLP).
ASNEAA Values
Respect
Loyalty
Compassion
Gratitude
Trust
Get to know Shari Jones
What role can art and culture play in shaping the future of your neighborhood or the city at large?
I am a believer that art imitates life and is entrenched in our unique individual narratives. My daughter’s name means art in Swahili – and is reflective of the very art in our being as part of a larger Diaspora.
To me, art is an introspective and inviting tool to engage in some of the tough narratives of ASNEAA content. The ASNEAA Community Legacy Project (CLP) combines multicultural heritage exploration with arts as advocacy for people of ALL BACKGROUNDS and AGES to promote social justice and human rights.