“One of the most vital ways we sustain ourselves is by building communities of resistance, places where we know we are not alone.”
-BELL HOOKS
The goal of this space is to foster radical community building and belonging that reimagines communication, connection, vulnerability, healing, and the choreography of conflict & repair. We are here to return to our humanity and build a community framework that honors our right to creativity, safety, dignity, belonging, healing, and growth.
Origin Story.
Giovanni’s Room began in our kitchens and living rooms; at the water’s edge, and our local bookstore, coffee shop, park bench, sidewalk; house party. It started with us sharing our favorite quotes from the books we were reading and TikToks we were watching; memes from our favorite Instagram accounts. We whispered it into existence after work meetings and standing in line at the DMV or housing assistance office. We dreamt about it in the third grade and scribbled out plans in high school, college, on our overnight work shifts. And then, slowly, and then, all at once, this grassroots creative community was born. And died. And was reborn again. And again. This space is about the desire to talk and cry, play and thrive, heal and learn and grow. In community with others.
Com·mu·ni·ty, noun, an intentional group of live creatures, often human, residing physically, spiritually, virtually, et cetera, in a shared space or collection of spaces, according to a set of expressed guidelines and agreements.
–The New Black American Refugee Dictionary of Terms
Your words and thoughts and ideas, your pain and your pleas for a different way of belonging, of relating to one another–they did not go unheard. They are beginnings, wild seeds that must be cultivated. Welcome to the planting ground; welcome back to the earth.
“To build community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must continually do to undermine all the socialization that leads us to behave in ways that perpetuate domination.”
BELL HOOKS
Our People.
Jota (pronounced ho-tuh) is a writer, artist, community organizer, and the founder of Giovanni’s Room. Jota’s background in developmental psychology, passion for literature and art, and life-long desire to belong to a people that are rooted and transformative was the catalyst for the creation of this grassroots creative community.