Ariel Jeanjacques
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Ariel Jeanjacques is a proud native of New Orleans and mother to Wylae Lenox. She has been involved with community organizing since she was 10 years old, and was the youngest person that sat on the Board of Directors for the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond. During that time, she was also a trainer with the People’s Youth Freedom School, through which she educated youth from poor communities about undoing internalized racism. In 2008, Ariel was deemed Outstanding Youth Organizer by the Bert and Mary Meyer foundation out of Atlanta. In 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, Ariel was stranded in New Orleans with no food, water, or electricity for nearly 10 days. She endured so much trauma and called on law enforcement for help, believing police and the criminal legal system was a system to protect and serve, not a system to arrest the victim. Every time she called for help, however, she was arrested, and ultimately was given a prison sentence. During this time she lost her nephew Arron Thompson (19), who was murdered at work, and her niece Torylynn Thompson (22), who was killed along with her fiancé and step-son in a car crash. After her release, her cousin Brayanta Ketchens (21) was gunned down in her New Orleans home. |
Despite the loses, pain, and trauma she has experienced, she finds healing in doing work with crime survivors. As the Crime Survivor for Safety and Justice Program Coordinator with VOTE, she connects daily with families of crime victims impacted by community gun violence. She provides them with healing, love, support, and necessary resources during their times of loss, and believes mass incarceration is not the solution to trauma
