Chatting with Kesi Felton
This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to interview Kesi Felton, 21-year-
old junior from Acworth, GA who is attending Howard University (HU) where she studies communication. She is an up incoming triple-threat entrepreneur who already has several organizations under her belt such as Better to Speak, an organization for black youth to talk about their experiences in civil engagement, health and wellness, professional development, and education; a podcast called Black Girl Recap that she does on Glasshouse Radio on Howard University’s campus; and her own blog on Medium where she talks about life and other things that pertain to black women.
The first time I met Kesi was when she was a panelist at the Woke for Wealth mixer; With the few words that she did speak she caught my attention, and from what I heard she was doing a lot for our community. In our interview, she admitted to being more of an introvert and that’s where her organization Better to Speak (BTS) steps in and pushes her out of her comfort zone; A huge part of that is community outreach. They have done a variety of things such as the End Period Poverty project, where she and a group of peers went and handed out products the homeless people in the city of Atlanta while also educating and collecting donations; Stop the Ban on Healthcare for All march; a book drive in which they advocated for diversity in children’s books; and so much more.
She has always been interested in social justice and advocacy, which is also a large part of HU’s campus life, and she loves being in the room with many powerful people, especially black women; but it doesn’t stop there. As I mentioned before, Kesi is a triple-threat in communication. On her
blog she talks about life and other things going on in the community; but if you’re more of an auditory learner, you can also listen in on her podcast on Glasshouse Radio on HU Radio network, that she co-hosts with her friend Isabella, called Black Girl Recap. Something for us, by us that’s centered around black women talking about different movies, t.v. shows, podcasts and topics that are affecting other black women in the community. One of the podcasts is a 3-part multimedia project that everyone should go check out called “XX” where she speaks on different lessons she learned coming into her 20th year, and the goals that she is setting for herself in the future.
Although she loves helping people in the community, she is still young and fun, and on summer break. Kesi recently celebrated her 21st birthday on June 13th where she let loose with a couple of friends at an Ariana Grande concert, went to a city winery with her bestie, and kept herself educated at Summit 21. She admits to not going out as much as she should, but when she does, she loves to come into Atlanta and eat at Bowlero with her friends or get some of those famous ATL wings.
In her free time, she works on building her social media platform, but admits that she doesn’t like to put too much of her personal life on there since she is more involved in community outreach; While she doesn’t have as many followers as she likes, she consistently works to put Better to Speak on the map. Her five-year plan consists of doing more community development while creating digital journalism programs, continue growing all of her brands, getting her Undergraduate degree, and working towards getting her Master’s degree in New York City or Atlanta.
Despite the fact that she does not wish to continue at HU for her Master’s Degree, she is thankful for Howard for putting her in the same space with young people on the come up with the same mindset, hustle, and hunger for success that she has, and for her peers being her guinea pigs on her projects and vice versa.
She goes onto admit that Howard was her first choice by default since both of her parents went there; However, all the institutions she attended before her post-secondary education were predominantly white. I asked her what it was like transitioning from a PWI to an HBCU and she replied, “It allowed [her] to be around people like [herself] in a diverse way, meaning most of my peers are black, but they are also black and Muslim, or LGBTQ, or come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, so it opened me up to different diverse groups of I wasn’t exposed to before.” It also puts her in a space where black people are celebrated for their achievements and being themselves. While her connections and experiences she has made at Howard has impacted her life in so many ways, sometimes she thinks about coming home and attending GSU, but she knows it definitely wouldn’t be the same experience.
Speaking of experiences, I asked her what it was like going to school out of state, to which she replied: “The hardest part of being out of state is not being close to family and having that immediate support system, but it taught me how to be more independent.” She has grown to like the city life in D.C. but says it is a little slower than in Georgia. She goes on to say everyone is there for a purpose or goal, the culture is different but interesting, and being in the center for so many things happening in the US and all the different communities around the area is an experience in and of itself. She feels that D.C. would probably have more to offer since she is already established on campus as opposed to coming home and starting her brand over in Atlanta as a college student trying to make a name for herself. In the end, her goal is to expand her brand no matter where she goes.
Her plans going into the new school year and heading towards the end of the year are to solidify her Better to Speak team, keep expanding her platform, strive for consistent growth, and have an end of the year celebration in D.C. or Atlanta to celebrate all of their accomplishments. Make sure you y’all are on the lookout for opportunities to get connected and support Kesi & stay tuned for updates!
October 13, 2019 @ 2:57 pm
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