April R. Silver: social entrepreneur • writer/editor
Posted on 15. Jul, 2009 by Leshell Hatley in Industry News, News, PhD, Scholarly Celebrations
April Silver
“I am clear-headed and fiercely passionate about my life/work. I am driven to powerfully communicate and represent truth and justice. As tools, media and the arts have an awesome power to heal, beautify, politicize, and ultimately elevate our lives. It is my blessing to do this work in honor of Harriet Tubman and the rest of my ancestral line.”
Ms. Silver is a social entrepreneur, activist, and writer. She heads AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc. (AW), a communications agency that services progressive artists, activists, and organizations. Since 1993, AW’s clients have ranged from local poets to Mos Def to The Ford Foundation. The company is also known for creating Put On BLAST! ™, an email marketing service that houses over 30,000 subscribers!
Ms. Silver is also editor of the anthology Be a Father to Your Child: Real Talk from Black Men on Family, Love, and Fatherhood
Silver graduated from Howard University. There, she made national and international news as a co-leader of the historic student protest of 1989. She was later elected as student body president and it was during her term that she co-founded the country’s FIRST hip hop conference – a conference that birthed the now thriving hip hop education movement.
For her opinions and 20+ years of arts activism work, Silver has received many honors. Time, Ms., Jet, ESSENCE, Ebony, Newsweek, CNN, The Washington Post, and many other outlets have all quoted or profiled April. Most recently, she became a commentator on WBAI Radio (NY), where she is a weekly panelist on Wake Up Call’s media roundtable.
April’s writings have been published in the NY Daily News and throughout the blogosphere. Her blog is at www.aprilsilver.com. As a result of her work, she has lectured at hundreds of colleges, conferences, and public schools. She has shared the podium with luminaries such as Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Sister Souljah, Kevin Powell, and Rev. Al Sharpton.
A native New Yorker (with roots in Washington, DC and Los Angeles), April currently lives New York.
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