Today we’d like to introduce you to Destiny Britt.
Hi Destiny, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always had a passion for music. Growing up my parents played a lot of different music and that’s how we bonded. Everyone in my family has some type of musical talent from producing to playing different instruments, and not to mention my grandmother was an Opera singer. As I got older, I noticed I couldn’t shake this connection with music but I let it flow organically. In 2012 something sparked that will forever haunt me. A young man by the name of Trayvon Martin was unjustly murdered for simply buying snacks from the store. This case hit differently because I have two older brothers and one in particular had a haunting resemblance to Trayvon. My brother would wear his hood often and walk to the store, maybe bring some snacks back if I begged enough so when I seen Trayvon I immediately felt like I lost a brother. From that moment forward something in me changed, I knew that this world wasn’t as simple as portrayed to my 12 years old self.
As time went on, there would be more cases that would shake me but the summer of 2020 sparked something I didn’t know lived inside me. George Floyd was murdered for the whole world to see, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the video. I read transcripts, listened to audio, but it took me months to actually watch the modern-day lynching of Floyd. I sat in the house boiling, feeling like I had a lot to say but COVID was at its height and I was afraid of catching it. That fear couldn’t hold a light to the anger, grief, and emptiness I felt so I decided to join a protest. Little did I know that protest would change my life. After the infamous protest downtown a part of me felt defeated. I felt as if we yelled but weren’t demanding change, I called two young ladies I met at the protest and proposed we lead our own with a list of demands. We planned for three days, hundreds of people dmed us in support. During the protest we probably had over 600 people marching with us demanding our rights! From that protest, I realized that wouldn’t be the end of the road for me. I wanted to continue to fight for justice. I then joined a non-profit organization The People’s Uprising.
The more protests and events we planned I began to meet celebrities, politicians, and artists, it brought me back to my original passion for music. I would’ve never imagined activism would’ve brought me back to what I have always adored. I finally seen how the two connected. I wanted to fight for my community and show our injustices through events in our city. Juneteenth 2020 my organization hosted a free concert and had a few artists and politicians come out to show support (Lil Baby, Queen Naijia, YK Osiris, Jon Ossof, Sheriff Labat, State Rep Erica Thomas, State Rep Park Cannon, etc). Being a part of planning that event filled my spirit, I realized I wanted to plan more. I put my networking skills to use and landed an internship at Think It’s A Game Records. I loved every bit of it after completing my time there I decided to work at a close friend’s independent record label having the opportunity to plan showcases, tour, and connect with artists. That leads me to today two years later now the Director of Entertainment and Culture of The People’s Uprising and more fired up than over-excited to show my community what I can do.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been smooth at all, protesting can take a huge toll of your mental health. Diving into activism changed a lot in my life including my social media intake. Constantly posting about protests and injustice slowly began to change my Algorithm. I began to see so many of our people murdered by police almost every day, it truly does something to you. I had to find a way to balance it out by finding the beauty in the world again, it was beginning to become too easy to see the world in such a dark light. I kept my faith strong and started to lean heavier into planning light-hearted events to still spread the knowledge about the injustice in our communities.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a Director of Entertainment and Culture. My job is to lead and plan events using entertainment, arts and philanthropy to uplift underserved communities. I’m most proud of staying grassroots being here for community, we have had food drives, had a day with the homeless where we supplied washers and dryers for them to clean their clothes, hair cuts, food, and more, we hold events that are free to the community with quality entertainment and important messages. I am most proud of our Program we are launching in 2023 Program Root. “Program Root is designed to change the trajectory for at-risk teenagers and young adults in Atlanta who are highly likely to commit crime. Program Root is an innovative 6-month paid citizens development and diversion program focused on our four E’s: Education, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, and Engagement.
These four pathways will direct them to education tools to pursue higher learning, a career pathway in the industry of their choice, access to startup tools to launch their own business and participation in key nonpartisan civic engagement. We also intend for Program Root to serve as a diversion program for the court system to help youth understand their rights and to provide a counter-narrative to plea offers that permanently alter these young people’s lives.” Program root is the work that every activist could dream of by being personally engaged in the community and fixing the issues we see firsthand. I think what sets me apart from others is my heart. I think about the ways I can be a better person very often. I look at myself to be the change I want to see. I still have work to do but I’m accountable and that’s what makes me love my community so hard.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
If you never take risks, you will always be complacent. I have a lot of respect for everyone who went out in 2020; we all risked our lives for something that was bigger than all of us and that’s true bravery! I was never a big risk taker before but that’s because I didn’t know how to channel my passion, but when you know, you know!
Contact Info:
- Website: Thepeoplesuprising.org
- Instagram: @Rose2justice / @Thepeoplesuprising
Image Credits
Smart Trouble Shyne
