Short Bio

Kelsey O. Daniels (she/they) is an artist organizer baddie scholar from Southeast San Diego. Her work centers on storytelling, world-building, and dreamwork as tools for liberation. As a fat Black queer disabled femme, Kelsey honors their ancestors and descendants by revoking consent from the failed experiment of white supremacy and dreaming up worlds that are affirming and lit. Her performances blend poetry, music, and storytelling, breaking the fourth wall to invite audiences into a participatory dream space where they co-create and engage in the unfolding narrative. In both their artistic practice and decolonized social research, they explore themes of identity, imagination, and ancestral memory, encouraging participants to engage in active relationships with themselves and their communities. As a cultural organizer, Kelsey curates Black Dream Experiment, a creative universe that explores Black dreaming as a collective practice of ancestral wellness and liberation. When not operating in their public roles, Kelsey enjoys going to the beach, cackling until their sides hurt, and listening to comfort playlists.

Extended Bio

Kelsey O. Daniels (she/they) is an artist organizer baddie scholar from South East San Diego who understands that telling her story and curating space for others to do the same is freedom work. As a fat Black queer disabled femme, Kelsey honors her ancestors and descendents by rejecting the failed experiment of white supremacy and dreaming up worlds that are affirming and lit.

Her work is deeply inspired by the Adinkra concept of Sankofa, which reminds us of the importance of being in an active relationship with all aspects of ourselves, our past, present, and future. Her performances blend poetry, music, and storytelling, breaking the fourth wall to invite audiences into a participatory dream space where they co-create and engage in the unfolding narrative. In both their artistic practice and decolonized social research, they explore themes of identity, imagination, and ancestral memory, encouraging participants to engage in active relationships with themselves and their communities.

As a poet, they have garnered international recognition at slam festivals (Stonewall International, Black Arts Matter and Womxn of the World) and she has shared her dream space with audiences across the country, most notably opening for renowned poet rupi kaur’s world tour.

Kelsey is the recipient of the City of San Diego’s Far South Border North grant and is currently serving as the 2023-2024 Artist in Residence for Univeristy of California San Diego’s Thurgood Marshall College. They are most proud of being able to cultivate brave space for creatives to grow in a community that prioritize connection over perfection through their venue Check, Please! An Open Mic Experiment.

A seasoned community organizer, Kelsey approaches this sacred work as being inextricably linked to dream equity. During her time with local collectives (March For Black Womxn San Diego, Black Lives Matter SD, and We All We Got San DIego) she spearheaded campaigns around mutual aid, abolition and revolutionary joy. She is deeply appreciative of the opportunity to beta test possibility models of liberation as a curator of the Black Womxn Save My Life summit and facilitator of the Black Womxn Deserve mutual aid fund.

She continues to show up as a cultural organizer throughBlack Dream Experiment, a creative universe that explores Black dreaming as a collective practice of ancestral wellness and liberation.

When not operating in their public roles, Kelsey enjoys going to the beach, cackling until their sides hurt, and listening to comfort playlists.