About Us
We are the story of that bird learning to fly.
"If none of us own acres, and none of us grow wheat, then who will feed our people when our people need to eat?"
Killer Mike
fly
Our Story
When they say it takes a village...
In Nina Simone's Blackbird, she writes about a person who longs to fly, to spread their wings, reach their full potential, but is continuously held down by the weight of the world around them.
Black Bird Coalition is the next chapter of that song.
We exist for the communities that have always had the potential to soar but have been denied the resources, the access, and the support to do so. Through arts, education, and wellness programming, we are building the conditions for our people to discover who they are, what they are capable of, and what they deserve.
Because we believe that when a community is given the tools to create, grow, and heal, it takes flight.
Unashamedly. Unapologetically.
Meet the Founder
Jordan David Wallace
Hi, I'm Jordan. A Chicagoan, with roots that spread through Harvey, Mississippi, and Cohutta.
I grew up around relatives and elders who believed in the nuclear family and in the village, that it takes a village to raise our children. Very early on I understood what a sense of community was supposed to feel like.
As a theater maker, the skills it takes to be successful go hand in hand with building that community. Knowing how to assemble the room. Knowing how to make people feel like they belong in it. In theater we call it an ensemble, a collective of individuals coming together to achieve a common goal.
Black Bird Coalition is that same instinct applied to something bigger.
Chicago is my home. I know what it looks like when brilliance has nowhere to go. When potential hits a ceiling not because of lack of talent but because of lack of access. And I got tired of watching that happen.
I built Black Bird because I believe the ensemble goes beyond any stage. It includes the student who doesn't know they're a leader yet. The parent who never got the chance to create. The elder who has wisdom our young people desperately need. The artist who has something to say but nowhere to say it.
Everyone has a role. Everyone has a story. And the most important question we can ask, the one my grandfather taught me, is why.
Black Bird exists to create the space where that question gets asked. And answered.
Jordan David Wallace
Founder & Executive Director
There's a place for you here.
Whether you're a student, a parent, a teaching artist, or a community partner, Black Bird Coalition has a place for you.
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