![A Black woman enveloped in joy and with a wide smile looks off to the side as braids of gold and black spill over her shoulder.](https://creative-capital.org/wp-content/uploads/artists/Lady-Dane-Figueroa-Edidi_Headshot-optimized-e1578520964348-750x750.jpg)
Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi
Washington, DC
Dubbed the Ancient Jazz Priestess of Mother Africa, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi is a Nigerian, Cuban, Indigenous, American performance artist, author, teacher, choreographer, priestess, speech writer, playwright, writing coach, advocate, healer, a founding member of Force Collision, and a two-time Helen Hayes Award Nominee. She is the founder of The Inanna D Initiatives, which curates, produces, and cultivates events and initiatives designed to center and celebrate the work of TGNC Artists of Color. Considered one of the most prolific artists of our time, she is the first trans woman of color to be nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. In 2015, she received an Emerging Leader Award for her work with the DC Trans Community and is the GLBT History Project’s 2018 recipient of the Mujeres en el Movimiento Arts Award. She has also costarred as Patra in the new web series King Ester.
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Cover image of The Black Trans Prayer Book. Photo: Kavi Ade.
Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi speaks on #RaceAnd
Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi presents Our Duty to Spit, Episode 2: A Trans Woman Speaks...Of America.
Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi reads an excerpt from Baltimore Love Letter.
Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi belly dances for The May DC WeirdoShow
J Mase III and choreographer Randy Ford performs Bad Theology.
The Black Trans Prayer Book: A Documentary
Dubbed the Ancient Jazz Priestess of Mother Africa, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi is a Nigerian, Cuban, Indigenous, American performance artist, author, teacher, choreographer, priestess, speech writer, playwright, writing coach, advocate, and healer.
Artist BioJ Mase III is a Black trans queer poet and educator based in Seattle, by way of Philadelphia.
Artist BioThe Black Trans Prayer Book: A Documentary explores the lives, reflections, performances, and spiritual journey of the contributors to the Black Trans Prayer Book—a collaborative text, co-edited by J Mase III & Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, that explores the healing needs of Black trans people.
![J-Mase-III_headshot-optimized](https://creative-capital.org/wp-content/uploads/artists//J-Mase-III_headshot-optimized-502x750.jpg)
J Mase III
Seattle, WA
J Mase III is a Black trans queer poet and educator based in Seattle, by way of Philadelphia. He is the author of Tell my Kidney I was the Fiercest Poet Around, as well as And Then I Got Fired: One Transqueer’s Reflections on Grief, Unemployment, and Inappropriate Jokes about Death. He is the founder of awQward, the first ever trans and queer people of color specific talent agency. He co-edits The #BlackTransPrayerBook with Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi. He is also the head writer of the wildly-received theater show, Black Bois, which debuted in Seattle at On the Boards in April 2018. As a performer, he has shared stages with world-renowned artists like Chuck D and the Indigo Girls. His work and musings have been featured on MSNBC, NBC OUT, Essence Live, Atlanta Black Star, GO Magazine, Believe Out Loud, Everyday Feminism, Black Girl Dangerous, Upworthy, The New York Times, Buzzfeed, The Root, The Huffington Post, Teen Vogue and more.