Akilah Toney

I’m a 20 year old published writer, poet, actress, dancer, photographer, and youth advocate from New Orleans, Louisiana. From writing and dancing at the age of 10, I use the arts as a means to amplify my experiences at the intersections of young Black womanhood in the south. In 2020 I graduated from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with a focus in creative writing. I currently attend Loyola University New Orleans majoring in Psychology with a minor in African American Studies. I have been honored as the 2016 Pizza Poetry Laureate of New Orleans, the 2018 Slam Poetry Champion of New Orleans, a recipient of 2017-2018 National Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Key Award, a 2018 American Voices Nominee, a 2018 National Student Poets semi-finalist, and the 2019 Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Key and Silver Key Award. I have been featured in 826 NOLA publications, Medium’s Heated magazine. Nola.com, Vogue.com, the New York Times, and the I Am New Orleans Poetry Anthology. I have performed and worked with the Urban Bush Women Leadership Institute, The International Congress of Youth Voices, Woman with a Vision, Kid smART, The Ogden Museum, Dancing Grounds, JuneBug Productions, LOUD New Orleans Queer Youth Theater, Studio BE, Ashe Cultural Arts Center, Community for Change and The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.