“Justice, in all its honesty, in all its vulnerability, in all its determination, has always been about love.”
Jacquelyn Ogorchukwu is an American poet and storyteller of Nigerian descent committed to the well-being and activism of Black people.
A multidisciplinary artist, through her poetry and writing, meditation, and online courses, she seeks to create content that speaks to the communities often overlooked in society.
Jacquelyn describes her 2018 book of poems ’The Geometry of Black People’, as an “ode to Black people”.
“I hope that my words are a first step for our community to heal inequality,” she says.
Social media has made it possible to share her poetry and ideas on a scale previously unimaginable. Visitors to her Instagram @ogorchukwuu will find powerful poems and statements about race and identity, but also exhortations on the benefit of rest, and video meditations, along with ’tender reminders’ – her post-it notes of encouragement to learn, grow and expand.
In 2021, as a Martell Standout Swift, Jacquelyn Ogorchukwu is using her multi-faceted collaboration to share her teachings on race and identity, while bringing together, and to life, her poetry and ideas in new ways.
In a live work entitled The Face of Poems, Jacquelyn reads her poetry aloud while African-American artists illustrate her ideas in real time.
As she says in her own words, “I wish my poems were felt, not just read. It is with their eyes that my words will come to life.”
“Justice, in all its honesty, in all its vulnerability, in all its determination, has always been about love.”
– Jacquelyn Ogorchukwu
