APRIL

Sometimes, at the precise moment you open your eyes, you know that it's going to be an amazing day. And then you will it into existence.

Since childhood, Silver has been driven to help create a more balanced world. She founded AKILA WORKSONGS as a sacred business that is guided by traditional African values and that advocates for justice. Among her hundreds of projects over the years, she founded the organization Co-Motion (in response to the killing of Amadou Diallo); served as Interim Executive Director of Nkiru Center, co-founded by Talib Kweli, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def); founded Artists for Life as part of the Hurricane Katrina relief movement; and co-founded Help Haiti as a part of the Haiti earthquake relief movement. For a variety of cultural, social justice, and community initiatives, Silver continues to volunteer, counsel, and help fund the work.

Silver is also a former TV talk show host of My Two Cents (on what is now Centric TV). In 2014, Mayor Ras J. Baraka appointed her to Newark’s Arts, Cultural Development, and Tourism Transition Committee. Because of her work, Silver has been mentioned or featured in Ms., ESSENCE, EBONY, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, as well as on CNN, BET, HuffPost Live, Tom Joyner Morning Show, and many other outlets (nationally and internationally).