Our Strategic Storyteller, Cierra Chenier believes fully in young people, especially Black youth, “as extensions of ourselves, our collective futures, and the responsibility to protect and advocate for their well-being and the challenges that impact them.” LCCR’s mission and the intention of the Strategic Storyteller role brought her to the organization.
She recognizes the importance of storytelling in shaping public perception and shifting minds, hearts, and policy. Her passion for storytelling centers on advocacy through narrative change. Over the last few years, Cierra has witnessed how the negative and dehumanizing narratives about Black children in New Orleans have real-life implications of incarceration and criminalization, without actually addressing the systemic issues that breed crime.
The New Orleans East native hopes to put forth narratives that are intentional, honest, humanizing, and transformative. She’s motivated by the belief that the condition of a city or community is gauged by the well-being of its children, who ultimately inherit both the place and the contributions and consequences of what we do. Cierra is a writer, historian of Black New Orleans history and culture, and storyteller with a BA in Political Science and African-American Studies from Louisiana State University, who has also led culturally relevant messaging and brand strategies for arts, culture, and social justice-based organizations.
Email: cchenier@lakidsrights.org
