Ravyn Wngz

Ravyn Wngz is an African, Bermudian, Mohawk, 2Spirit, queer and transcendent individual and is a member of the Toronto Black Lives Matter (BLM-TO) Steering Committee. As a co-founder of ILL NANA/DiverseCity Dance Company, Ravyn aims to challenge mainstream arts and dance spaces by sharing her stories — while continuing to create opportunities and platforms for marginalized LGBTTIQQ2S people, with a focus on African/Black communities. Ravyn also is the artistic director of OVA — Outrageous Victorious Africans Collective — a Dance/Theatre collective that shares the contemporary voices of African/Black and Queer/Self Identified storytellers. 

She’s had a strong, ongoing presence in Toronto’s queer and Black organizing scence, but Ravyn’s leadership was made more broadly visible in 2020 when she made a speech at a BLM-TO Defund the Police demonstration, “in rage, hyperventilating, and on the verge of tears.” Ravyn’s vision of radical love and powerful presence as an outspoken leader for Black liberation is challenging wide-spread prejudices against Black trans women, reaching audiences who might not have otherwise listened.