Shnayjaah Valentine J.

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT SHNAYJAAH VALENTINE J.

My first memory is my father strangling my mother because she opened the blinds. I was two. I learned early that light is dangerous, and that love isn\'t always safety.Everything I’ve done since has been an attempt to redesign that equation.I grew up in a violent household, worked my way to a full ride at Columbia University to escape it, and became financially responsible for my mother and brother while my father was detained by ICE. Adulthood arrived early and without instructions. I kept the receipt.I’m now a Human Rights & Creative Writing major at Columbia and a National Youth Poet Laureate Finalist. I write from proximity—to prisons, immigration enforcement, court transcripts, income brackets.I’ve written poems that turn prisons into recycling centers, led campaigns forcing Florida to confront racial disparities in scholarship access, redesigned Columbia’s social justice immersion program for 250 students, and supported over 100 ESOL learners through housing and employment barriers. I believe data has a pulse. I believe stories can subpoena power.I am not interested in trauma as a confession. I’m interested in its aftermath. I\'m currently finalizing a poetry manuscript and memoir, exploring interests in social impact & philanthropy, accepting performance and performance commissions, and solidifying my long-term goals: to bring light to the intersection of DV and immigration.For inquiries or collaboration: private message me or email s••••••@columbia.edu