Kalia Harris cut her teeth advocating for social, racial and economic justice with Virginia Student Power Network (VSPN) as an undergrad student at George Mason University, where she studied community health and earned a master’s degree in social justice and human rights. Before that, she graduated from Chesterfield County Public Schools.
“My family has lived for generations and generations on the South Side of the city,” she says. “I believe that Richmond has always been and will continue to be a place where deep resistance actualizes a collective vision for transformative change.”
Fast forward through an epic classroom montage, and the student has now become the teacher and community leader. Harris is proud of VSPN’s overall growth. This past summer, its Freedom Schools Action camp scaled up to host its largest fellowship cohort yet, with nearly 30 youth leaders from student organizations across nine campuses in Virginia. “I often see myself as a bridge connecting different groups and individuals to each other to collaborate, and scheme on ways to build power together,” she explains.
Harris also organizes with Richmond Mutual Aid (MAD RVA) and works on its mini-grants team. In 2023, the collective redistributed $48,200 to 241 Richmond residents and opened a free store at Meadowbridge Community Market that offers low barrier support to community members every Saturday. In the coming year, MAD RVA hopes to buy the market to make it a permanent fixture of the community.
If you’ve ever tuned in to “Race Capitol,” the award-winning WRIR radio show and podcast, you’ve already heard Harris speak truth to power through adroit coverage of the uprisings for Black Lives in Richmond from 2020 to 2021. Harris says she’s committed “to the struggle for our collective liberation” and believes that a better world is possible now.
“I see my own freedom as tied with the freedom of my neighbors here in Richmond, our siblings in Palestine, our siblings in Congo, Atlanta, Puerto Rico, and so many other places where marginalized people are rising up to change the world we live in.”
