Jemmar

Pronouns: She/They
Membership timeline: 2015 - present

Jemmar (she/her) graduated from The Advocacy Academy social justice programme in 2016. In 2020, she co-founded The HALO Collective, a campaign aiming to end discrimination against afro-textured hair, alongside a group of peers. In 2022, Jemmar founded a new campaign, Collective Punishment, based on her experience of parental imprisonment, which is aiming to enact national policy change for children and families affected by the issue. Jemmar said:

“I applied to The Advocacy Academy’s programmes because I was struggling to find a space where I could speak about social injustice or find my voice. I saw a video of a The Advocacy Academy Member speaking about wanting more for herself than what society expected of a Black woman. Her comments resonated with me so deeply that I had to apply.

“I am a co-founder and co-organiser of The Halo Collective, we are working to end afro-hair texture discrimination in the UK. I am also the founder of Collective Punishment, which exists to tackle the impact of parental imprisonment on families, and in particular children, across the UK.

“The Advocacy Academy has changed my life. Before completing The Fellowship, I aspired to be a clinical psychologist. I ended up doing Politics and Sociology. It is because of The Advocacy Academy that I have a BAFTA award-winning documentary about my life, my experience of colourism, and my activism.

“Without The Advocacy Academy I would not be a campaigner, and even then, I question the kind of campaigner I would be without The Advocacy Academy – probably not a grounded one. HALO and Collective Punishment would not be what they are without The Advocacy Academy support. Personally, The Advocacy Academy staff have supported me for the best part of a decade with my career, academics, and personal life. I am grateful.”

Now financially hosted by The Advocacy Academy on HOST, Jemmar has secured £40,000 in independent funding to scale up the Collective Punishment campaign, to host events, recruit new members and hire co-organisers to support her as she builds this work.

“The Advocacy Academy has changed my life. Before completing The Fellowship, I aspired to be a clinical psychologist. I ended up doing Politics and Sociology. It is because of The Advocacy Academy that I have a BAFTA award-winning documentary about my life, my experience of colourism, and my activism.”