Mission
One Breath Rising is a non-profit organization committed to providing opportunities for diverse artists working in the African American tradition to collaborate, and to present and document their work.

Vision
Our vision is to live in a world where arts in the African American tradition – such as poetry, jazz, and dance – are incorporated into every day life, where its creators are held in the highest esteem, and where its traditions are passed along from generation to generation.

Board of Directors

Darryl Alladice

Darryl Alladice is a performance poet/storyteller who grew up in both Harlem and Brooklyn as well as spending some time in Boston, MA. His work has been performed at many venues, including Schomburg Research Center, Boulevard Books in Brooklyn, Barnes and Noble, Queens Public Library, City College of New York, Dwyer Cultural Center, Bowery Poetry Club, Dark Room Writers Collective, Columbia University, Black Box Theatre in Boston, Central Library of Boston, and Trinity Repertory Theatre, Providence, RI.  His latest collection of poetry, Measuring in Liters, focuses on learning to live with Sickle Cell Anemia and end-stage renal disease. He is also a founding member of One Breath Rising, a Jazz/Arts collective.

Ahmed Abdullah

Ahmed Abdullah (trumpet, composer, and educator) is one of the central figures in 21st- century Brooklyn Jazz . He joined the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1975, touring, recording and traveling extensively until 1997.  His recently (2023) published memoir, A Strange Celestial Road: My Time in the Sun Ra Arkestra, recounts that experience and many more he has had in the music. He recently retired from the NYC Dept of education after 20 years of service as a music teacher, and also retired from his 25-year position as Music Director of Sistas’ Place in Bedford- Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.   He is currently an adjunct professor at the acclaimed New School Jazz Program and leads his own ensemble, Diaspora (Dispersions of the Spirit of Ra). Ahmed has lived in Brooklyn for over 50 years.

E.J Antonio

Jazz Poet EJ Antonio received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Cave Canem Foundation.  She performs regularly around the tri-state area and is widely published.  Her CD, Rituals in the marrow: Recipe for a jam session, includes several jazz musicians and is a founding member of One Breath Rising, and edited our anthology, At the Crossroads: The One Breath Rising Anthology of Poetry and Prose. She is a member of the poetry/jazz improvisation group The Jazz & Poetry Choir Collective.

Jacqueline Johnson

Jacqueline Johnson is a poet, fiction writer and fiber artist.  She is the author of A Woman’s Season and A Gathering of Mother Tongues; and has received fellowships from New York Foundation for the Arts, Cave Canem, and Black Earth Institute.  Her work has been published by the Academy of American Poets, Poetry Foundation, This Is the Honey: Contemporary African American Poets, Dear Yusef, Baby Suggs and Purple Butterfly.  She has lived in Brooklyn over 40 years and recently presented her poetry at the 200th celebration of the Brooklyn Museum.

Abby London-Crawford

Abby London-Crawford is a proud member of the NYC jazz community, as a fan and friend to many musicians since the early 1970's, and as a presenter of jazz concerts to local audiences for over 25 years. Abby is the writer, director, producer with editor/ musician Lee Odom, of the video series, "Legacies." Its first episode on Terri and Thomas Chapin was premiered at One Breath Rising in 2024.

Monique Ngozi Nri

Monique Ngozi Nri, a writer of Nigerian, Barbadian, and British descent, was born in Coventry, England, raised in Nigeria until age nine, and has lived in Brooklyn, New York, for 30 years. Her work delves into her nomadic life, exploring the impact of the Biafran war, displacement, home, relationships, freedom, and feminism. She collaborates with her husband, Ahmed Abdullah, in performing music of the African Diaspora and Sun Ra, blending her poetry with song. Nri, who earned her MFA in Creative Writing (poetry) from Brooklyn College in 2021, now teaches in its English department. Her work has appeared in And Then, The Brooklyn Review, The Marbled Sigh, and The New York City Jazz Record. Her first book of poetry, Who We Be, was published in 2024. Monique has lived in Brooklyn for 32 years.

Joy S. Rosenthal

Joy S Rosenthal has also been presenting music performances to New York and Brooklyn audiences for over 30 years. She and the other founding members established One Breath Rising to present high-quality performances and to allow the literary and musical audiences to cross pollenate. She is a lawyer by day and has been the Trustee for Count Basie’s estate for the past 12 years and has lived in Brooklyn for 22 years.