Jawanza is the director of organizing with VOCAL-NY. A Black, radical Queer, prison abolitionist, socialist, feminist, Christian engaged in social critique, and local and state politics in New York, Jawanza is a PhD political science student at the CUNY Graduate Center. Jawanza is originally from Beaumont, Texas, and received a BA in English from Schreiner University in 2012, before moving to New York City.