Biography
Princess Best, a Renaissance Square resident, is a multi-faceted performing artist, hip-hop theater educator, and transformational speaker. A Theater Arts graduate of The University of the District of Columbia and a former Miss UDC, Best has over 15 years of experience in the performing arts and arts education. Princess Best has dedicated her many talents to advocating for the enhancement leadership, health, and communication of young girls and women. She is the founder of Princess Best Speaks (PBS) and R.O.Y.A.L. Voices (Readying Our Young Aspiring Leaders). Best’s platform and programming focus on expanding the leadership capacity of the feminine voice of color through hip-hop theater, storytelling, and public speaking. Currently, Princess is preparing for her one-woman SHAME-LESS tour in the U.S. and internationally, aimed at bringing awareness to the history, health, and communication of women of color. Formerly known as the hip-hop ARTIVIST Princess of Controversy, she has released two music albums – Soul Hop and Personal Messenger.
Programs
My Sister’s Shoulder/The Art of Sisterhood: My Sister’s Shoulder explores the dynamics of developing relationship rituals for healthy female communication. Learn how to “date” your girlfriends, from conflict resolution to writing a hip-hop sisterhood constitution.
SHAME-LESS: Wrapped in shame or guilt, or lacking examples or knowledge for self-care, oftentimes girls find themselves lost in a world that says you should “love yourself,” without ever giving any instructions. SHAME-LESS explores the HERstory of “conditioning shame” to being associated with being female, common diseases/illnesses amongst girls, demystifying women as only sexual beings, and learning how to turn shame into a healthy regiment of self-care – physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Mommy’s Girl: Mommy’s Girl explores the complex dynamics of creating and maintaining healthy mother-daughter relationships, bridging the gap in female intergenerational communication through hip-hop and learning how Mommy’s Girls become “Girls Who Run The World.”
R.O.Y.A.L. Voices (Readying Our Young Aspiring Leaders): Girls and women still make up a fairly small percentage of the world’s leading public speakers, even in the arts. R.O.Y.A.L. Voices teaches developmental skills in hip-hop, theater, storytelling, and public speaking, while exploring the HERstory of women who have used their voices to be creative “gamechangers” for the face of women’s leadership. This course gives girls an early introduction of how to use their voice as a vehicle for influencing change.