MISSION
RIOT RI is a volunteer-based non-profit that uses music creation, critical thinking and collaborative relationships to foster collective empowerment and the development of healthy identities in girls, women, trans, and gender-expansive youth and adults.
VISION
We start from a basis of mutual respect. We envision a world in which our identities are assets, not limitations, and where we are able to actively claim and develop our own strengths and expertise to create a world of our own design.
VALUES
Music as a Force for Change
We focus on music’s ability to mobilize, unify, and invigorate people to create social change. Music is a powerful tool that connects individual expression to collective thoughts, emotions, and actions. Creating music within a band requires not only collaboration, respect, and support, but also individual effort, skill building, and expression. Our goal is to use music’s unifying force to empower individuals and communities to band together and create positive change for themselves and for society as a whole.
Respect and Communication
We start from a basis of mutual respect. Each individual’s unique qualities and perspectives are valuable and shape our community. We also recognize that our experiences and perspectives may differ and we believe that open dialogue and direct communication can lead us to common ground and deeper collaboration and a stronger community.
Analyzing Power
We encourage critical analysis of intersecting systems of oppression, particularly when manifested in media, popular culture and our day to day lives. Creating this dialogue provides us with the tools we need to take positive action against these systems.
Fighting Gender-Based Oppression
We support cis and trans women and girls, non binary and gender non-conforming individuals. We also explicitly support trans men and transmasculine individuals. We reject a culture that values individuals for their appearance and sexuality rather than their character, we all need support to create a strong sense of identity and self. We are committed to expanding traditional conceptions of and conversations about gender.
Collaboration
We believe in a do-it-yourself spirit that empowers individuals to act and create on their own and we also recognize that we are stronger together. A collective process of creation and self-expression develops individual and community resilience. We share skills and learn from each other in a supportive environment in which experimentation, critical engagement, and feedback are valued.
Learning and Leading
We encourage learning and leadership at all levels: program participants, volunteers, board and staff. We strive to listen to each other openly and actively to make intentional decisions together.
Name Change
WHY OUR NAME CHANGED
In its mission, Girls Rock! Rhode Island, or GRR! (as RIOT RI was named at its founding) made a commitment to help foster the development of healthy identities of girls, women, trans and gender expansive individuals. By 2020, our Board, staff, and community recognized that the very name under which the organization functioned was no longer empowering to our LGBTQ participants, staff, and volunteers.
When the name of GRR! was originally imagined in 2009, the word “Girl” carried very different connotations than it does today. At the time the organization was formed, the Riot Grrl movement of the 1990s and early ‘00s still carried weight in the cultural zeitgeist as a symbol of inclusive, underground feminism in the music scene. As language evolved and expanded over the following decade, that word “Girl” as it appeared in our name came to mean something very different.
WHY WE MADE THE CHANGE WHEN WE DID
By 2019-2020, our organization began to focus on internal anti-oppression practices. With support from the Equity Action Fund, we created the opportunity to make profound and sustaining change to the organization.
Based on data from 2018, 40% of our volunteer base at that time identified as LGBTQ. 16% of our middle school participants and 23% of our high school participants identified as LGBTQ as well. According to PEW Research Center data, the median age for LGBT individuals to come out is 20 years old, so we could safely predict this number to be underreported. The YRBS reported that 8% of high school age youth identify as LGBTQ; that number was nearly tripled in attendees of our 2018 high school camp. With this in mind, we had and have a responsibility to be a leader in organizational inclusivity.
2019-2020 was a year of transition, during which we brought on new leadership, moved into a new space, and even created some new programs. It’s important to know, however, that our name change was in the works well before it became publicly visible. For years we were saying “We’re not just for girls, and we don’t just play rock!” We recognized that, if we had to specify that every time we said it, something wasn’t working.
HOW WE CHOSE IT
Conversations around changing the name had been circulating for many years, but the process officially started in January 2019, when the organization began to seek funding to support the switch. The organization was granted support by the Equity Action Fund, which allowed the organization, fittingly, to take action towards organizational equity.
In April 2019, we began a strategic planning process which highlighted the importance of inclusivity and accessibility as a main pillar. The strategic planning process continued into early 2020, and informed decision making about the new name.
In September 2019, the organization released a community survey, gathering information about what the new name should include in order to reflect its current participants and stakeholders.
With the survey results as the north star, the Board of Directors began brainstorming names. In November of that year, the organization passed all of the information it had garnered to the youth advisory board. The youth were asked to make a final decision about the new name, guided by the community survey, and Board guidelines. The youth chose a name by December 29th, 2019, and it was officially released to the public on December 31, 2019.
In December 2019, the organization also chose to hire a new logo designer to reflect the new name. After reviewing the work of hundreds of illustrations, the organization elected to hire Melita Tirado to design the new brand.
From January to April, the organization has worked with Mx. Tirado to finalize the logo, branding, and assets. The official name and logo, along with the new website and social media handles were released on March 30, 2020.
WHAT IT MEANS
RIOT RI stands for Revolution in our Times Rhode Island. By keeping the word RIOT in the name, the organization nods to the roots of Girls Rock! Rhode Island, which was grown from the Riot Grrl movement. The full name nods to the social justice oriented mission of the organization, and the organization’s commitment to challenge power structures along with empowering individuals.
Quotes From Our Youth
“The organization is part of a bigger community. It’s like when a friend comes out and you have to use new pronouns, at first it can be difficult but you just have to keep doing it and it [becomes] normal cause you care about them”
“It’s a positive thing, this is still a space for everyone and now it’s broader space where everyone can feel comfortable, even if you don’t feel comfortable with the label of girl.”
“I love it, one summer my mom signed up for camp and I didn’t wanna go because I don’t want to be identified as a girl, so the name change made me feel really happy.”
“This organization isn’t to single out just girls but all folks who have not been supported in the music industry… that goes far beyond girls.”
Staff & Board
BOARD
-
Lipou Laliemthavisay
-
Reba Mitchell, Co Chair
-
Abeer Khatana, Co Chair
-
Ashley (Aloe) Russell
-
Yasmine Hassan
-
Tatiana Dossantos
Lipou Laliemthavisay
Lipou [lee-pu, she/her/hers] was born and raised in Providence, RI. While growing up, she always thought she would be an ambassador and allow all visa applications that came in. However, life took a different path. Coming from an immigrant family, she had a deep desire to work with and for marginalized communities, which then grew into a passion for indigent defense. Aside from being a public defender, she is a proud parent of two pitbulls, Kenya & Penny, and teaches criminal law & procedure part-time. She loves going on walks/hikes with the dogs and listening to music to de-stress. She is glad she was invited to join the Board in December 2018, though regretful she did not join the organization sooner. She recently took virtual drum classes @ RIOT and loved bangin’ out Rage Against the Machine’s Bulls on Parade!
Reba Mitchell
Reba Mitchell is a current Board member who has volunteered since 2009 as a vocal instructor, band coach, workshop leader, and GRIT coordinator. She spends most of her time in a 3x5 iso booth as an audiobook narrator (having recorded over 200 titles and receiving a coveted Earphones Award), and, in order to escape the box and remain part of society, at Flipp Salon as a hairdresser. She holds degrees in Women’s Studies and Cosmetology. Yes, her hairstyle is specifically engineered to accommodate wearing headphones six hours a day.
Abeer Khatana
Abeer Khatana (she/her) joined the RIOT RI Board in 2019 and currently serves as the chair of the Anti-Oppression Committee. She has volunteered as a workshop facilitator and has been a (very enthusiastic!!!) participant in RIOT RI’s drum lessons for beginners. She has a background in community organizing, development, facilitation, and policy analysis. Abeer is deeply committed to genuine, intentional relationship building. Her superpower is connecting every conversation to the evils of capitalism.
Ashley Russell
Ashley (aka Aloe) is currently both a Board member and one of RIOT’s contractors. Read more about hir below!
Yasmine Hassan
Yasmine Hassan [she/her] is an interdisciplinary artist (mechanical engineer by training, youth design/build educator by trade, musician by passion) who has lived in Providence since 2013, despite spending her childhood calling many different places home. Though she was born in Brooklyn, NY, she spent years of her childhood just outside of Philadelphia and Richmond, VA, before her family eventually settled in Columbus, OH. Having grown up visiting family in Pawtucket, though, she was no stranger to Rhode Island when she moved here for undergrad. She comes from a working-class, “tri-cultural” household of African & Arab immigrants–her father is Sudanese and her mother is Sierra Leonean-born Lebanese. Her values and teaching practice are deeply informed by this identity and upbringing, but she also draws inspiration from a fascination with music of ALL sorts, Black pop culture history, cartoons and anime, old Nintendo games, magical realism, and a fiercely DIY work ethic. She’s been involved with RIOT since 2018 as an Adult Rock Camp participant, through drum and bass individual lessons, and through her full-time job at a nearby peer youth arts nonprofit.
Tatiana Dossantos
Bio coming soon!
STAFF
As of 2024 RIOT RI is working to reboot our programming with a very active working Board, dedicated volunteers, and a small group of contractors:
Ashley Russell
Program Coordinator
Ashley (aka Aloe) has been making music in Providence since arriving in 2016, notably with Prior Panic, What Cheer? Brigade, and hir own projects aloelonely and Wolf’s Milk. Ze’s worn many hats at RIOT over those years, from teaching group lessons and volunteering at camp to sitting on the Board of directors starting in 2020. Now in 2024, Aloe is working on staff to plan and resource youth and adult programming which truly serves a community that has shown hir so much opportunity and grace.
Maddy Wood
Program Associate
Maddy Wood is a 25-year-old singer/songwriter, performer, composer, and recording artist from Providence, Rhode Island. She has been involved with RIOT as a camper from 2012-2015, and is working this fall to organize the upcoming RIOT programming and events alongside the rest of the team. Maddy is extremely passionate about RIOT and credits it as a major part of the foundation for the artist and woman that she is today. Maddy is currently earning her Masters degree in Composition at the University of Rhode Island, and you can catch her playing shows with her band all over Rhode Island.
Crikkett Young
Administrative Coordinator
Crikkett Young is a musician and music teacher. They have worked and volunteered with RIOT RI since 2013, in roles ranging from Band Coach and Lessons Instructor to their current position on staff. They’re working this fall to keep the RIOT ship on-course as we organize upcoming programming, keeping track of everyday details so the rest of the team can dream big! A classically trained oboist—still their first love—they have also found a lot of joy in helping youth and adult students explore self-expression with ukulele and bass guitar. They perform locally with the Narragansett Bay Symphony Community Orchestra and can be found running around the streets with an alto saxophone and the Extraordinary Rendition Band!
YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD
LYLAC
Currently on hiatus, the Loud Youth Leadership Advisory Council has been a youth-led council formed to amplify the voices of young people within RIOT RI. As a youth-serving organization, RIOT RI recognizes the importance in having the input of the young people we serve.
We believe in supporting the creation of leadership opportunities for girls, trans and gender expansive youth in our community. The goal of the youth advisory board is for its members to collaborate with each other, as well as staff and board, to acquire leadership skills and to have a space where they can express themselves affecting change within the organization and their community.
Passing the mic to youth leaders allows RIOT RI to have a relevant perspective of the issues affecting the young people we serve through our programs and work as a collective to come up with innovative ideas.
The 5 key components of the youth advisory board: youth-led, consistent engagement, community agreements, creating a space for youth where youth can be themselves, taking active part in different organizational projects.
LYLAC has been key in moving the organization forward by taking part in different projects such as:
-
Program Empowerment Evaluations
-
Rethinking Leadership
-
Curriculum Evaluation
-
Community Engagement