About the Author

Hazina Maisha grew up in Central Brooklyn on Lefferts Place, a 3-block street that touched the borders of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Clinton Hills, and Fort Greene. Hazina was raised by parents who were dedicated community activists. Her father, a small business owner and founder of The East, was a trained public school teacher and founder of Uhuru Sasa Shule, an independent school in Bedford Stuyvesant that believed in rigorous studies and embraced black nationalist ideals. Hazina’s mother was born and raised in Pendleton, South Carolina and migrated to New York City to find better job prospects. She worked as a bookkeeper, journalist and newspaper editor.

Hazina likes to talk about how her formative years laid the foundation for what would become a fervent Christian life later on. Hazina saw her parents work hard and sacrifice personally to help neighbors in need. “It was not uncommon for our parents to bring women in crisis into our home for a time. Our home served as a respite from some of the harshness of life. One woman was suffering from mental illness, another transitioning out of homelessness,” Hazina recalls.

In spite of a myriad of challenges faced in school, Hazina managed to get college scholarships and ultimately landed in Birmingham, Alabama to play basketball for a small HBCU. There, she thrived and found her footing. During the end of her time there, she found God. Here is where her journey begins.