Zavier Taylor, Communications Apprentice

Zavier Taylor Jun 27, 2018 Bio – Apprentice – Past Apprentices 1 comment

National Leadership Program, Summer 2018

Zavier Taylor

Zavier Augustus Lee Taylor was a Communications Apprentice in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program for the Summer of 2018. RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for and with people with disabilities. Taylor is an artist, actor, and designer from North Carolina. He brings those skills to RespectAbility with the intention to use art and design to advocate and assist marginalized communities. Taylor has learned through his studies and professional experience that storytelling is a powerful political and social tool. There is a push at RespectAbility for a more accurate and diverse portrayal of people with disabilities. Taylor feels that one of the most effective ways to fight stigmas is to alter the public perception through real-life storytelling in the media. This is because media representation plays a pivotal part in the social standing of minority groups. Through his art and storytelling, Taylor is compelled to ensure that the portrayal of people with disabilities is accurate and proportional. Taylor is excited to help Respectability in its mission to achieve this goal.

Taylor is a rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Dramatic Art major and a concentration in New Media and Performance Studies. The creation of new works is his greatest passion. Taylor uses that passion day-to-day in the creation of visual and sonic art for fun and self-expression. He cites Jackson Pollock, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Jimi Hendrix, Dave Chappell, Terry Pratchett, Bruce Lee and Alan Moore as some of his greatest artistic influences. Taylor spends most of his time working on plays both onstage or off. One of his greatest loves is the feeling of captivating an audience.

Taylor hopes he can meld his personal experience with disability and people with disabilities, his artistic training and experience, and his desire to contribute to a greater good into a fruitful and exceptional stay at RespectAbility.

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RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for and with people with disabilities. Learn more about the National Leadership Program and apply for the next cohort! Contact [email protected] for more information.